The Alexander firm, which is still in existence, dates back to the late 18th century. That makes it one of the oldest, if not the oldest, continuous brass instrument maker in the world. Alexander was, and still is, known for the high quality of their double horns and their bass and contrabass tubas which were considered some of the finest produced in Germany after World War II.
Mr. Simonetti, founder of the Museum, had the privilege of visiting the Alexander “factory” in 1994, when he was attending the “Musik Messe” (Music Trade Show) in Frankfurt, Germany which was the largest musical instrument trade show in the world at that time.
The Alexander Company is located in the tiny town of Mainz, which is near Frankfurt. When Mr. Simonetti got to the address for the Alexander “factory,” there was only a piano store. The Alexander workshop was on the floor above the piano store. It had ten employees and the “Tuba Meister” was the only person designated to produce tubas. When he asked if there were any tubas to try out, they said they did not have any, and an order had to be placed a year in advance because it took that long to make a tuba. Needless to say, Mr. Simonetti was disappointed.
The Museum is pleased to have this fine instrument in the collection. The Museum also has another Alexander tuba in our collection including a BBb tuba very similar to this CC tuba. VS.
https://simonettitubacollection.com/ins ... -4-rotary/
