I wish I had never sold my...

[bloke]

(just saw this...unknown-to-me author)

Never go back to an old love. It's like reading a book over and over again when you already know how the story ends.

[MN_TimTuba]

'78 Jeep Wagoneer. Former Forest Service vehicle, OD Green, V8. Not pretty, not the most comfortable, I just really liked this one. Named her Shirley.
Ah, well.
Tim

[the elephant]

I reread books all the time. There is nothing wrong with that. To imply so implies the author likely has a wee mind capable of storing only a few thoughts and ideas at once, with any repetition giving him brain cramps. Evidence of his limited ability to parse simple concepts: how can one read a book a second time without already knowing how it ends? And who reads a book just to know how it ends? What a sad character this guy must be in real life.

[LeMark]

1975 Pontiac Grand Prix
Cerveny piggy

[the elephant]

I wish I had never sold my old books because now I can't reread them to find out how they end.

[matt g]

For tubas:
Probably my 188 and the Holton/Mirafone 6/4 BBb.

For cars:
None. I enjoyed them all, but I basically run them until they are near death and then sell them cheap, with lots of upcoming (and disclosed as known) problems to whomever needs something somewhat decent to get around.

For toys:
There are a lot of transformers and similar mecha toys I wished I’d kept when I was younger.

For bikes:
There was a Giant MTB with a Shimano Biopace chainring set I wished I’d kept. Would’ve made a competent “hybrid” now.

A Robinson 24” BMX I gave away to the neighbors mainly because I was running out of space.

A 20” all chromoly BMX bike I had assembled from buying up cast-off bikes from the local affluent kids.

[bort2.0]

Soul...? Jk

Tesla stock in 2011... also jk

Miraphone 188... Not jk. But as I said then, I'll say now... "They made more" Just a hassle to wait for money and opportunity to line up the right way again

[graybach]

…old school Miraphone 188.

[cktuba]

Tubas:
Kalison Pro 2000 CC
Meinl Weston 2155 CC
Yamaha 822F


Cars:
Dodge Omni GLH Turbo
Honda Accord V6

[prairieboy1]

Meinl Weston 2145 CC tuba. A great horn that I should have played more.

[bloke]

If one owns the cliff notes, it really is true that it’s not necessary to know the end of the story.
> A test on the book is never going to ask about the ending, and
> it’s bad form to talk about the ending of the story in a verbal (or even written) book report.

bloke “ol’ yeller” (not the story, but the color of the cliff notes)

[bort2.0]

Actually, I'm changing my answer to my rotary PT-6

I sold it for house down payment money. No regrets about that, but it was such a good tuba, and I never really got to put it into action. They rarely some up for sale these days, and when they do, it's not in my price range.

[bloke]

They are different from a MR P, but I really can’t say that one is better than the other.
Jeff Anderson sure makes a PT6 sound like it could possibly be the best tuba ever.

Actually, I'm changing my answer to my rotary PT-6

I sold it for house down payment money. No regrets about that, but it was such a good tuba, and I never really got to put it into action. They rarely some up for sale these days, and when they do, it's not in my price range.

[Ace]

Meinl Weston 2145 CC tuba. A great horn that I should have played more.

Ditto the MW 2145 CC. I loved that tuba, and played it in a good orchestra for eight years. Sold it to a young Texan on his way to School of Music in Denton.

Ace

[bort2.0]

They are different from a MR P, but I really can’t say that one is better than the other.
Jeff Anderson sure makes a PT6 sound like it could possibly be the best tuba ever.

Actually, I'm changing my answer to my rotary PT-6

I sold it for house down payment money. No regrets about that, but it was such a good tuba, and I never really got to put it into action. They rarely some up for sale these days, and when they do, it's not in my price range.

I had a Neptune, PT-7P and a PT-6. All 3 were sort of different versions of the same thing, but the PT-6 rotary was the best.

Loved the sound and size of the PT-7, wow....! But piston ergonomics we're painful and it has to go.

The Neptune was also a great player, but, as well all know and y'all have teased me for years... It didn't fit in my car.

[bloke]

I wasn’t aware that the PT 7 and the Neptune were really different instruments.

[matt g]

I wasn’t aware that the PT 7 and the Neptune were really different instruments.

