Hirsbrunner Bb Photos

[highsierra]

For those of you who like horn photos, here are couple....


Hirsbrunner Bb


with my Rudy 4345 (36" tall)

[gregsundt]

A great tuba. I have only ever seen one of these; it sat for several years at Custom Music in the mid-late 80s while we sold everything else around it. The market for Hirsbrunner-quality BBb BATs wasn't then what it is today. I wonder how many of these were ever brought over?

[highsierra]

I'd be curious to know that as well. This one is the only one I've seen..it appears that HB had several variations..this one isn't as tall as the current 193.....

[cjk]

is that the same model that Rick Denney just recently bought (HBS 193 Kaiser BBb) ?

While it is much taller, it doesn't look that much bigger than the Rudolf Meinl 4345 in the photo.

[toobagrowl]

That HB BBb looks like it would be fun

[highsierra]

I'm not sure of the model but I'm thinking that it is a 193, an earlier variation. The bell diameter is 17.5" and it stands 42" tall.
The bottom bow and top bow are larger in diameter than the Rudy.....

[gregsundt]

At that time, it would have been imported and sold as an HB7. We sold a ton of HB6 5v CCs, but this one was unique. The only one I ever saw. I think Fred had hoped it would catch on with the DC military bands, but they all seemed to like Rudys. So, this one sat begging for a number of years. Glad it found a home. I promise you, it doesn't sound like a 4/4 Rudy...

[highsierra]

Thanks for the info, this is a very majestic tuba that has a huge presence. The projection is outstanding and bottom end will knock your socks off. The tuba weighs in at just over 21 lbs.....

[gregsundt]

You might find this thread informative, as well: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=65022

[highsierra]

Interesting, thanks for the link.....

[gregsundt]

So you may have one of only two ever imported by CMC. I'm a bit fuzzy on this, but Fred would occasionally order two of a special order: One for the buyer, the second to take to shows and create buzz. Yours might have made the trip over with the tuba mentioned in the other thread. In any case; rare and beautiful.

[Rick Denney]

Greg, do you have a date for when Fred brought these over?

This instrument is not as big as the HBS-193, which is 44" tall with a 19" bell. But it is proportioned very similarly, in the way that a Rudi 4/4 is proportioned similarly to a Rudi 5/4. The fourth slide on the back is configured similarly, but on the more recent 193's it's much wider. I also don't see the first-valve-slide centering device that was installed on all the 193's.

Mine was a follow-up instrument made when its first owner had an opportunity to see one that had been recently delivered to another buyer. Even in those days, it apparently took a little persuasion to get Herr Hirsbrunner to make one (all of these were hand-made). There may have been a time when the bell diameter was a bit smaller (with a bit less flare), but I doubt there was a time when the 193 was ever only 41" tall. Mine and its predecessor were made in the 90's--probably many years after Custom Music had their one example in stock. (The S-linkages would have dated from much earlier than the 90's.)

It's not, however, a current 192, which Hirsbrunner reports as being only 35" tall.

There are not many Bb tuba players willing to pay what a Hirsbrunner costs new. I can well imagine that one example would sit unsold. When I bought a tuba from Custom in maybe 1985, it was a Cerveny-made Sanders demonstrator that was the most expensive tuba that I could afford. This one was...more...but I still bought it used and traded for it.

I know that Paul Haugan had one of these also, but I don't know of any others that came over here (not that I would). So, unless Paul was the owner of the predecessor to mine, that makes three at least of the kaisers.

Rick "wondering where Paul's HBS-193 ended up" Denney

[Rick Denney]

By the way, I found an old, old post that linked to Hirsbrunner ads published by Custom Music in 1977 or so.

viewtopic.php?t=15436#p126330

The HB-3 was listed as the 5/4 Kaiser, and it had an 18" bell. There was no HB-7 listed, and, unfortunately, only the C tubas are pictured. The HB-4 was the 4/4 instrument, but it came in two flavors, as shown on the price list: The regular HB-4 was a "long" or "German-style" instrument, and the HB-4c was a "compact" or "American-style" instrument. I suspect 41" is the former for the 4/4 instrument.

Hornucopia has a picture of a very old Bb, identified (perhaps incorrectly, it must be said) as an HBS-193, with what looks like a 15-16" bell (a testament to its age). It is 44" tall, so that height has been part of the plan for that instrument for a very long time, and certainly for longer than Hirsbrunner has been imported into the U.S.

Rick "some data points" Denney

[Steve Marcus]

I know that Paul Haugan had one of these also, but I don't know of any others that came over here (not that I would). So, unless Paul was the owner of the predecessor to mine, that makes three at least of the kaisers.

Rick "wondering where Paul's HBS-193 ended up" Denney

Paul sat in a Chicago Brass Band rehearsal with what was probably a 193. It was a huge, tall BBb Kaiser.

The last I heard, at least some of Paul's many horns were still tied up in litigation regarding the disposition of his estate.

I and others who read this certainly miss Paul dearly. Despite certain "challenges," he had an ebullient and warm personality and was a magnificent musician.

A cherished memory is when Paul asked me to attend Madison Symphony's performance of Prokofiev 5 at Overture Hall. He received the first solo bow. In exchange for the comp tickets and Chinese food for dinner, he asked me to bring my Conn 48K Jumbo so that he could try it after the concert. I retrieved it from my car and brought it into Overture Hall. Paul began tooting some notes, after which security promptly kicked us all out of the Hall. By Paul's suggestion, we walked a couple blocks to the parking garage where he proceeded to wail on the Jumbo in the highly reverberant acoustic. It was a great time.

Now back to the Hirsbrunner BBb Kaiser discussion.

[gregsundt]

Greg, do you have a date for when Fred brought these over?

I worked there between 1983-1985. As I recall, it was there the entire time.

[gregsundt]

When I bought a tuba from Custom in maybe 1985, it was a Cerveny-made Sanders demonstrator that was the most expensive tuba that I could afford. This one was...more...but I still bought it used and traded for it.

You weren't, by chance, a student at BJU at the time? I sold three of those within a month about that time, then saw them in concert in Columbus about a year later...

[highsierra]

Thanks so much for the information. ...

[Rick Denney]

When I bought a tuba from Custom in maybe 1985, it was a Cerveny-made Sanders demonstrator that was the most expensive tuba that I could afford. This one was...more...but I still bought it used and traded for it.

You weren't, by chance, a student at BJU at the time? I sold three of those within a month about that time, then saw them in concert in Columbus about a year later...

No--I did not study music in college. I was living in Austin at the time and was working as an engineer, and had just finished a night-school graduate degree. From my undergraduate sophomore year until that time (about 8 years), I didn't play. When I started up again in 1984 or so, I played a Besson Stratford, which I'd "fished out of the dumpster" when my high-school band director received permission to junk it. The Sanders was a remarkable improvement, especially after I had replaced those miniball linkages that were sized too small for the purpose.

When I bought it, the guy I worked with was Jeff Funderburk, who was there about the same time you were.

Rick "noting that Sanders is probably still in Texas somewhere" Denney

[Rick Denney]

I and others who read this certainly miss Paul dearly. Despite certain "challenges," he had an ebullient and warm personality and was a magnificent musician.

I only knew him through frequent correspondence, but saw everything except the challenges, which I read about after he died.

Rick "certainly a sad story" Denney