Bloke, the man, the myth, the legend.
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TubaZac2012
- 3 valves

- Posts: 319
- Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 7:44 am
- Location: Florence, Alabama
Bloke, the man, the myth, the legend.
If you don't know Bloke, or have yet to cross paths with him, which seems to be impossible to me because he goes to almost every major tuba happening in the Eastern United States, here's a little about him.
He's one of the nicest people you'll meet, really blunt and honest, too though. He is a great repair tech. A fantastic tuba player. Extremely intelligent, and more. I could continue talking about him, but as a lot of you already know he'll probably deny just about all of it.
A big thank you to him for a great weekend! I drove up to St. Louis yesterday to finalize my tuba sale, because I've always been leery about shipping a tuba, and it went great, well I called him after I got done and he offered up his guest room if I could get down to Williston, and so I drove. It was 11 hours in a car yesterday, but it was worth it. Today he played a rehearsal I sat in on, and man did he sound great. Then we went back to his place and he worked on my Mack Brass 410 getting the rotars a little more comfortable, and I was on my way.
Again, if you don't know Bloke personally, you should, it's worth the drive, flight, or bus ride to Memphis. Shoot, I'm sure he'd pick you up!
He's one of the nicest people you'll meet, really blunt and honest, too though. He is a great repair tech. A fantastic tuba player. Extremely intelligent, and more. I could continue talking about him, but as a lot of you already know he'll probably deny just about all of it.
A big thank you to him for a great weekend! I drove up to St. Louis yesterday to finalize my tuba sale, because I've always been leery about shipping a tuba, and it went great, well I called him after I got done and he offered up his guest room if I could get down to Williston, and so I drove. It was 11 hours in a car yesterday, but it was worth it. Today he played a rehearsal I sat in on, and man did he sound great. Then we went back to his place and he worked on my Mack Brass 410 getting the rotars a little more comfortable, and I was on my way.
Again, if you don't know Bloke personally, you should, it's worth the drive, flight, or bus ride to Memphis. Shoot, I'm sure he'd pick you up!
Zac Riley
Shoals Community Band
Twickenham Winds
Huntsville Brass Band Contrabass Tuba
Madison Community Symphony Orchestra
York/King/Reynolds Custom Tabor Build Franken York CC
Shoals Community Band
Twickenham Winds
Huntsville Brass Band Contrabass Tuba
Madison Community Symphony Orchestra
York/King/Reynolds Custom Tabor Build Franken York CC
- Dan Schultz
- TubaTinker

- Posts: 10427
- Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 10:46 pm
- Location: Newburgh, Indiana
- Contact:
Re: Bloke, the man, the myth, the legend.
If you knew Blokie like I know Blokie... oh, oh, oh what a guy!
Dan Schultz
"The Village Tinker"
http://www.thevillagetinker.com" target="_blank
Current 'stable'... Rudolf Meinl 5/4, Marzan (by Willson) euph, King 2341, Alphorn, and other strange stuff.
"The Village Tinker"
http://www.thevillagetinker.com" target="_blank
Current 'stable'... Rudolf Meinl 5/4, Marzan (by Willson) euph, King 2341, Alphorn, and other strange stuff.
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TubaZac2012
- 3 valves

- Posts: 319
- Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 7:44 am
- Location: Florence, Alabama
Re: Bloke, the man, the myth, the legend.
Oh I have no doubt!
Zac Riley
Shoals Community Band
Twickenham Winds
Huntsville Brass Band Contrabass Tuba
Madison Community Symphony Orchestra
York/King/Reynolds Custom Tabor Build Franken York CC
Shoals Community Band
Twickenham Winds
Huntsville Brass Band Contrabass Tuba
Madison Community Symphony Orchestra
York/King/Reynolds Custom Tabor Build Franken York CC
- arminhachmer
- 3 valves

- Posts: 260
- Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2010 7:58 am
Re: Bloke, the man, the myth, the legend.
Dr. Dan, the Vaudeville man. Sing it out, Dan......TubaTinker wrote:If you knew Blokie like I know Blokie... oh, oh, oh what a guy!
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eupher61
- 6 valves

- Posts: 2790
- Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2006 9:37 pm
Re: Bloke, the man, the myth, the legend.
and don't you forget it.
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barry grrr-ero
- 4 valves

