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https://www.ebay.com/itm/387999778604?m ... media=COPY

Botched frankentuba or clueless seller who doesn’t know how to use a tuner? Who knows… Anyone near York County PA that wants to take a gamble…

Interesting. My guess is frankentuba. Maybe a botched Eb --> CC conversion. The valves look like Conn 12J with a grafted-on 4th.

It was made in Db so it could play the Stars & Stripes Forever Piccolo solo.

The valves look like Reynolds to me, but it looks fairly well put together. Looks about the same size as the King medium Eb I converted to front-action valves.

Tubajug wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2025 12:55 pm The valves look like Reynolds to me, but it looks fairly well put together. Looks about the same size as the King medium Eb I converted to front-action valves.

Thanks, I missed that pic with the Reynolds-y knurling on the valve caps. Looks like the 4th was definitely added, though.

All the bows make me think it was someone going for a CC tuba more than an Eb.

the length of the 1st and 3rd valve slides look Eb all the way to me

I am the new owner of this tuba!
It is indeed a C tuba. When it arrived it had a leak between the 3rd and 4th valve that made it unplayable. Maybe that's why the seller thought it was in Db?

Crazyben wrote: ↑Sat Mar 22, 2025 11:07 am I am the new owner of this tuba!
It is indeed a C tuba. When it arrived it had a leak between the 3rd and 4th valve that made it unplayable. Maybe that's why the seller thought it was in Db?

Congrats! Let us know how it plays if/when the leak has been addressed. It looks like the fourth was added on, so that’s probably where/how the point of failure occurred.

Yeah, that 4th is a Franketuba add-on, and the connection failed. Once fixed it ought to play okay. I like those horns in stock form. I would like to play that altered one; looks like a fun one.

Congratulations!

Wade

The leak has been fixed. It seems to play fairly well. I'm struggling with some intonation issues but that might be just me. I may need to cut some tuning slides. The 4th valve seems to be a 2nd valve used as a 4th. I also need to add a water key or spit valve to the main tuning slide.

I had a Vietnam vet, lost his pinky, line of duty, playing a Db piccolo. It was my hometown community band. He was a band director after that enlistment. I’m glad he never took up the viola.

Here are some pictures after repairing and cleaning it up a bit.

Those old HN White engravings were pretty nice!

How does it play? Is it really in Db? What is your plan for it?

That's honestly a cute tuba