Horn dorn - My new 41 year old B+M Marzan CC

[Alex C]

I rarely drool with envy. I'm drooling now.

[bort]

Aw crap... for a minute I just got that ball-in-my-throat feeling of "it was some repairs keeping this from being amazing?" I even talked to Lee about sending it out there about a year ago! But then I remind myself that even now, that tuba was just physically wrong for me and wasn't my sound either. Phew.

So happy it worked out well for you! Congratulations! It's a very cool tuba!

(And no, the recording bell was not ever really used. Kevin Ladd said he took it once to a New Sousa band gig (20 years ago?), and was asked to use an upright bell instead. Shortly thereafter, the upright bell was soldered on and stayed that way until last March.)

[bort]

Very, very cool! And I'm only joking about being jealous, I'm very happy to see it's found a great new home! I had that same perfect-match feeling when I found my 188 this year. It's a great thing when player and tuba are appropriately matched, it makes like so much easier! Enjoy!

[Lingon]

...Here's my new 41 year old CC...

Very, very nice. Have fun with your new treasure.

[bisontuba]

Beautiful tuba!
mark

[rodgeman]

Very nice. Now I have horn envy!

[Mtrhed]

Great looking horn! It's amazing what a good technician can do to make a "Bad" horn sing the way it should. I've always wanted a Marzan but seem to always be a day-late whenever I find one for sale.

[TheHatTuba]

Great looking horn! It's amazing what a good technician can do to make a "Bad" horn sing the way it should. I've always wanted a Marzan but seem to always be a day-late whenever I find one for sale.

Ooh, you're the one who got that Martin. How is it? You should start your own thread about that.

with pictures!

[Dan Schultz]

Nice Marzan! I'm glad to know all of the history. I've been intrigued by this horn since it came up for sale a while back.... so much so that I made a five-hour drive about a year ago to photograph it along side one of my BBb Marzans. I agree that this horn is most likely an early 'one-off' prototype mainly due to the fact that the valve section is quite unlike the clusters on every other piston Marzan I've seen. Here are a couple of those 'side-by-side' pictures I took:

[bort]

I bought this tuba from Kevin in 2008(?) and had it for a few years. It was a great tuba, and I loved how it played and sounded. Unfortunately, it was physically a mismatch for me, and I had to sell it. If another piston Marzan CC comes around, I will be quite tempted by it. Very nice tubas!

[Dan Schultz]

..... And for Tuba Tinker....here is a photo of me in 1975 with my Willson built CC solo model Marzan. ....

Thanks for the image, Todd. The 'solo' model has a lot in common with your Marzan inasmuch as the 'lay' of the valve section. Since you owned the 'solo' earlier.... and liked it.... it's easy for me to understand that your current Marzan is 'right' for you.

This image shows the comparison of the Marzan (B & M) BBb to the Marzan Solo (Willson) BBb tubas. Has there been any hint that the valve section on your horn could have been crafted by Willson and assembled to the B & M bugle?

[eupher61]

Wow... I remember that tuba from the old Tuba House, 1984. I marveled at the recording bell on a CC. I was told it had some problems and would be tough to figure out. Since I was actually F shopping, it was set aside fairly quickly, with a memory of a a dog. Wonderful that it has been taken care of!

Todd, any idea of the age\serial number of that Martin?

[Bandmaster]

Thanks to Kevin Ladd for filling in some history of this horn.

I mentioned in the first post of this thread that this prototype B+M Marzan was likely based directly from Robert Tucci's York. From Rick Denny's website http://www.rickdenney.com/york.htm" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank here is some more history of that horn:

1937 York 4/4 CC (added to Gallery 7/15/02)

Mike Johnson's email to me finally kick-started this project, and the images he sent deserve to be the first entry. This tuba was ordered by Arnold Jacobs in 1937 for a student. According to Mike, only twelve were built in this configuration. The forward bell is still with this instrument, as well as the original cases complete with fake crocodile skin. Paul Sidey reports in Tubenet that he learned from Bob Tucci that this instrument was owned by Harold McDonald and them by himself before it passed on to Mike. Bob Tucci is, of course, half of the Parantucci pair with Dan Parantoni, and is an orchestra professional in Europe as well as being the proprietor of a tuba store there. Paul also reports that Mr. Tucci used this instrument as the model for the B&S PT-606 (aka GR-41).

A photo of the Tucci York from Rick Denny's site:


Ed Firth has written to me saying that this Tucci horn now resides in Florida.

It doesn't quite look the same anymore, as lots of work was done to it a while back. See the photos in this old TubeNet thread...

viewtopic.php?t=9392

[Dan Schultz]

Dan -

Here's couple of photos of the valve block. Maybe someone will recognize the manufacturer. The finger buttons are not original.

Here's and enhanced photo of Dean Snavely's Marzan/Willson from your website. I think the caps and braces are dead ringers for the the ones on my horn:

It may LOOK like your valve section but it's much different. Dean Snavely's horn is a Willson-built solo model. The Willson caps are quite different and the bores of those two horns are different. The puzzle here is the angle of your valve section as it compares to the Willson-built horns. Further... here is the Marzan ad where the valve angle appears to be like yours.

The caps, thumbring, braces, and other hardware on your horn are the same as all of the other B & M Marzans I've seen. It's just the angle of the valve section that puzzles me.

[The Big Ben]

Fixing a few leaks does wonders, doesn't it?

[bisontuba]

Hi -
I see Dan has a Marzan piston CC tuba on his website listed for an individual who is selling it...FYI...
Mark

[Dan Schultz]

Hi -
I see Dan has a Marzan piston CC tuba on his website listed for an individual who is selling it...FYI...
Mark

Same horn, Mark.

[bisontuba]

Hi -
I see Dan has a Marzan piston CC tuba on his website listed for an individual who is selling it...FYI...
Mark

Same horn, Mark.

Aaahhhhhhhhh..,
Mark

[EdFirth]

I owned a 4P1R detachable bell Bb Marzan that belonged to Connie Weldon as well as a York Master Model. The bells were interchangable and the layout of the slides, with the exception of the main was identical. It is also my understanding that the Yorks were built by Boehm Meinl as were these models of Marzan. So just connect the dots. The C's have almost assuredly been made from existing Bb parts that have been adapted. Like Jake's York or the Conn 52, 54, 56J's.I've never played on one of the C's but the Bb's, Marzan as well as York Masters were winners. And if I wasn''t over 60 with 8 tubas already I'd be all over this one at this price. Ed