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Thread: Want to buy: 4-valve BBb tuba

  1. #1

    Thumbs up Want to buy: 4-valve BBb tuba

    UPDATE: The author has purchased an instrument now.

    I'm a so-so euphoniumist beginning to take tuba lessons to see whether I can make myself more versatile in my church's music program. In other words, I'm not a candidate to buy an expensive tuba. I play a Mack Brass euphonium and have been satisfied with it, so I'm thinking about looking that way for a tuba. But I'm also interested in the possibility of a used instrument in a more time-honored brand, in the sub-$2000 range, which would likely hold its value better in the event that tuba doesn't work out for me. I realize, of course, that any such horn at that price point is going to show its age. I'd be open to either piston or rotary valves, as long as the horn has at least 4.

    I'm a little smaller than average size, and I drive a small car, so I'm probably not interested in a 5/4 or 6/4 horn, or even an especially tall 4/4 that might not fit into the trunk. I don't think I want to go as small as a 3/4 horn, but a horn with a bore much larger than about .780 may be too much for me.

    I'm currently on a decent rental tuba for $50 per semester, so I don't feel rushed to buy. The better the bargain, and the less driving to see the horn, the more interested I would be. So if anyone within a few hours of Greenville, SC has a decent BBb horn you'd like to sell at something getting down toward a bargain price, please let me know by private message.

    Randy
    Last edited by davewerden; 09-26-2016 at 10:35 AM.

  2. For $2000, you could probably find a decent Yamaha 321 on Ebay. You probably won't be able to try it first (unless you ask) but Yamaha's are pretty consistent from horn to horn, so if you can find one to try locally you're probably in good shape.
    1905 Boosey Class A Euphonium-Wick SM4M
    Yamaha 301M Marching Baritone-Schilke 52
    1960 Conn 11J-Conn Helleberg
    1961 Conn 14J-Vincent DFL
    2015 King 2341-Bach Corp. 24AW
    Olds O95 Sousaphone-King 26

  3. Just saw a nice Miraphone 4-rotor BBb on Ebay in Hanahan, SC. I don't know how far that is, but it's only at a couple hundred bucks so far and is in pretty great shape (minus a couple dents). Also comes with a case and is being sold by presumably a player (he says he played a scale if that tells you anything...)

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mirafone-4-R...3D131929191006
    1905 Boosey Class A Euphonium-Wick SM4M
    Yamaha 301M Marching Baritone-Schilke 52
    1960 Conn 11J-Conn Helleberg
    1961 Conn 14J-Vincent DFL
    2015 King 2341-Bach Corp. 24AW
    Olds O95 Sousaphone-King 26

  4. #4
    Thanks, Largo.

    I'm keeping an eye on eBay and am also working down the for sale list over on TubeNet. I saw the Miraphone in Hanahan. It's a little rougher-looking than I hope to end up with. I don't like the idea of playing a ratty-looking horn at church: it distracts from the worship atmosphere that the music should enhance. I am very interested, though, to see how the bidding on that one goes. There's a 321 for sale over on TubeNet for $750 including Greyhound shipping; it seems to look quite a bit better. It lacks a mouthpiece, and I wouldn't be happy with the case, but those points can be easily addressed within my overall budget. Probably my biggest reservation about the 321 is that it's the horn I currently have on rental, and I'm hoping to find something a little more compact. That horn feels like it's at the edge of what I can handle physically, and I'm interested in dialing the size back a little if possible. The distance to Dallas, where that horn lives, makes it difficult for me to see and play the horn before buying. So, since I'm not in a hurry, I'm not going to jump for that one.

    While any and all input is appreciated, nobody needs to feel it necessary to hunt through the obvious channels for me: eBay, Craigslist, and TubeNet. If anyone is aware of something available outside those channels, I probably won't find it myself and would appreciate any tipoffs!

    Randy

  5. Over the summer, we purchased a set of three TU200 tubas from Mack Brass for our advanced middle school band. The horns are really very nice and play well. I am totally impressed with them....especially for $1700 a piece. I also own a Mack euphonium of my own which has been a great horn.....that is why we chose Mack for the tubas.....that and because we were on a tight budget (school). I highly recommend them if you want a 4/4 size.

    Last edited by EuphGuy; 09-07-2016 at 06:06 PM.

  6. #6
    Thanks for the nice pic, EuphGuy. Nice to hear of your good experience with the MackBrass horns. The 200 is too long to fit into the trunk of my little Mazda 3 (the website gives the length of the horn), and I don't think I want to upsize to another car. Most of the time I could just tote it in the back seat, but occasionally I might need that space for people, and I also don't like the idea of sometimes leaving an instrument so visible for several hours and, in the summer, in such heat. The Mack TU210 would be better than the 200 in terms of its overall dimensions, but the larger bore and bigger throat might make it more challenging for me to play. When it comes right down to it, there might not be all that many horns that really fit my longish list of specifications. So something may end up having to give, and I do think that playability for me will ultimately have to be the top priority.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Central North Carolina
    Posts
    2,369
    You have a collection of criteria which I think are putting you out of the price range you're shooting at. The major one, I think, is the insistence on 4 valves.

    But you know what? With a decent BBb tuba, you don't NEED 4 valves. So think about dropping that requirement. If you do, it will open a lot of opportunities you don't otherwise have.

    Consider something like this: http://www.1800usaband.com/products/view/5571. There are also a couple of interesting 3-valve BBb horns for sale on the Charlotte and Winston-Salem Craigslists -- including a nice-looking Conn 15J with silver finish. Both are under $2,000 and you might get them for less if you make an offer.

    Otherwise, keep spending your money on the rental until you get lucky (if you think that's cost-effective!), and keep looking. A Cerveny BBb 4-valve rotary sold recently on Tubenet for $1,800. But deals like that don't come up very frequently.

    EVERYBODY wants a decent playable 4-valve BBb tuba for under $2,000. Good luck.
    Gary Merrill
    Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
    Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
    Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
    1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
    Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
    1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)

  8. #8
    Thanks Gary. The thing about a WTB ad, especially when you're not in a hurry, is that you never know who will see it in just the right set of circumstances, and your deal may come through. Or not. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. I saw the Conn on the Winston-Salem Craigslist earlier today and, as you figured, ruled it out based on the number of valves. I'll consult with my teacher on that question and see what he thinks. The one picture certainly makes it look attractive. Of course, talking about it here may get it sold sooner than I could get to it!

    If I do fairly well on the rental horn after a year of lessons and feel ready to get more serious, then I may raise my price point. Right now I don't want to lay out much above what I could likely get fairly quickly on resale if things don't go so well. Hence the rather low-key approach of my ad, which is more a matter of putting out a feeler than aggressively pursuing a purchase.

    Randy

  9. Yamaha 321's have valve guide issues. All the schools around here have them, and when high school students sit in with the community band for concerts like Memorial Day, they all bring 321's and all of them have to keep spinning their valves to keep them aligned.

  10. #10
    Interesting, iiipopes. The one I'm playing apparently has not yet aged to that point.

    Can't this problem be fixed by simply replacing the guides? This seems really strange: for the valve cylinders to wear enough to let valve guides in good shape spin freely inside, it seems like there would be no compression at all, and the horn would play very badly. It's hard for me to even conceive the possibility of so much wear. Isn't this just a case of inadequate maintenance by the schools that presumably own these horns?

    Randy

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