Bort's Rudy Meinl 5/4 BBb (it is here!)

[Three Valves]

https://tenor.com/view/dmv-beetlejuice-gif-15201782

[bort2.0]

Current status: on a truck somewhere south of the Twin Cities. Anticipation!

[bort2.0]

It has arrived at the freight company. I'm waiting for the phone call to pick it up. I'll go anytime day or night.

But at this point, I'm guessing it's not until Monday morning.

But also, not like I would have been able to drive down to Iowa before Monday anyway.

[djwpe]

... I'm gonna be pretty dang happy with it. :)

Countdown to the "for sale" ad starts now.



Just kidding Brett. Use it in good health!!!

Don

[LargeTuba]

It has arrived at the freight company. I'm waiting for the phone call to pick it up. I'll go anytime day or night.

But at this point, I'm guessing it's not until Monday morning.

But also, not like I would have been able to drive down to Iowa before Monday anyway.

April fools?

[JRaymo]

It has arrived at the freight company. I'm waiting for the phone call to pick it up. I'll go anytime day or night.

But at this point, I'm guessing it's not until Monday morning.

But also, not like I would have been able to drive down to Iowa before Monday anyway.

I've driven there and its not too bad. I like road trips though. Just finished a 2500 plus mile one and I am tired now. So I am local if it will be sold in the future. I don't know if I will ever have a budget for another contra but if I did that would be on my short list. Keep me posted how it goes.

[bort2.0]

Oh, I'm not worried about th long drives, I love that stuff. I just have no time to do it. My kids are too little to drag them along (and they have no tolerance for long car rides right now), and leaving my kids with my wife for a full day while I run off to do tuba stuff... That's a no-go. Some day, but not now, they are just too young.

Tuba is still in Burnsville, I'm waiting for the depot to call me on Monday.

I haven't been this excited to receive a tuba since the rotary PT6 that I had a few years ago. That was just such a great, great tuba. I miss it a lot, and regret selling it. But ... The money I got from selling it allowed me to buy the house I'm sitting in now, so I guess it all works out okay. That was pre-Covid, so not like I was gonna be happy with having a PT-6 sitting around unused for 2 years.

Anyway, fingers crossed for Meinl Monday!

[humBell]

It has arrived at the freight company. I'm waiting for the phone call to pick it up. I'll go anytime day or night.

But at this point, I'm guessing it's not until Monday morning.

But also, not like I would have been able to drive down to Iowa before Monday anyway.

April fools?

It would have made a good subject for an April Fool's joke.

My Freight experience was right around Xmas, so i had a high tolerance for crazy shipping behavior. I am blanking on exact notification, but tracking said something about going into Boston, but the actual freight end stop was north of the city. And i may have pestered the sender who took the time to call them and confirm it was waiting patiently for me to pick. And it was clearly one of several times where going in, i knew i'd have to unpack the box on site because the tuba would fit i. the car, but the shipping container wouldn't. I think they were kind in letting me leave the box with them.

Anyway, i too look forward to hearing how it works out!

[bort2.0]

The tuba is now in my house.

A few very quick thoughts:

• Pick up from the freight terminal was easy and uneventful.

• First reaction -- holy crap this thing is huge

• Second reaction -- no, but like for real, the top bow is about the same size as the bottom bow on Martin Eb

• I've only played about 20 minutes on it, but the sound is incredible.

• For as big as it is, it's not very difficult to play. I don't feel particularly winded by it, it's just very open and easy to make it go

• Overall, it's a much different playing experience than I'm used to with other rotary tubas, and it's a completely different instrument than a small bore piston Eb. Individual notes are all totally fine easy to play. Moving between notes has some squirrelyness... But that is totally just me and not being used to playing something quite so huge. A little more time in the driver's seat and it all clear itself up in due time.

• Pedal B flat is the one note that seems to take a LOT of air. But once you're there, holy crap...!

Also, expect to see an enormous Alteiri bag for sale soon

And many thanks to Lee Stofer for bringing this fine tuba back to life.

Photos to come!

[prairieboy1]

Looking forward to the photos!!

[Worth]

Like others, I enjoy reading of your tuba adventures!

[bort2.0]

Photos!

It's hard to capture the scale... But it's 42" tall, very wide, and the bows are really fat. I haven't weighed it yet, but it doesn't feel crazy heavy to pick up, and it's comfortable to hold.