The Neptune has a slightly bigger bell flare and gold-tinted lacquer. Plus the cooler engraving.

The PT-7P only came as a P(iston) horn whereas the Neptune came in piston and rotary flavors. The rotary is generally considered the better horn. And if someone wanted a rotary PT-7, well it was the de facto VMI Neptune rotary.

I didn’t mind the ergonomics of those pistons, but the slide layout kinda sucked.

[bort2.0]

Everything Matt just said.

The PT-7 bell was smaller diameter and maybe a faster flare. The big Neptune bell seemed to be more pancakey.

The piston Neptune and PT-7 were very similar apart from the bell... But as I understand it, the PT-7 was subject to more advancements and updates during it's production run. The Neptune was built to Mel Culbertson's configuration desires... So once it was made, that was that -- no changes. I think that's why some of the valve sections between the two were a little different. I forget what else was different, leadpipe maybe, and other kinda smallish stuff...?

But the bell, that made a big difference. The PT-7 bell was a Kaiser BBb bell copied or built from an old mandrel that they had. The intent, from the original marketing of the PT-7, was to get more of a Kaiser BBb sound from a CC tuba. Which, is exactly what they say about the MRP now, as well. And, that was the goal of the Neptune rotary with the two leadpipe -- one leaned more American sound, the other more Kaiser.

It was a really nice tuba. Many people warned me before I bought it that the PT-7 typically was kind of a dud of a tuba. Mine was quite good.

[bort2.0]

And while we're at it, maybe I should never have sold my Miraphone 1291.

That was a great tuba, and I used that horn more than anything else in my tuba life. It was the definition of "easy to play" for me. Never let me down, never gave me a single problem. Just grab and go, and power through everything. A great tuba companion.

Somewhere along the way, I started experimenting with other horns, and liked the richer "color" of sound from other makes/models. So, I chased after that, and haven't stopped yet.

But in the 5(?) years that I had and heavily used that horn, I got zero complaints and countless compliments.

I sorta think that when I throw in the towel for "big tubas," and stop all my buy/sell/trade stuff, I could easily end up with another Miraphone 1291.

It was simply an "easy" tuba in every way. Easy to play, easy to hold, easy to transport, easy intonation, easy low register, fantastic valves. I like "easy."

I don't think my Rudy is "difficult," but the 1291 is the winner of "easy to play" out of all the things I've owned.

[the elephant]

Truth be told, I wish I had never sold *most* of the horns that have passed through my hands over the years, as today I could work on them to try and solve whatever defects they had. Just about all of them were a lot of fun to play. Otherwise, I would not have bought them in the first place. Likewise, all of them had something compelling about how they played, too.

I wish I could have given a second chance to the MW 32 with the 1940s bell and the weird, cool valve machine that I wanted to rebuild so badly. I loved that tuba. I sold it because it had a flat half-step 5th. I could change that nowadays.

I wish I had kept my old Mirafone 180 F because I never got to finish its complete redesign. I built half of the bugle myself. It was getting where I wanted it, but I got my 621 F and was not playing it. Like Joe, if I am not playing it I sell it.

I wish I could have kept my wonderful Alexander 163. That was my only horn for five years and my main horn for twelve. I just wanted to get on the BAT bandwagon, so I traded it.

I wish I could have kept the Cerveny Harmonia six-banger F I bought from Marty. It had some fascinating points and a sound that was to die for. It was our bass trombonist's favorite tuba I ever brought to work. But I was not playing it.

I wish I had kept that Warren Deck-built 2265 prototype, which needed some work to correct some weirdness, acoustically. I can do that sort of thing, now, so it is a shame that I no longer have it. But I greatly preferred my Holton 345, so it had to go.

And if you want to know the truth, after 28 years of being a full-time orchestral musician, I find that, with a number of important exceptions, I probably would have been happier had I stayed in the US Army band system rather than having gone to school and all that. My life would have been much better in many ways, but I was too young and stupid to understand what an outstanding gig I had in New York City, and that, being a wonderful-but-off-grid band meant that I could have stayed there for MANY years. I miss most of the life I had back then more than anything else. So, while not having "sold" that job and life, I did choose to give it up. I guess that is the biggest thing I regret having gotten rid of.