THREAD NAME CHANGE: 56-year-old 5-rotor 186 C that I fixed up and sold to a friend

[bloke]

Here is the connector ("knee", as I was reminded) between the #4 rotor and the main slide from a VERY old, VERY well-built, and VERY nice-playing (no cracks, no patches, no buffing) factory 5-rotor 186 C tuba...
...Actually, this tuba was fabricated right around this time: https://entertainment.time.com/wp-conte ... 480&crop=1

Notice the curvature of this piece:



Quite obviously the "run" of the 5 rotors features a slight (1/8" / 3mm) upward-tilting (away from the body) error (if it can even be called an "error"...??) so - to line up the main slide with the (former design) large brace between the main slide and the bottom bow, this piece was taken back off the instrument and bent - in order to affect that alignment with the bottom bow brace.

Of course, this curvature "flaw" causes the upper double-high B-natural (in A=442 just intonation) to not "slot" out as it otherwise would.



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SHIPPING:

This instrument WILL be ready for its buyer BY noon on THURSDAY, because the stars are aligned, and a friend of both the buyer and myself will be passing within 1.2 hours north of of blokeplace (on their way towards the same city as is the home of the buyer) around 3:30 P.M. on Thursday. A rendezvous and instrument relay is thus scheduled. I believe THIS (until - eventually - none of us in the bourgeoisie classes are allowed to own cars) to be THE future of "shipping" tubas - in the USA.

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MISC:
This is a really nice instrument, which (until I was forced to strip it, due to some "genius" completely spraying over it with very splotchy/rough clear rattle-can something-or-other (probably decades ago) featured its original lacquer, no cracks, no patches, and excellent-condition rotors. The buyer (you may - ?? - see them showing it off, as they are semi-high-profile in the tuba world) will be receiving a dent-free instrument, no case, and a conversion kit (in a box) for right-hand thumb linkage and (if they choose) the GG whole-step 5th circuit length.

I'll probably post two "done" (and it will NOT be shiny...not at all) pictures, prior to it disappearing from here.
This would NOT have made for an interesting "thread", because all I did was to pull off the bow, pull of this "knee", remove typical "Sears-and-Roebuck" denting, strip off the horrible lacquer(s), put it back together, and (mechanically) will have picked over it so as to be "gig-ready". Someone - in the past - affected a DVS conversion; it was done well (albeit not a difficult conversion to do).

WERE I A "COLLECTOR"...
Neither the one I sold to Bill - nor this one - would be sold. They are different, yet both excellent.
- The one Bill has is more clarion (mostly, to my preference).
- This one is more "188-ish" sounding (to many others' preference).

[bloke]

I nearly got this thing stuck together before dinner. Technically, it’s playable, but I guess “technically” it was “playable” before I ever started repairing it.

The DVS conversion wasn’t totally thought out by whoever did it, so I’m having to tend to a few details.

I had more drilling done in my mouth, this morning. I think I’m going to go ahead and take advantage of this “fake 8 o’clock P.M.” thing, and call it barely late enough to go to bed.

pictures tomorrow, and maybe a little video-toot - or something…(??)

[bloke]

Okay...I was (sort-of) hoarding this, an accomplished (REALLY fine player) professional (who - somehow - knew that I had this) continued to badger me into selling it to them "as-is", I finally realized that (since -after all - I sold my other one to Bill) I probably would eventually sell this one, I agreed to sell it to them, but ALSO fixed it up "pretty damn nice".
- The dent removal work is really excellent. HOWEVER, it's apparent that it has been repaired...ie. This is NOT one of my super-squeeky slick-out jobs.
- It had its original (worn nitrocellulose) lacquer PLUS a HORRIBLE thick layer of old-school splotchy, orange-peely, sugary rattle-can lacquer (wft...??) OVER the worn original lacquer.

This thing has really great valves (regardless of the fact that it is 56 years old), and the only really non-original thing (other than me removing and reinstalling a couple of parts to remove denting) is the DVS linkage - which is in good shape, but (well) whenever it was done, the installer left some critical issues unaddressed (which I addressed).

