Posted by art on April 28, 2001 at 09:14:08:
In Reply to: past-owned tubas... posted by jon schultz on April 26, 2001 at 12:51:27:
How about this: My father paid $65 for a Martin tuba in 1932 and played it as his main instrument for 65 years. (He bought it from Vincent Bach's brother. Before buying it he had Luke DelNegro give it a toot.) It was built like a tank. When the guys in the concert band started razzing him about how it looked (after about 50 years) he had the bell cleaned up and replated, saying that was all the audience could see anyway. Now I have the horn. Recently I put a Walter Nirschl valve section onto it and a Bohm & Meinl leadpipe. I knocked out a few of the dents and cleaned it up a little. Positioning the valves, thumb ring and lead pipe exactly where I want them makes a big difference. It's heavy but plays like a dream. That metal is SO nice to work with! I have the original recording bell for outdoor concerts and an upright bell from a Beuscher helicon. Now suddenly my 16-year old Bohm & Meinl 5500 seems small and awkward. The interesting thing is that although the leadpipe and valve set have much bigger bore than the originals, the intonation quirks seem to be completely unchanged. (Great except for a flat 5th partial.)