Rudy Meinl has arrived!

[bort]

The sound is great, it's the resonance and (presumably) that stand the most to be improved. I think? Who knows, but a repaired bell certainly isn't going to hurt anything in any category.

Here's the photo, I forgot to actually insert it last time. Frankly, it's not a great photo, it looked much cooler in person.

rsz_wp_20140413_002.jpg

[hugechunkofmetal]

Hi Bort,

FWIW, A friend of mine had the exact thing happen to his 5/4 Rudy C back in 2007/8. He ordered a new bell from Rudy, and his insurance also covered a new horn. For 6 months he played both horns back to back and decided to go with the older horn/new bell. The only difference was the new bell was raw brass.

D.

[TubaZac2012]

I think that's a pretty cool picture, man! Get that puppy fixed, and start really enjoying it.

[fairweathertuba]

Miraphones are really great looking horns, best classic shape for a German made horn. It is kind of weird and contradictory but it always seems to me that I kind of like listening to a 188 when it's played well but I could never get into actually playing one. Perhaps an acoustical anomaly for me but when trying to support a large group with a 188 the sound just seemed to evaporate when pushed anywhere near fortissimo, perhaps the audience could hear it OK but I could not.

Anyway, I always liked the feel and the sound of the Rudolf Meinls better, so if there is a choice to be made, I'd always opt for the Meinl. Miraphones do sometimes have a clarity of sound that might be preferred if the ensemble is smaller or perhaps while recording. They sure have a great track record in the recording studio in days gone by, I'm not sure what is being used for movie tracks, commercials etc. these days but I really have never heard of Rudy Meinls being used there. My knowledge is pretty limited in this area though.

[bort]

I get what you're saying, and it's a little hard to describe, for sure. I think with a 188 (or certainly a 186) you are just really aware of where the limits are.

They certainly are NOT bad, but you know where they are. Here's an oversimplified analogy -- almost any car can drive at 80 miles per hour. For some cars, 80 is just about the top speed, and when you get there, it might not be very smooth. And if you try to do go faster, the car will let you know it's not really going to happen. On other cars, 80 is just a number along the way to a higher top speed, and you won't really notice that you've crossed that line. If you're at 80 and try to go faster, it will just happen. You don't need to drive over 80 mph very often (if at all), and 95+% of what you do is below 80 mph. But when you get close to 80 mph, it's different if it's near the limit.

[bort]

Quick update with some good news -- although UPS originally rejected my damage claim, they accepted the appeal and have agreed to pay the full value of the damage claim. The check is in the mail, which means I can finally get this in the shop and get it fixed.

The UPS claims process has been quite a ride -- extreme frustration with the robotic people at the corporate office, and the complete opposite experience (exceptionally positive) with the UPS Store people who actually handle the claim. It seems like everything will work out well in the end. Needless to say, I won't be shipping another tuba any time soon.

Best of all, I can finally get rid of this gigantic box that has taken over my apartment for the past 2 months (since they required me to keep the original packaging in as-received condition). It's become such a fixture around here, my wife gave it a name -- Johann-Sebastian. Get it? Johann Sebastian.... Box.

[bisontuba]

Congrats!!
Mark

[Lee Stofer]

To answer a couple of questions and theories,
To remedy the bell on Bort's Rudolf Meinl, I'll need to unsolder the bell from the body, strip the lacquer, carefully anneal the affected areas (probably more than once) and carefully work the bell back into shape using several methods. Once the bell is completely bell-shaped again with no evidence of any damage, evenly re-tempered and buffed to near-perfection, then it will go back onto the instrument. After hand-polishing and de-greasing, the bell will be re-lacquered, and the instrument will be completely serviced and prepped to make it very much like it was when it left Diespeck an der Aisch some years ago.

Rudolf Meinl bells are engraved in an interesting manner. Rudi places the bell in a fixture, then sets an apparatus over it with a steel scriber. Sort of like Thomas Jefferson's copy-writer invention, Rudi traces through a engraved steel plate of his logo, and this directs a mechanical arm which then scribes the logo onto the bell. So it is mechanical, and by hand at the same time. I have seen some that were only rather lightly-done, and then some which are more deeply scribed. Rudi's bells are quite hard, so it would be between very difficult and impossible to hand-engrave one of them like the old American horns were done.

