Did anyone else get tuba-related gifts?

[bloke]

Notice that it's #1...just as Walmart is the #1 retailer.

[humBell]

Yes.

[ken herrick]

Yes; well, sort of............

For far too long I have been working up to assembling the Mirafone 186CC I bought in "Ikea like kit" form. With many parts missing - maybe in a box at Boeing - Seattle - there were challenges and "opportunities" in how I would do it. It is a 4v and the entire 4th circuit was apparently never installed. Ah ha, thought I, why not run the 4th circuit up the front and by using a double slide set-up with roughly enough pull to cover a full step to cover the full bottom range down to C#. The "trick" was to have 2 right angle bends so one leg would run under the valve levers: easier said than done! I finally managed to make such a part but it needed to be silver soldered as there was not a lot of tube to fit into a ferrule. My "cheap" oxy/map gas torch set (about$150 wasted) totally failed.

Fortunately, a good friend who is an absolute top class welder in any mode did that job - refusing to accept any payment. Now I am making real progress and in the next couple months should have the job completed. I'll do a post about it later. I'm hoping to be able to keep it and do some playing again but there is a big, dark cloud over that as I my be forced to move and don't have the few thousand $ that will take if I could even find a place I could afford to rent.

Also, he dropped off a Toyota Town Ace Spacia van which would make a good "tuba mover". $$$ are in very short supply and it needs some work on the fuel injection system so that may not happen.

Sooooooooooooooo, two out of 3 pressies were good, though the hint about maybe having to move was not a good one - more like a hell of a boost to the old depression I've been fighting for a very long time. 2022 will certainly be a year to......................

In the meantime, Happy New Year everybody!

[Alper]

After casually mentioning that I'd love to own a tuba—and after purchasing a music store made my wife adept at scouring Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, etc., for things to sell—my wife bought me a King 2341 (with a nice Hercules stand) from a man who had to give it up because he no longer had the breath for it. Much better condition than what I had been window-shopping over the years (and pricier, but it's a present).

So after a 47-year hiatus, I'm back. And hoping to pick up on the things that I missed in high school, being primarily a horn player and occasional tuba-doubler. My high school had a nice, playable BBb—maybe a Miraphone—that frequently tasted like cigarettes in 5th-period band class due to the bad boy who played it in 4th. I actually marched with the behemoth after some unpleasant encounters with a Sousaphone. (I haven't played a brass instrument during the hiatus except for comic effect.)

I figure this is the place to turn to find the answers to my ignorant questions.

Happy New Year, all!

[bloke]

@Alper
There is no reason to play a tuba, other than for comic effect, so you are already on the right track, and have found the right place, though our comedy (and much of our playing) is third rate, at best.