Reynolds Fiberglass Tuba

[Ferguson]

One of these dropped into my office recently. There is very little I can find on the net about these. Does anyone know the story? Do they have much value? I would think it could be useful for a stand up gig, though the leadpipe does not wrap around the bell very far, making for an odd posture to play it. It's in BBb.

Best,
Ferguson

[bort]

Neat! Like the inverse of having a carbon-fiber bell...

How does it play?
Is it really top-heavy?

[imperialbari]

The fibre material of this tuba must have great structural strength.

The ferrules over the assumedly glued joints are short like on brass models.

The flanges of the carrying rings also look like being smaller than on most brass tubas.

Klaus

[Donn]

Nothing authoritative about value here, but I will say this, if that thing plays OK, I'd like to know when it's for sale.

[bort]

The only other fiberglass tuba I remember is a fiberglass Martin tuba. Rick Denney owns (owned?) it, the last I know...

[Tim_Loehr]

originally brass enamel painted (like the brass-colored fiberglass sousaphones), methinks

In the early part of the 1960s, Reynolds / Martin had a compact BBb 3-valve fiberglass tuba which
was in gold and maybe available in silver paint. They were only in bell-front style.
My High School in Dallas had one
and I I would love to find one for sale.

[bort]

This is the Martin fiberglass tuba I was thinking about... sold by BBC around 2007(?) to Rick Denney, not sure if he still has it. That was 7 years ago, why on Earth do I still remember this?

[Paul Scott]

I played one of these several years ago and they're surprisingly good. The one I played had the detachable recording bell and was labeled as a Martin. Almost bought it myself!

[TubaSteve]

That silver bell is killer! I wonder if it is original to the horn? I have played the Martin horn like they are talking about, I have a friend who has it in his rental flock. The Martin had the recording bell, and was very much like that. I can easily see why someone would want it as it was very light and it played well. For someone who wants a 4/4 sound without the weight, (and it is fairly hard to dent) I think it was a nice horn. I didn't know that Reynolds had any arrangement with them. I have 5 Reynolds horns, so I am quite a fan!

Steve

[Rick Denney]

This is the Martin fiberglass tuba I was thinking about... sold by BBC around 2007(?) to Rick Denney, not sure if he still has it. That was 7 years ago, why on Earth do I still remember this?

I still have it. It's still on the project list. Art Hovey still reminds me that I poo-pooed it at the conference and then bought it when Dave dropped the price to the can't-resist level.

It needs a lot of work to bring it back--all the brass parts have lost their connection to the fiberglass parts. In your pic, you can't see all the hose clamps that were used to keep it in one piece.

I'm thinking satin black sounds about right.

Rick "who does like the sound but the intonation explains that big tuning stick" Denney

[bort]

I remember the hose clamps.