I wish I had never sold my...

[dp]

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

I wish I had sold ALL my old books while still in school, some other stoont coulda used 'em and thirty years later I wouldn't have heavy boxes underfoot and shelves full of stuff I dont even vacuum anymore

[bloke]

Yeah, but - thirty years ago - at least half of the stuff in those books was true.

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

I wish I had sold ALL my old books while still in school, some other stoont coulda used 'em and thirty years later I wouldn't have heavy boxes underfoot and shelves full of stuff I dont even vacuum anymore

[MikeMason]

Experiencing and or mastering horns is part of the fun for me. I make a small percentage of my living playing the tuba. Most any tuba I show up with is accepted by my employers and colleagues. Tubas I’ve sold except 2 for financial reasons, were to fund the next tuba. Ones I miss the most- my Yamaha 822 c and my wiseman c that Alan Baer had tricked out for Rich Serpa with the pt6p Baer mods. There was really no reason to get rid of it. I’m enjoying my Eastman 836,but for my needs, the wiseman really was great. I’m not sure I would swap back, but I miss it. But most of all, I miss my Holton 340 b flat with the Meinl Weston 4v valve set done at Baltimore brass. It wasn’t easy to steer, but the sound… I’m sure I’d be quickly reminded of why I sold it, but I’d give it another go if I could.

[Mary Ann]

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

Never go back to an old love.

I could get into that whole discussion. True for me for sure, but I have very good friends who married, divorced, raised kids with other spouses, divorced, and are married again and the most solid couple I know, in their late 60s. I asked them, when I found out, "Did you grow up?" And they laughed and said yes. They are, however, united by a common religion which is extremely important to both of them. I think that can overcome a lot of other more minor differences.

My tubas -- they aren't exactly in the "wish I had never sold them," but I would welcome ALL of them back.

[Bob Kolada]

I've never owned any nice tubas but did sell some nicer trombones (Benge 190F, Kanstul contrabass trombone) and 'others' (Olds marching trombone, Chinese rotary bass trumpet, F contra trumpet). I kinda miss the big trumpet, that was a hoot to play. Tons of core, good intonation. I don't know why the travel tuba makers don't offer that body with a valveset from a marching euphonium, probably because they would only sell like 4 of them.

I do regret not buying a Cerveny 653 F when they were like $3k at Dillon, the one I played was excellent.

[jtm]

…old school Miraphone 188.

old school?

[Sousaswag]

I don’t regret selling anything as it helped me get the stuff I have now…

However, my 5450 really was an extraordinary tuba. So easy to play and the most in-tune instrument I’ve ever owned, even more so than my MRP.

I like most things about my MRP better than that 5450, BUT the 5450 was just so “point and shoot” as compared to literally any other tuba.

Maybe what I’m saying is that I regret not being able to have BOTH

[GC]

I wish I still had my 1982 Toyota Tercel.

[jtm]

I wish I still had my 1982 Toyota Tercel.

Such a good little car! Could you have fit an old school 188 in the trunk?

[Nworbekim]

I RARELY sell ANYTHING... so ANYTHING i DO sell, i generally REGRET it immediately.

i think my greatest regret was/is selling my 1998 JEEP WRANGLER SAHARA HARDTOP... i bought it off-lease as a certified used and drove it nearly 20 years with only minor problems. i started regretting it as the guy drove out the lane... but it was time. i've been watching for another, but now is NOT the time to buy.

so far as selling instruments. out of the dozens i have collected all these years, i've only sold three... one of those i would like to have back, just to have... i wasn't really attached to it.

i have 2 more i'm considering selling and one that i'm not sure about yet...

i just don't turn loose of much.

[GC]

I wish I still had my 1982 Toyota Tercel.

Such a good little car! Could you have fit an old school 188 in the trunk?

Probably. The trunk was surprisingly deep and high for a small car.