Oh yeah...The buyer also requested (if I could round them up) that I swap out the no-bearing-wear-quick-fix screws VALVE CAPS for original/vintage (no screws) ones...so I robbed four WITH screws off of a beat-up 1974 B-flat (which I will fix up and sell...someday).

Anyway, being this early, it features the really large mouthpipe (with a choke point of c. .550" or so...perhaps even a bit larger than that)...so it's one of those "darker"-sounding ones. The larger mouthpipe defines that it's a bit foreign-feeling (to me), but - nevertheless - a nice blow. (Even with something like a C4-ish mouthpiece, the sound is still quite "round" - particularly for a 186.)

Finally, this was a FRANTIC fix-up...Five days ago, it was covered with cobwebs, sorta beat-up, and in completely non-repaired condition.
Suddenly, we agreed to a deal (basically, me agreeing to sell it, and - even more suddenly) a trustworthy student of the buyer is driving within an hour of blokeplace...so (whew!)... Health-wise, I'm just about recovered from being all cut-up and sewn-in, so I'm grateful that I didn't have to hurry this thing along while in pain, and without most of my previous-to-surgery endurance...so it all worked out.

This tuba (notice the main slide ferrule, length of the main tuning slide tubes, and available brass tubing on the soldered ends of the main outside slide tubes) is a bit flat-natured - FOR ME. I'm LEAVING IT ALONE, because not everyone blows tubas the same. Further, I'm including a right-thumb-and-G-whole-tone 5th valve conversion kit, so - if the buyer needs the tuba shorter - sure "whomever is going to install some-or-all of that jazz can ALSO (if need be) shorten the tuba.

Anyway it's a very cool intact old tuba (NO: filing/sanding/buffing/cracks/patches), that's easy to play.
Here are some pictures, and open-tones tuning video (with a C4-ish mouthpiece) and I also played that D-major lick from the last movement of the Malcolm Arnold Quintet...but (again, per another thread) my phone's audio recording is screwed up, and (though you can barely hear it, if you listen closely) my phone cut out the audio on the first half of that lick.




LARGE:


1960's THICK-GAUGE LEVERS:



SHORT "D-MAJOR LICK" EXCERPT FROM LAST MOVEMENT OF MALCOLM ARNOLD QUINTET (Audio cut out on the beginning, and I'm not going to re-record it.)
https://i.imgur.com/5VMvD1V.mp4

OPEN TONES TUNING VIDEO:
https://i.imgur.com/NHyT0xD.mp4
TUNING VIDEO:

[York-aholic]

Not the worst looking or playing horn I've ever seen.

Nice job.

[Three Valves]

I Ike the large colon/small intestine wrap of those things.

[bloke]

I believe Miraphone copied one of the Jinbao models.

I Ike the large colon/small intestine wrap of those things.

[bort2.0]

Might this owner want to buy Wade's gig bag?

[the elephant]

… buy Wade's gig bag?

In all seriousness, that might be a good idea if he does not already have a bag for this tuba. I expect that you and he may already have a bag or case solution set up, but if this were to become a thing you know how to get me.

[jtm]

Funny: my BBb 186 is SN 2905 and it has the same thick paddles but there are S-links to the valves.

[the elephant]

DVS was an eighties thing, and these were retrofitted. Joe commented that they were not done to a very high standard and he cleaned them up so they are now nice.

[bloke]

Yeah, my post with the pictures was long, but part of what was included was that someone obviously converted this linkage in the past.
Even though they used the correct stop arms, the DVS links were still dragging against those stop arms.
I believe that later DVS stop arms featured a wider radius (plus, an even more skeletonized center) - whereby the steel ball was positioned farther away from the center, and solved the problem of previously having to trim on the nylon socket for clearance.

Funny: my BBb 186 is SN 2905 and it has the same thick paddles but there are S-links to the valves.

[tofu]

.

[bort2.0]

My Willson was stamped with "02" everywhere. Valve parts, inner slide tubes, everything. Kinda neat. I called them "bench numbers", guessing the same thing as you... That the pile of unassembled parts would still be identifiable as all going together.

[bloke]

I’ve always assumed the numbers like that were for the benefit of those doing assembly and matching things up.