I need to shuffle my stable around a little as I have too many tubas that fill the same niche.
I have an extraordinary 4v Piggy CC for sale. This is the instrument formerly owned by John Stevens and John Cradler, the latter of whom won the Marine Band audition on this instrument. This is what Mr. Cradler has to say about it (located in this topic):
JCradler wrote:There it is AGAIN! I'm almost positive I used to own that tuba! A bit of history, as it was told to me: It was imported around 1973 by Ron Apperson (the mute guy) and had string linkage. John Stevens bought it and had the linkages swapped out. He also had the leadpipe raised and curved around the bell more abruptly. The thumb ring was also moved- you may be able to see evidence of this as well. The give away was the hook on the first valve slide. He had this installed for easier reach to the slide. Last pic I saw of this tuba it had a patch on the top bow that has appeared since I sold the tuba in 2002. When I bought it in 1987, it was quite scarred from all the soldering work. Around 1992, I had it cleaned, minimally de-dented and re-lacquered at Mizell Music in Hagerstown, MD. That is why the lacquer looks so good. Since 2002, I don't know where it's been. Hopefully folks have enjoyed playing it. I was told that the import duty on the tuba back in the day was basically 100% of the horn's price since it was from a communist bloc country. That said, the bell engraving is really cool.
John Stevens used this tuba for the opening Broadway run of "Barnum", I believe and also toured with Chuck Mangione with it. I used it on that fateful( in a good way) day back in 1989 when I auditioned for the Marine Band. It is a special one.
Since John owned it, the leadpipe has been repaired and has had a guard wire installed, as has the fourth valve tubing. The lacquer is about 85-90% intact and the valves are very fast and quiet. There is a small patch on the top bow, there is minimal evidence of a bell repair, and the bottom bow has a flat spot, but it's cosmetically very pleasing for a 43 year old Pig.
There is a rod attachment to the first valve for better access while playing, but intonation is really quite good on this tuba. Third partial rides a bit high and fifth partial a bit low, but nothing unusual or unworkable. No "Alex" fingerings needed (says the Alex owner...
). I find a pull for third partial F and a push for fifth partial D are the only instances you would want to use the rod. As is typical for most Piggies, this one has an awesome low range. Low F centers quite nicely with 124 and a push on the 1st slide.$2,150 is my absolute lowest price for this package. I will sell the bag separately (asking $250) if the package doesn't sell.
Horn is in Louisville and I will ship at buyer's expense or drive a fair ways to arrange a sale - say 6ish hours in any direction on interstates 71, 64, or 65. This puts me in range of Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, Lexington, Huntington, Charleston WV, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Bowling Green (KY and OH!), Memphis, Atlanta, Detroit, Chattanooga, Birmingham... Louisville is very conveniently located right between the South and the Midwest.
PM or email b.taylor90 at gmail dot com.
Thanks!
Blake