VMI is a post-1991 construction.
Klaus
Need information on a Ponora Tuba
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imperialbari
- 6 valves
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Rick Denney
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Re: Need information on a Ponora Tuba
Yes, and I played one of those early ones--a benefit of living in San Antonio at that time. Vespro was their house brand for the same tuba and I owned one of those for a while. Quite a good tuba except for a stinker 5th partial.bloke wrote:' sounds just about right...I remember them (a 4/4 four-rotor BBb and a similar CC with .748" bore) being hawked at a huge University of Kentucky shindig by a known-to-many south Texas tuba seller right about that time.imperialbari wrote:VMI is a post-1991 construction.
Klaus
So, Klaus, what was the name of the company before unification? Maybe it was VEB B&S, but I did not think so.
Rick "surprised he remembered the German spelling correctly" Denney
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imperialbari
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Re: Need information on a Ponora Tuba
Yes, VEB B&S was one of at least two Markneukirchen/Klingenthal based GDR conglomerates. The other one often seen in brass engravings is Musima.
B&S had a GDR predecessor named after the state of Sachsen. B&S mostly sold its instruments under the B&S brand for the top line and under Weltklang for the second line. At least some of the master craftsmen forced into the conglomerate worked under their own names, which also were used for marketing purposes. Scherzer and Wolfram trumpets plus Hoyer horns are the most obvious samples. Schneider was a name used when marketing was a bit fishy like with the Alexander 103 copies sold by Boosey & Hawkes after the British piston horns became obsolete. B&H didn’t make rotary valves themselves, so even the trombone valves for the first generation Sovereign trombones came out of Markneukirchen.
One of my Hoyer horns is engraved B&S to cheat on the sole importer of Hoyer horns in Denmark, so the scheme could be turned, whenever it could add to the incoming flow of Western currencies. Only it did not land well with Danish horn players, who didn’t want a B&S horn, be it ever so good with a remarkable intonation. For the benefit of the guy buying it at a big discount. Me.
I have wondered about MW apparently moving to Markneukirchen. There used to be a big gap in wages between old-West Germany and old-GDR. Im am not sure that gap is fully gone yet. But the main reason maybe is found by a look at Google Earth, which reveals the original MW site having very few, rather none, chances to expand in a cramped industrial area in Geretsried. It is funny to see MW getting its piston valves from Markneukirchen, as the GDR-era piston valves were horribly bad. But then it was MW’s investment which brought the necessary equipment to Markneukirchen.
Klaus
B&S had a GDR predecessor named after the state of Sachsen. B&S mostly sold its instruments under the B&S brand for the top line and under Weltklang for the second line. At least some of the master craftsmen forced into the conglomerate worked under their own names, which also were used for marketing purposes. Scherzer and Wolfram trumpets plus Hoyer horns are the most obvious samples. Schneider was a name used when marketing was a bit fishy like with the Alexander 103 copies sold by Boosey & Hawkes after the British piston horns became obsolete. B&H didn’t make rotary valves themselves, so even the trombone valves for the first generation Sovereign trombones came out of Markneukirchen.
One of my Hoyer horns is engraved B&S to cheat on the sole importer of Hoyer horns in Denmark, so the scheme could be turned, whenever it could add to the incoming flow of Western currencies. Only it did not land well with Danish horn players, who didn’t want a B&S horn, be it ever so good with a remarkable intonation. For the benefit of the guy buying it at a big discount. Me.
I have wondered about MW apparently moving to Markneukirchen. There used to be a big gap in wages between old-West Germany and old-GDR. Im am not sure that gap is fully gone yet. But the main reason maybe is found by a look at Google Earth, which reveals the original MW site having very few, rather none, chances to expand in a cramped industrial area in Geretsried. It is funny to see MW getting its piston valves from Markneukirchen, as the GDR-era piston valves were horribly bad. But then it was MW’s investment which brought the necessary equipment to Markneukirchen.
Klaus