Posted by Steve Bloom on December 14, 2000 at 23:01:14:
In Reply to: old euphonium posted by zack on December 14, 2000 at 01:24:53:
This is not an uncommon question for instruments of this vintage. Historically, the H.N. White brand (aka "King") has a good reputation for quality low brass, particularly in the earlier years (late 1890's through the late 1930's). I have had a number of the older H.N. White horns, the last one a "giant" EEb tuba with a similar serial number in the 13XXX range. The approximate manufacture date is consistent with my research, which would indicate 1901 - 1905. Unfortunately, a fire at the factory (also not uncommon in the early brassworks days) destroyed much of the archive data relative to serial numbers and one can only extrapolate to get a ballpark figure.
As to your question, there are a number of considerations. First, as has been pointed out, it's important to determine the pitch of the instrument. It could be flat, sharp, or somewhere in between. I once had a beautiful H.N. White Eb tuba that was so flat it was unplayable, and unfortunately there wasn't enough tubing left to cut to bring it back into pitch. The tuning slide appeared to be the "high" slide, and there was no excess at the crook or anywhere else...so, I sold it for a loss. If the horn isn't in pitch, you have to decide whether the cost of bringing into pitch is worth the extra money. The second issue is the fact this is only a 3-valve instrument. There is diminished demand for 3-valve instruments, and if it had 4 valves and was a great player it might be worth sinking money into pitch modification. As a comparison, I paid $400 for my H.N. White Eb tuba, and then paid another $900 to Dan Oberloh (a world class techician) for dent removal and valve overhaul. I have since sold it for $500, which is about what it's worth. The bottom line is, these old horns are worth no more than someone is willing to pay for them, and to paraphrase Phinneas Taylor Barnum, "there's a sucker born every minute". I think the limiting factor at this point is the 3-valve setup, and my hunch is that $357 is on the high side. My opinion, for whatever it's worth...