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I bought one of these today at a local estate auction.

Any general thoughts about them? I'm not expecting much, but curious enough to put out some $ to find out. Looks like it's in great shape, especially since it's from the 1880s. Lots of tarnish, otherwise... Just looks like an old Eb, 3-upright v r tuba.

I'll pick it up tomorrow...

Some of them - that are older than the common “monster“ Conn B-flat tubas (18” bell, rather than 19”) play better in tune.

Forgot the photo I have from the listing:

Is that the three valve version of the one @LeMark had and added a fifth valve to?

To clarify, "great shape" means "great shape for a 120+ year old tuba. No clue if it even works or what the mouthpiece might be.

Ok, just brought it home and gave it a bath. This is my first time playing Eb in a LONG long long time.

Serial number is 285xx... which puts it at 1895.

Overall:
It plays pretty well! No tremendous air leaks that I can tell, and the valves work just fine (very surprising)!

Bad stuff:
* The bell rim needs some attention -- the bead is coming free from the edge of the bell (I forget how these are made, or what this is called...).
* One brace is broken (still attached), one brace is missing
* A few ugly old solder repairs
* 3rd valve notes seem a little funny.
* Leadpipe has some dents, but no cracks
* Most slides are stuck
* I couldn't remove the 1st valve from the casing. Maybe halfway...? I didn't force it
* I'm SURE the valves need to be aligned

Good stuff:
* Plays well!
* Very pretty sound!
* Nice false tones and pedals
* Beautiful engraving the full length of the bell. I think it's going to polish up quite nice. I cleaned a few spots, and it's beautiful shiny silver under all that crud. Not sure how much plating wear there is, but the bell going to look NICE.
* Uh oh... kind of fun to play Eb!


Serial number puts it at 1895. I'm 99.9% sure that it's the same model as this:

http://forums.chisham.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12857

Again, I have LOW hopes of using this tuba for much, but for the price, I couldn't turn it down.

I'd at least like to get the bell rim repaired. What might something like that cost? How much is too much $ to put into a tuba like this? (Probably using it for TubaChristmas and... some other small stuff?)

A=440Hz?

yeah, that's close to the same model I had, with fewer valves, and with that "W" tuning slide it should be close to 440

Nice find! I need to go to more auctions in your neighborhood.

ronr wrote: ↑Tue Aug 24, 2021 9:46 pm Nice find! I need to go to more auctions in your neighborhood.

Thanks!

I'm hoping for "oldest tuba" at Tuba Christmas this year. :)

Spent a little time tonight to shine things up, will post another photo in the AM. Seems like about 50% plating left (the bell is mostly still plated).

I'm not going to spend much on it to get it repaired, but do want to shore up the bell and get the braces fixed so it doesn't totally fall apart on me. Seems like a nice size though. Any modern (post-1895) valve sets that would work as a retrofit on this?

Someone else suggested to me that it could be a good candidate as an F tuba project. Not against that either... But Eb seems kinda fun after all.

Again, no delusions to make this into something it ain't, but if it's gonna stay in my house, it needs to be a user. And if it's gonna be a user, it's gonna need a few repairs.

its a 625 bore. That might be the only issue gettin a valve set from a modern tuba to work on it. Otherwise a cut down valve set from an olds or something like should work. These horn are really tiny, with a 14 inch bell, it's hard to make them into something they aren't. I like your idea of a tuba christmas horn. Mine was from 1903, and I usually did win oldest tuba

bort2.0 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 23, 2021 7:25 pm Forgot the photo I have from the listing:

I'd say we have the makings for a MN Tuba Quartet.
Nice find, Brett!
Tim

A few "during" photos. Lots of tarnish to clean up, you can see the 50/50 raw brass as well. Several braces need repair, so I need to be gentle with it for now. Also, need the bell rim repaired... @bloke , how bad is it to fix an old rim like this?

Ain't pretty, ain't perfect, but I like it.

bloke wrote: ↑Wed Aug 25, 2021 4:46 pm

To reiterate:
* Minimally functional
* Use for tuba Christmas
* Don't want it to fall apart on me or cut myself on it.

Facepalm to spend too much money on it. But if a couple of hours would mend it to the point of not falling apart and not cutting me... I could accept that.

Cool!

The "Game of Thrones" logic is that the instrument cutting you can only make you more alert, and a more alert musician is a better musician.

There might be fallacy somewhere in that logic, but if not true, at least it is hard core.

I by no means have done anything resembling historical research, but my impression was Conn bought the Fiske tooling and such in the Worcester area, so Worcester Conns resemble Fiske instruments in sound or perhaps some playing qualities. It is fuel for the imagination if nothing else.

Tape - good for blunting sharp edges and holding stuff together.

I’m planning to go have a look at a 1916 version of this on Tuesday. The first and third tubing is loose in the bottom of the case.

York-aholic wrote: ↑Sat Aug 28, 2021 10:28 pm ...case

Showoff!

I've had two of those. This first was a Lyon & Healy stencil that played very well. Bb and A above the staff were sharp but everything else was fine. Mine looked like hell but I played it everywhere. I sold it when I was trying to get a cruise ship trombone gig (did not work out).

The second I bought off a Navy guy. He bought it from someone else, played it for fun for a while, and then retired. This one looks much better but feels lighter. Bb in the staff F in the staff are off but ok with alternate fingerings. Both of them have the small shank receiver, I duct taped a Bach 18 into my old one and left it there.

It's on the middle here between my Bobhorn and King. Actually it's not here because it's too big to attach. So just imagine 2 small silver tubas and a bass trombonium. Brett, let me know if you need a small shank MP.