The quality of the tuba needs no explanation. “Responsive” is the best one-word description for this tuba I can think of. It is one of the two most responsive tubas I’ve played. It will really put out sound, but on the other hand it is also the easiest tuba to play softly I’ve experienced. The sound is warm and clear.
I bought it recently: here is the post I responded to. (New pictures showing the results of bloke's work on it on April 22 are here. Nearly all the dents are gone, and the one on the inner bow is much better.)
Here is the well-informed description of this tuba from that post :
I cleaned it up a bit and removed the brass tubes from the bottom valve caps. I kept them and they are not damaged, so I will put them in the case so you can reattach them if you want. I also had a bit of work done on the fifth valve slide to improve its function.“Mid 1990s make, silver in great condition. Singing mid to upper register and fat low register with the older, larger 5th valve, which is better in my opinion. Intonation very good, especially in the low register, but it can be mouthpiece sensitive and "e" in the staff can be played open. Customized 5th valve in RH (see pics below) and tubes added to back of valve caps for moisture (not added by me, see pics). This is an excellent example of these rare instruments. It has the good set of bigger valves, not as large as the MW big valves, NOT the Brazilian made valves. The silver plating is bright and in excellent shape, there is one small dent in an inner branch (also pictured) and some minor spots here and there but overall it's in great shape. A previous owner customized this and it plays wonderfully.“
I’ll drive a fair distance (say, 3 hours or so) to meet if you want to buy it. I live near Interstate 65 about halfway between Nashville and Birmingham and would be glad for you to come by and try it.
$11,000 + shipping, with an MTS 1207 case in which it fits without any shifting around.
If anyone wants to talk about a trade I’d gladly discuss other 4/4-ish 4P1R CC tubas. Though it is a long shot, one of the production versions of this same tuba would be an especially welcome trade. Certain rotary tubas like a 4/4 Rudolf Meinl CC or perhaps a 188 could be of interest as well.
EDIT: I should make it more clear that when I speak of a trade, in all likelihood this means my tuba for your tuba+some cash. There aren't many (any?) tubas out there that the current market would value as an even trade for this tuba which would at the same time fulfill my first-paragraph-above goal.