[iiipopes]

What is the purpose of this thread? Just to commiserate over loss? That is a waste of time. Now, if analysis is made so that any desireable features are ascertained and undesireable features are avoided, that might have merit. For example, I had a replacement pickup in an electric guitar I got in college, put the replacement pickup in it thirty years ago, but then twenty years ago I had to end up selling the guitar to make a house payment to keep a roof over my son and then-wife when my career crashed at that time. I don't regret selling the guitar, but I did regret losing the tone of that pickup (I forgot to reinstall the stock pickup before I sold the guitar), which is one of my favorite electric guitar tones. I knew the make and model of the pickup. So when I had the opportunity a year ago, I purchased a similar guitar in build, but lighter weight, and saw that the same pickup is still being made by the famous after market company that invented/developed it all those decades ago. So I purchased a new pickup of the same make and model to put in the different, but similar, guitar. All sounds great through the replacement Marshall amplifier that I had to purchase because the one I had essentially died - internal windings of the transformers were letting go from the amp being wayyyy overheated before I got it thirty years ago. So I sold the amplifier to a collector, as the amplifier was a first year issue of the particular model, told him about the transformers, and he peeled off multiple $100 bills anyway. The new amplifier I bought as a replacement actually has a modification that I had done to the older amplifier thirty years ago as well, so I can dial in exactly the same tone settings of the songs I played then, and which still sound the same superlative way now, again, just lighter weight in the amplifier & cabinet as well, with all the additional songs I am playing now. No regrets, lessons learned, everything sounds even better than thirty years ago. Conclusion: use this thread to analyze why you sold any particular item, see if there were any positive attributes of the sold item to bring forward that can be applied to current or future equipment criteria, and look to the future, not the past.

[LeMark]

What is the purpose of this thread? Just to commiserate over loss?

Misery loves company, or it's a lesson to hold onto something you know is great... at all costs.

[jtm]

What is the purpose of this thread? Just to commiserate over loss?

Misery loves company, or it's a lesson to hold onto something you know is great... at all costs.

Or it's to give the rest of us hints at what to grab.

[York-aholic]

Re: bloke and licenses to mate to someone…

Again putting my teacher hat on, I have often wished there were a license required to mate, along with some sort of common sense test in order to get said license.

That might have saved a lot of frustration, stress, and heartache over the years!

[Doc]

From day one, those kids didn’t have a chance.

Sadly, many don't.

My ‘mating test’ comment was tongue in cheek but, there are times where, in hindsight, one could posit that a particular couple perhaps should have thought long and hard before procreating.

In our line of work, it becomes easy to predict how those things will turn out. And (sadly again) rarely have I been wrong.

Seeing mug shots of former 8 year old students begins to weigh on you.

As does going to their funerals. Or showing up on an accident scene where they are dead or dying right in front of you. Or arriving at some crime scene where they are injured or dead.

Just one example:
I have two former students (husband and wife) who are currently in jail awaiting trial for the death of their 2yoa son. The kid was abused and malnourished. Mom frequently hit him all over his body, especially his head, and the long-term (months and months) trauma to the head is what caused the boy's death. One whack too many - the brain couldn't handle any more. The mother was weird as a kid, and I knew she was one that probably shouldn't procreate. The father was a great kid, and I didn't figure him to be that way. As it appears, mom was the abuser, and dad worked all the time. Some have said dad was weak and intimidated by mom. Either way, their 2yoa child is dead. This kind of stuff (doesn't always result in death) happens waaaaaaay more than the average person realizes.

______

Regarding the original topic, I would like to have my Rudy 3/4 CC back. And I'd also like to have purchased the amazing and extremely in tune Alexander 164 BBb I trialed at Custom Music over 30 years ago. Not buying it was as much of a dumb ass move as selling the Rudy.

[bort2.0]

Nothing like some light n jolly tuba banter on a summer Friday morning.

[Doc]

Nothing like some light n jolly tuba banter on a summer Friday morning.

But that Alex REALLY was one of the finest tubas I ever played. Honest!

[bort2.0]

Nothing like some light n jolly tuba banter on a summer Friday morning.

But that Alex REALLY was one of the finest tubas I ever played. Honest!

I believe it!

The Alex I sold was incredible. I told myself that I'd only sell it for something like a Rudy Meinl... And I did... Which possible fits me even a little better than the Alex did.

I wouldn't mind another CC or F to go with it.

[bloke]

There really are only a few C tubas made which are reasonably easy to play in tune, some of which are
186, 188, 2155 (billed as 5/4, but probably 4/4), Nirschl/Besson 4/4 (almost a 5/4), 5450, PT-6 (either config), RM-5/4 (surprisingly, but actually), and YCB-826S.
Some of the Smith model Kalison 4/4 tubas (discontinued) are also easily played in tune.
I'm sure I may have left out two or three, but that may be most of them. Others (that some may view as "easy") are probably actually only "possible", and their users/owners are possibly personally accustomed to either working pretty darn hard or - simply - allowing things to be as they may.

The vast majority of the easily-played-in-tune tubas are B-flat tubas.