Tuba in the old Boston Location of Rayburn Music

[Matt G]

This thread …

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… and a recent discussion on Reddit jogged my memory about an old 6/4 horn that used to be in the window of the Rayburn music that was just down the street from Symphony Hall in Boston. Last time I remember seeing it was early 2000s.

I can't remember if it was a Conn or a Martin (or something else), but I remember it having a not-too-terrible price tag upon first inspection. However, after playing it and realizing it was de facto in the key of B natural, the additional work required to improve it made it put it back and thank the attendant for the opportunity to play on it. I think everyone in the store at the time knew it had issues...

That being said, it had a good sound and I'm pretty sure that someone like Matt Walter's could have sorted it out.

Does anyone know what happened to that horn? Does the story have a happy ending?

[Matt G]

Someone had cut on this tuba before, there were some telltale signs of non-factory work on some of the tubing.

It was 4 valve front/side action. Upright Bell. Lacquer, iirc. This was roughly 18 years ago...

[Matt G]

Ah, a failed experiment in raising its pitch. Gotcha. I was in Boston around that time in college and used to go there frequently. Was just curious at which model got ruined...

From what I can gather, this horn was in the front window for a long period of time. Years...