- Posts: 859
- Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2008 4:40 am
Re: Bloke, the man, the myth, the legend.
Bloke puts together a pretty mean mouthpiece for the Neptune tuba as well. 
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TubaZac2012
- 3 valves

- Posts: 319
- Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 7:44 am
- Location: Florence, Alabama
Re: Bloke, the man, the myth, the legend.
Very kind words my friend. Glad to be able to call you a friend!bloke wrote:I've watched Zac' over the last couple of years, and am very proud of him re: his work ethic, his soberness re: his career path and self-evaluation, and the way he honors his parents - particularly in keeping his word when he makes promises to them.
I'm just a blue-collar tuba player and fix-it guy with bad manners and expensive mouthpieces.
Zac Riley
Shoals Community Band
Twickenham Winds
Huntsville Brass Band Contrabass Tuba
Madison Community Symphony Orchestra
York/King/Reynolds Custom Tabor Build Franken York CC
Shoals Community Band
Twickenham Winds
Huntsville Brass Band Contrabass Tuba
Madison Community Symphony Orchestra
York/King/Reynolds Custom Tabor Build Franken York CC
- bort
- 6 valves

- Posts: 11223
- Joined: Wed Sep 22, 2004 11:08 pm
- Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Re: Bloke, the man, the myth, the legend.
Besides the fact that orchestral players literally wear white collars, I don't see "tuba player" as a particularly "white-collar" job.bloke wrote:I'm just a blue-collar tuba player and fix-it guy with bad manners and expensive mouthpieces.
- Tubaryan12
- 6 valves

- Posts: 2106
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Heavy_Metal
- 5 valves

- Posts: 1734
- Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 10:42 pm
- Location: Baltimore, MD, USA
Re: Bloke, the man, the myth, the legend.
For those of us who haven't heard bloke playing, check out the video link in this thread. Since it's almost Easter, this is the time to hear it:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=59888" target="_blank
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=59888" target="_blank
Principal tuba, Bel Air Community Band
Old (early 1900s?) Alexander BBb proto-163
1976 Sonora (B&S 101) 4-rotor BBb
1964 Conn 20J/21J BBb (one body, both bells)
~1904 York 3P BBb Helicon
Old Alex Comp.F, in shop
Old (early 1900s?) Alexander BBb proto-163
1976 Sonora (B&S 101) 4-rotor BBb
1964 Conn 20J/21J BBb (one body, both bells)
~1904 York 3P BBb Helicon
Old Alex Comp.F, in shop
- bort
- 6 valves

- Posts: 11223
- Joined: Wed Sep 22, 2004 11:08 pm
- Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Re: Bloke, the man, the myth, the legend.
Hey Joe... Thor, Rudy, or Neptune next Sunday?
- sloan
- On Ice

- Posts: 1827
- Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2004 10:34 pm
- Location: Nutley, NJ
Re: Bloke, the man, the myth, the legend.
It's always fun to see the newbies discover Bloke
Kenneth Sloan
- bort
- 6 valves

- Posts: 11223
- Joined: Wed Sep 22, 2004 11:08 pm
- Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Re: Bloke, the man, the myth, the legend.
Very cool... and clearly, you don't need me to tell you that the Thor certainly sounds great. That's always the problem though, isn't it? You can only play one tuba at a time, so why have more than 1 that does (nearly) the same thing?
PS -- did Frank Lloyd Wright design that boat ramp?
PS -- did Frank Lloyd Wright design that boat ramp?
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doublebuzzing
- 3 valves

- Posts: 361
- Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2009 7:03 pm
Re: Bloke, the man, the myth, the legend.
"Plus, sticking the Jinbaoso just off stage (on it's stand on the sanctuary floor) would have drawn undue attention (even more undue attention than an old fat guy sitting up front with a big shiny metal loud-farting toilet in his lap), and also would have still been awkward to lift up and play (particularly as there were also a bunch of live potted plants jammed up against me along the front edge of the stage)."
Thanks I needed that
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aaronliu
- bugler

- Posts: 96
- Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2015 1:15 pm
Re: Bloke, the man, the myth, the legend.
bloke helped me out too; I got a chance to talk with him on the phone. A privilege.
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Antontuba
- bugler

- Posts: 86
- Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2010 5:14 pm
Re: Bloke, the man, the myth, the legend.
Joe,
I like your comments regarding Zac, made me think about my parents.
Adam
Antontuba
I like your comments regarding Zac, made me think about my parents.
Adam
Antontuba
- iiipopes
- Utility Infielder

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