In memory of Harv and his Happy Horns (Please post your pix)

[ken k]

Here are the horns I have that Harv either fixed up, customized or made up for me. I thought it would be cool if we could post pix of our beloved "Harvophones" here. I f you have a Havophone please post a pic, thanks ken k

Harv first worked on my B&H Eb, replacing the original leadpipe with a new 981 leadpipe and mounting it off the bell, a Dillon AGR, delrin valve guides, mounted a stewart stand, cut off the ball buster at the bottom spot silver and gold plating.




1919 Pan American Helicon which Harv restored:



restored 1924? Beuscher tuba and later converted into a Dr. Suessaphone:

original


restored:


Dr. Suessaphone:


fixed up a little Yamaha YBB103 and lacquered it black:


so I hope others will post their pix here as a tribute to Harv and his Happy Horns....
(sorry for the pix of me but i did not have any other good opix of the horns sans me. Once I take new pix of the horns I will post those)
ken k

[TubaBob]

Nice horns!

[jimgray]

mmm - yummy helicon!

[imperialbari]

The soprano trombone that I wrote about in the thread on Harv’s passing:

HHHReynoldsSopranoTrombone.jpg

Harv didn’t make this trombone for me. I found his auction for this instrument on eBay. His text presentation from the auction is here:

HHH+Reynolds+sopra+trombone.jpg

Combining a modified slide from a tenor trombone with a cornet bell, all from the same maker (Reynolds), takes a big hell box and some creative thinking.

Klaus

PS: The top photo is a conglomerate of 3 photos, Harvey style. Please click on it, if you only see one of the elements.

[Dan Schultz]

Here's Harvey's 'groundhog caller'.

[T. J. Ricer]

Nothing too crazy here. . . Harv fixed an unplayable helicon for me, including flipping and cutting the first valve tuning slide:


It is one of his last blog posts: http://harvshappyhorns.blogspot.com/201 ... licon.html

This is the only pic I could find of my Alex 164 BBb. Harv took off the bottom bow and knocked out some significant dents, straightened and polished the bell, and flipped valves 3 and 4:

I played it on The Planets in my last performance with the Springfield Symphony and that is a horn that can put out some crushingly big sound!

--T. J.

[Tumbao65]

This are Harv instrument made with differnt parts of tubas or sousaphone

Rain Catcher Harv style. The piston are Martin, they are shoter than a regular piston, re-built, Body Conn fiberglass paint in black, Bell King. Dark sound. Kool to play.
the second one is a Eb tuba, body is Yamaha 321, Piston King re-build, new tubing to maked it from Bb to Eb piston. 5th rotor made in China. Great instrument.
2 piece of art from Harv Happy Horn! they make me Happy to have them.

[Timswisstuba]

I have a lot which I will post soon.

[uncle jerd]

helicon.jpg

Sure hate to lose Harv--he was just a real price of a guy and a great tuba man. Here is the CC helicon he did for me-

Based on a 1916 Conn Eb--it is a fine instrument

[Z-Tuba Dude]

Several years ago, I bought a raincatcher from Harv, that he put together with a body of a Conn Sousa, and a Conn tuba bell. The bell is a smaller diameter than on an original raincatcher, but it plays REALLY well!





He also did a nice job restoring my Reynolds 4 valve Eb Sousy:





He was a sweet guy, who really cared about what he was doing.

Rest in Peace, Harv.

[gmcblane]

I met Harvey four years ago, when I started playing tuba after a 29 year hiatus. The junior high director loaned the community band I just joined an almost functional tuba. Everyone in the band said Harvey was the guy to see.

After getting the band directors permission to get the horn fixed, I took it to Harvey. It was such a great time, visiting with him while he did his thing. He unstuck all the slides, put in new springs and felts for the valves, fixed the water key, and shared a few great stories.

Here's a picture Harvey had pinned to his wall, of all of his creations I think this one is the best.

He made this Bb sousaphone for the little boy in the picture. He said the boy was now in high school.

He made the horn from a baritone body and a french horn bell.

A lot of Harvey's work was repairing beatup, worn out, brass instruments that went to kids looking to play. I'm sure he wasn't getting rich doing this work, but he certainly enriched the lives of lot of people.

