Posted by BS on June 04, 2001 at 18:12:35:
In Reply to: Re: Old Tuba posted by Adam Peck on June 04, 2001 at 16:47:00:
I would guess that it is a B&S/VMI product. I believe that is who makes the Gerhard Schneider tubas.
I would give up on your dream to convert it to F, CC or even restore it as a BBb. First off, There are some major and expensive parts missing so even a restoration might cost more than a new horn. Converting to an F is not possible because so much large tubing must be removed that it makes it impossible to achieve an acceptable taper(this little factoid comes from a noted expert in tuba conversions). It would be impractical to convert it into a CC as well. Besides having to replace all of the missing pieces, one has to consider that there is an abundance of affordable 4/4 CC tubas that are available. It doesn't make sense to take such an expensive gamble. Conversions make sense only if you have a truly special horn like a York or Holton.
Such a horn was probably not terribly expensive to begin with. The were sold by Selmer and were directed twoard the school band market. There was an overhauled Gerhard Schneider on Ebay recently that had a Buy it Now price of $2600. I'm fairly certain that you could not restore this horn for that price. I hate to tell you this, but it was probably hanging on the wall of a restaruant for a reason.