Vintage 188

[bloke]

Get in your car, drive to the tuba, take pictures of it, email them to yourself, drive back home, and look at the pictures on your laptop.

Then you can send the seller some money via some dubious electronic method, and talk about some expensive shipping.

[bloke]

Post coup, gas to Mechanicsburg and back – in a car with mediocre gas mileage – is going to cost at least $500, then there are tolls and a cheap motel room (and triple priced fast food, unless you take a couple of boxes of Sam’s cereal with you).

me…??
Were I interested in it, that’s still what I would do, and I would also negotiate (actually: offer a take it or leave it price very politely) a price - live on the phone (not email) - conditionally - prior to going there.
If I had a M-F/9–5 J.O.B., I would also drive all the way there on a Saturday and drive all the way home on a Sunday… and there is a way to do that and still get enough sleep.
… but it seems like Wade and I are the only two people here who would do that, though we have good reasons for being like that.

(32 hours of driving: Think of all the hours you spend here engaging in unproductive blather.)

[bort2.0]

I understand fully the benefits of driving long distances to get a tuba, but it's just not realistic that as a husband and as a father of two young kids would ever be able to just up and say, I'm driving to Pennsylvania and back this weekend. It is NOT going to happen. Getting out of the house solo for only an hour or two is rare enough.

Maybe that's just me. But... That's me.

[gnimoyw]

When your kids get a bit bigger they’ll want to come along. Right when Covid kicked off I bought a tuba from a guy down south and we agreed to meet in northern Oklahoma for the exchange. My daughter and I did the drive in a single day leaving very early from the Denver area. It was about 1250 miles round trip and was the single longest day of driving I’ve done in a long time. But we had a ton of fun.

And then, as I’ve learned, the “let’s drive to get a tuba” period quickly ends and now my kids think I’m lame and don’t want to hang out with me.

[jtm]

Now it's $4500

[Rick Denney]

Post coup, gas to Mechanicsburg and back – in a car with mediocre gas mileage – is going to cost at least $500, then there are tolls and a cheap motel room (and triple priced fast food, unless you take a couple of boxes of Sam’s cereal with you).

me…??
Were I interested in it, that’s still what I would do, and I would also negotiate (actually: offer a take it or leave it price very politely) a price - live on the phone (not email) - conditionally - prior to going there.
If I had a M-F/9–5 J.O.B., I would also drive all the way there on a Saturday and drive all the way home on a Sunday… and there is a way to do that and still get enough sleep.
… but it seems like Wade and I are the only two people here who would do that, though we have good reasons for being like that.

(32 hours of driving: Think of all the hours you spend here engaging in unproductive blather.)

Not just you and Wade. I seem to recall a recent drive from northern Virginia (further north than some parts of New Jersey) to Cookeville, Tennessee to (maybe) buy a tuba from some Bloke, who himself had driven from western Tennessee (there and back in a day) to (maybe) buy some big FatBastard. I know it’s just two states, but it’s still a ten-hour drive each way. I’d rather do that than any shipping these days.

But I did double that up with the delivery of some motorhome suspension parts to a buddy in Knoxville, and then picked up a laboratory bench top (ex-Oakridge) from him on the way back. That was all in a holiday weekend.

And I have also driven to Blokeplace to pick up a repair—all in one weekend.

Rick “who did not have small kids at home, though” Denney

[MikeMason]

I got lucky on my recent purchase/shipping. I really considered driving. 1600 miles round trip. 22 hrs just driving. 80 gallons or so at 5.00. Plus food,possible lodging . It was an unlacquered 40-50 year old tuba. 500 to ship. UPS store shipping is much higher than a business that has an account with UPS.I figured dents and related scarring could be buffed to minimize. I rolled the dice and got lucky. If it were a 10,000 horn. My cost/benefit analysis would be different.

[bloke]

Last Thursday, I drove all the way up to around Fond du Lac, Wisconsin - stopping on the way up between Bloomington and Rockford Illinois to pick up a tuba that I had acquired several months ago. Mrs. bloke also had a zoom meeting that evening, so another one hour stop at a restaurant with Wi-Fi added onto that trip - defining about a 13 hour excursion that day.

I drove home from a little bit farther away in Wisconsin yesterday after a 9 AM restaurant breakfast with some relatives (that I had not managed to see over the weekend), didn’t get away from there until noon, and (at encountering paving work on southbound interstate 39) got home last night at midnight.

I did all the driving, didn’t use any cruise control, and I had to drive my sister‘s car - which is new and has weird crap hooked to it (stuff which tries to pull your wheels back into the lane that you were in - when you change lanes… maybe that stuff can be turned off, but she didn’t know how). She also likes to constantly listen to music on her Sirius radio… (It wasn’t as annoying as I expected.) Due to the strategic oil reserve being dumped, I encountered a few prices as low as $3.45/gal., with the highest I paid being about four bucks. I did see some E85 (what IS that stuff...?? water...??) for around $3.

This 188 instrument in it's current condition at the current price...??
a no-brainer

Someone buy it, and bring it to me to straighten it out (as long as the buyer will also be an end user).
I like playing 188's (either dented or straightened back out).
I would buy/fix/flip it, but I'm trying to exercise discipline, and fix up and sell stuff that is ALREADY here.
...and yeah: I've probably raised my charges to others' pre-post-2020-hyperinflation customary charges.

[Casca Grossa]

Figures one of these comes up for sale near me after I have two 184's that I absolutely love. It's only an hour from me. Ken K also known as tubabone on here and the old site does a lot of contracting with players in our area. He might be worth dropping a line to. He may know the seller.

[jtm]

This 188 instrument in it's current condition at the current price...??
a no-brainer

Someone buy it, and bring it to me to straighten it out (as long as the buyer will also be an end user).
I like playing 188's (either dented or straightened back out).

That's what I thought. It even has the coveted long 5th valve.

[bort2.0]

I'm not on Facebook... Can someone PM me this guy's deets?

[MN_TimTuba]

I'm not on Facebook... Can someone PM me this guy's deets?

Working on it.

[MN_TimTuba]

Brett, it's posted on the other site. Feickmb12 is the poster, Morgan is his name. He says it's on hold until Tuesday but he's ok to chat about it.
Tim
Edit - whoops. Now I see you said to pm the info.

[MN_TimTuba]

$4500 today.
Tim

[bort2.0]

Thanks, @MN_TimTuba !