A 2nd valve slide trigger is a very useful option on a Rudolf Meinl, one that has been pretty-much standard equipment since about 1986. It allows one to make adjustments on the fly while keeping the body "quiet", not flailing about with slides, not that the Rudi needs much in the way of adjustments. The original Rudolf Meinl 2nd slide trigger assembly is necessarily somewhat complex to make, and has to fit exactly in a very small, specific area of the instrument, is all nickel-silver and steel, and actually has a lot of metal in it. This hand-made, precision assembly is not cheap at approx. $1,650.00USD, but I'd have a very hard time making one of similar quality, installing it and make it work right. I've tried twice, and although they both worked quite well, I undercut myself and was slightly losing money in the end. I'd suggest just getting the original parts, have them installed, and you really have something great. There are some times in life when we should resist the urge to be "cheap".

[bort]

Lee, thanks for the details and insight for these things. I always want to know as much as possible about my instruments!

The 2nd valve kicker might be something good to consider, but I can't afford it now, so it will have to wait. Besides, I haven't even been able to truly play this tuba and learn all of its different characteristics, I will also have a better idea of how necessary/urgent this will be.

I can't wait to have this tuba fixed. Even the busted up version of it plays pretty well.

[chronolith]

Be sure to post up some "after" pics when you get her back.

[Jay Bertolet]

No slight intended to what Lee posted (and he's a real expert on the RM products!) but I have seen and played on quite a few of these horns and I never found one that I preferred to have a 2nd valve kicker on instead of the real fix: a main tuning slide stick. The big advantage you have here is that the RM has a vertical main tuning slide pull so putting a stick on the main slide is cheap and easy. This stick allows you to manipulate all the notes on the horn, not just those involving the 2nd valve. Best of luck to your journey with a new horn!

[oedipoes]

I can't wait to have this tuba fixed. Even the busted up version of it plays pretty well.

If it plays like my BBb, you'll be a happy tuba player!

[bort]

I will definitely post pictures of it once I have it repaired.

As for the stick/kicker/etc., I'll wait until I get it back to decide about anything else. I still have yet to play this tuba in an undamaged state, so I don't know for sure what I'm dealing with. However, as-is, the intonation seems pretty good and I wouldn't be in any rush to go adding things to it. I'll see if anything changes with that over time.

[bort]

Hey... remember that time I bought a Rudy Meinl? Yeah, neither do I.

That all changes tomorrow, when I finally get to pick it up from the shop. Woohoo!

[Mojo workin']

Please post 'post-repair' pictures.

[Tubajug]

Please post 'post-repair' pictures.

Agreed!

[bort]

You got it, and yes Curmudgeon, I will make sure they are good photos. It looks great, Matt did excellent work! Only had a few minutes to play today, though. More to come!

[bort]

Before:

rsz_1wp_20140412_001.jpg

After:

rsz_1rsz_2img_4290.jpg

Ok, not the greatest pictures, but hopefully good enough. It really looks GREAT, Matt Walters did an excellent job with it (bell, regular servicing, and a bunch of small stuff). The repaired bell is a bit weak now, it's been through a lot in its life. I'll have to be very careful with it. I think not standing the tuba on its bell will be a good start, as well as starting a "bell replacement fund." The bell from the leadpipe and up is raw brass, just shiny right now. I'll figure out if I want to strip the rest of the bell or not. The rest of the tuba will stay as-is, though.

I didn't have a ton of time to play it today, but my first impressions from what I did... WOW. It's a *huge* difference between before and after -- the sound, response, and intonation are all excellent. I was particularly impressed by the low register, it just roars out of this tuba, I've never played a more satisfying pedal D on a tuba before (although I can see how a 2nd slide kicker might be nice). All around, a BIG sound, fun to play, and comfortable to hold.

It's not the most automatic point-and-shoot tuba I've ever played, but it's only been an hour and change. I just need more time behind the horn to get comfortable with it.

It's a special tuba, and I'm very happy with it.

[toobagrowl]

The R-M looks great. Glad it sounds and plays even better after the bell work... I knew it would.

So the tuba still sounds good even with that crinkled bell? I'll guarantee that it will sound even better after you have that bell smoothed out

Or, it might make almost no difference in the sound at all

I didn't have a ton of time to play it today, but my first impressions from what I did... WOW. It's a *huge* difference between before and after -- the sound, response, and intonation are all excellent. I was particularly impressed by the low register, it just roars out of this tuba, I've never played a more satisfying pedal D on a tuba before (although I can see how a 2nd slide kicker might be nice). All around, a BIG sound, fun to play, and comfortable to hold.

Yep

[bort]

Refinishing the bell is an extremely low priority right now(for a number of reasons) but thanks for the information all the same!

I'm not sure what made the most difference, the bell, the cleaning/alignment, or the other minor repairs. I know all of them contributed to improving the tuba, but beyond that, it's hard to tell.