For those in the area, Harv's memorial service will be from 1-5PM Sunday November 11th at the Rajah Shrine Field Complex, 221 Orchard Rd., Reading, PA 19605

[imperialbari]

This baby sousaphone was one of the topics Harv and I communicated about, but I cannot find the mails right now. As a minor detail: the source instruments were an Eb alto horn for the valves and a French horn for branches and bell.

The little guy lived in a different state from Harv. One of the Carolinas according to memory. He had been excited by parades he had seen, so a family member living closer to Harv had him making this instrument. According to Harv the little guy actually had marched this instrument in parades.

Maybe it has been mentioned, but redundant or not, here is the link for Harv’s site:

http://harvshappyhorns.blogspot.dk

Klaus

[TUbajohn20J]

I haven't been on here in months and I am SHOCKED to find out that he passed..I just found out by reading this thread. This is such sad news he was a great man with a passion for tubas and what he did. I am honored to own a happy horn by Harv. My 1921 Conn 40K he did an AMAZING job on. Thank you Harv for everything you did for us!

[Timswisstuba]

The reason I know Harv is because I bought an instrument on EBay and the deciding factor of buying that instrument was of what Harv said in the description, "If you take care of it, it will last longer than your lifetime". It is because of this sentence that I know Harv and it shows the kind of person he is. He built things to last;

Harv was in inspiration to everyone he met. He worked hard and always went out of his way to help anyone; even people he didn't know; even ones who lived in South America and who spoke no English. He gave everything to his friends and family. He was a father to a lovely daughter and was a wonderful husband.

I will think of Harv everyday for the rest of my life because he was a man that was able to do the impossible and had a talent that is really rare to find throughout the world. He is the only one that I know of who was able to make a home built heating system from scratch and many other projects. He was a man who succeeded in doing the impossible every time.

I had approached many professional instrument builders about the projects that I had in my head and most of them laughed and said that it wasn't possible. Harv was the first one who said, "Yes, I can do that!" I challenged him and every time he rose to the challenge!

Thankfully his talent is still with us today, because the instruments that were created in his basement and many of his hours of work he did can be seen and heard all over the world. I did a lot of projects with harv but I know that for him, his most valued life accomplishment was succeeding in making a man out of a line. By giving his name; Cindy Hartline became Cindy Hartman.

I know that Harv was such a perfect person that he deserves a much better place than this imperfect world that we live in.

[Timswisstuba]

Harv and I made a Sax-o-tuba for Sergio Carolino principal tuba of the Porto Portugal symphony . Sergio has already made a few recording with the instrument he calls the "Lusaphone" and others call "Lucifer".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAfyUaOv0YE" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Sax'o'Tuba.jpg

Here a tuba that Harv and I restored; an original H.N. White King CC tuba. The reason we know that it was not cut was the tapers of the branches. I believe was a fixed bell-front because the soldering of the bell tenon was really sloppy.

tubas garden 104-2small.jpg

[TUbajohn20J]

Shortly after I recieved my 40K from him and after playing it a few days, I noticed it started to leak out of the old leadpipe reciever where the screw goes in. I told him about it and he immediately sent me a brand new one in the mail at no charge for me to have put on. Now who else would do that? He was so kind and cared about his customers. This world definitely needs more people like him. Harv was one of a kind and one of the greatest men I know. Thank you again Harv!

[TUbajohn20J]

I'm gonna miss seeing him and his horns, and Porter the boxer on the auction site I have been looking at his sousaphones and tubas he restored on there for years even back when I was in middle school. Mainly all the old Conn sousas and tubas. I finally got the chance to buy one and so glad I did

[TUbajohn20J]

Some great examples of his work. Conn 32K, 20K, and 40K

[CTAYLOR]

RIP Harv

[ken k]

C, that is awesome!!!!

We had a wake for Harv today. It was a great party at the Shriner's Hall. Well over 100 people there. 7 bands, which Harv was associated with, played throughout the afternoon. We put together a tuba/euph/bone ensmeble and played three numbers.

Tumbao65 came in all the way from Kansas to be there! It was great to meet him. Harv had told me stories about him and I would ocassionally play test a horn for him.

Thanks too Tim for the great pix of your harvophones.

Thank you Klaus for the link to his blog, lots of great pix there!

ken k