Alex Rebuild

[evan]

Please get him to add a ".html" or ".htm" to the end of that filename! That'll make some non-IE webbrowsers happier.

BTW the horn is beautiful. I'm glad I don't have to pay that repair bill

thanks,
Evan

[UDELBR]

I'm glad I don't have to pay that repair bill

I was thinking the same thing. Must have been either a financially well-off customer, or exceptionally pliant to have gone from a simple linkage replacement all the way to a thorough overhaul.

[tubeast]

This looks just wonderful. It´s great to see an instrument come back to life like that.
One thing I´d like to know, though:
Instead of applying ball bearings to both ends of the new linkages, Dan chose to use the cross-shaped double joints(vocab ??) as I presume would have been the original setup.
I believe this is the way to go if one intends to truly restore an instrument to an As-Good-As-50-Years-Ago condition.
As an engineer, I like the more direct approach (as done on today´s B&S horns, for example) better.
- No torque is exerted upon moving parts
- Less surfaces wear out and
- An eventual replacement of worn-out bearings must be much easier and cheaper to do.

I´m asking because my MW46 has badly worn joints and I thought about having them replaced by true ball-end linkages in the process of an overhaul.
Then again, a friend of mine introduced me to Hetman´s 15 valve oil, which took care of the percussion section on my horn really well, so I just might postpone that overhaul for a while.

[Daniel C. Oberloh]

I'm glad I don't have to pay that repair bill

So what do you think it cost? More then a new Alx tuba? maybe a good used one?

You might be surprized to know that the cost of the job was about what you might pay for a clean, used Mirafone tuba, with plenty of lacquer ware, minor dents and scratches and no case. about $2.5k

Relatively speeking, its not that much.
In the end, I guess it all depends on how deep your pockets are.

Glad to know you liked the images. thanks for the kind words.

Daniel C. Oberloh
Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works
www.oberloh.com

[Mark E. Chachich]

Dan,

From an Alexander player of many years, it is good to see a fine old Alex restored. Great job!

Mark