"FT MERZ" 3+1 contrabass tuba

[donn]

Seller says it's the badge indicates German make FT MERZ. Posted for sale in Lisbon, Portugal, reposted here in case anyone is interested to see this obscure tuba. No dimensions or information. Super long leadpipe.

[humBell]

Wicked big kranz, too?

Don't suppose there is a link to indulge further curiosity?

[bloke]

I'm not going out on the interwebs to see if there are more pictures, but I'm wondering whether that's a kranz or a spice.

[donn]

I don't know if it's all that spicy, but it looks like the flare was sewed on, perhaps after factory. In another picture you can see a little way into the bell, and the line is visible inside.

Other than that, there isn't any significant amount of further info, detailed pictures, etc. "FT MERZ", looks old, 3+1. Probably BBb.

[bloke]

I continue to post in this thread from ignorance, and I've been guilty of that quite a few times in all sorts of threads.

If I see marching baritones on eBay for sale that are missing a bunch of parts but have intact bells with no spider cracks or tears, I'm going to pick them - up if they're cheap. More than a few times I've had to replace complete bell sections on those things because of the epically hard use, and - when I have a bell that's the wrong make - I may do a splice onto some hopelessly torn up bell flare which is another brand. It looks better (at least, to me) than some ridiculous patch. Old

Old handmade/thinner 16-1/2" bell Miraphone tubas are the most common tubas which - in modern times - end up with hopeless tears and spider cracks. I don't splice flares onto those things, because the bell flare on that make is the signature part of that instrument, and doing so would probably render such an instrument nearly worthless to a potential buyer, and would probably also greatly disappoint a band director.

[hrender]

Ad: https://m.olx.pt/d/anuncio/tuba-instru ... HZ9aC.html

[arpthark]

Something about that just screams French/Belgian to me.

[hrender]

The first reference I could find to F.T. Merz online is this one, which indicates Markneukirchen. They're not listed as a maker on horn-u-copia. Another reference is here.

This article indicates Merz was a wholesaler:

... F.T. Merz, one of Markneukirchen’s most important wholesalers.

... so the maker could be anyone active during this time. It does look like something from Couesnon or one of the other French manufacturers. It has some superficial resemblance to saxhorns, e.g. this or this.