The bell... It needed some work, and the decision was to leave it a little rough, but solid and ready for regular use. As opposed to looking pretty, perfectly smooth, and too fragile to leave the house. Lots of patches, but worth it to keep the original bell.

This tuba is FUN!

[Stryk]

So happy for you! Those are INCREDIBLE instruments - one you will want to keep for a lifetime. And, pretty sexy lookin, too!

[prairieboy1]

Wow!!! That is a gorgeous horn. I hope you have a lot of fun with it!

[tofu]

.

[York-aholic]

Very nice. I wish you many pleasurable hours of playing.

[bort2.0]

I thought I might have played the Rudy you were getting when I was out at Lee's place getting work done some time ago. But this is a different horn. Different paddles etc and I don't remember a bell emblem. This looks like an older one. Lee knows Rudys well - did he have an idea on the age of this one?

You're gonna need a bigger trunk.

I remember when he brought by my place a 6/4 that he was taking in to Chicago for Gene P to try. My gosh what an immense tuba. Made the 5/4 look small - which is hard to do.

I had to put the tuba in the front seat. Maybe it'll fit in the trunk with a little wiggling, but I'm not sure.

Lee believes that it was handmade by Rudy Meinl Sr. in 1957, but sometime in the late 50s or early 60s is a good range for an estimate. Rudy Sr is in his early 80s now, so I'm not quite sure how the math all lines up there... but it's somewhere around there. So yes, this is a very early version of the 5/4 BBb. Being a handmade tuba, I'd expect there to be differences between 5/4 BBb's over the years, but Lee says that for the most part, the design hasn't changed much and it's unmistakable as a Rudy 5/4 BBb.

I know Lee has communicated with Rudy (Sr. or Jr.?) about my tuba, to confirm that yes, back in that time period their company did make tubas that were badged for the Reisser music store in Ulm. I've also chatted with Bob Tucci about my tuba, and he also confirmed that Rudy was making tubas with the Reisser badge for a period of time, prior to the current Rudy Meinl engraving, which started in 1969.

I also learned that Rudy Sr.'s father was also named Rudy, and their family had to leave Graslitz in 1945, and resettled in Franconia, Germany. The first family business was with a team of horses and a wagon. Bob even sent me a photo of a very young Rudy Sr. riding one of those horses with his father. After some amount of time, they got in the business of repairing instruments, then making instruments. (Unclear if that's what they were already doing in Graslitz before the relocation... guessing the horse/wagon was just temporary to make money while getting situated and rebuilding their lives.) The rest, we all know!

[bort2.0]

A few more thoughts, then I'll shut up for a while. Well, until after rehearsal on Thursday.

The last 2 inches of bell flare is where all the work was done. Lots of brazed patches. Not too pretty, but function is the most most important thing! From a few feet away you don't really notice it much. Down the road, a replacement bell is an option. An expensive option.

Second valve feels scratchy and sticks sometimes. I'm working with Lee to diagnose and resolve that. Open to suggestions here, too!

Other valves are all fast, smooth, and silent. Original S linkages work fantastically.

All of the slide tubes are as shiny, smooth, and as easy to use as a new tuba. Not sure how much Lee did to them, but they just look really nice.

The leadpipe on the tuba is a Miraphone 190 nickel silver leadpipe. Looks really pretty, IMO.

The top valve caps appear to be gold brass, or at the least, a different color from the rest of the brass on the horn. Also pretty!

The keel on the bottom... Hasn't injured me yet, but I'm cautious. Any guesses why there is a hole in it?

Valve paddles -- this is my first time owning a tuba with this style of machine... Round paddles, S-links, clockwork springs. Classy vintage stuff that works really well.

Otherwise, I have it sitting here next to me in my office, trying to acclimate myself to the physical size of it, to start normalizing the bigness of it. I've owned big tubas before, but this has to be the biggest. Takes a little time to get used to the bigness.

Excited to take it to rehearsal Thursday, but also a little nervous about keeping it under control. One way to find out!

[jtm]

The keel on the bottom... Hasn't injured me yet, but I'm cautious. Any guesses why there is a hole in it?

The hole is so you can hang it on the rack by the checkout counter.

[Worth]

Whoa, sibling on FB Tuba/Euph marketplace for those with access. Nice pictures. Located in Germany.