Pricing assistance - King Tuba - 3 valve

[sk8agreg]

Any chance someone would be able to help me price out a tuba? My father gave it to me when he downsized. I used to play back in the early 90's but have no experience buy or selling. The only marking I can make out is the work "King" with etching around it. It's a bit tarnished but does play well (as far as I can tell). I'd like to sell the unit to someone who would use it at a good price but don't want to essentially give it away to someone who would flip it. Please see the images in the link below, any help would be greatly appreciated.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...Tv?usp=sharing

[Rodgeman]

You might to check on Tubenet: http://forums.chisham.com/ . You can search the for sale section and get an idea of the worth.

[Davidus1]

The upright bell will make this more attractive but there are quite a few of this model available with 4 valves which will reduce your price. My guess (and its only my opinion) would be low end price of $700 up to maybe $1400. You should price it on eBay and watch the sales to see what they go for if you aren't in a hurry to sell. They are good horns. Best wishes.

[sk8agreg]

Thanks for the info.

[ghmerrill]

I question whether the upright bell will make this more attractive -- especially since it's a removable bell with the Frankenbolts and such. For many people, the models with the integral forward-pointing bells are more desirable (and great for playing in jazz bands, Dixieland bands, or community bands outdoors!). I have a friend who has two vintage Kings, both 3-valve, one silver-plated, and in excellent condition. But he's put repair/restore money into each of them.

That aside, it's pretty dented up -- both in the bell and the main tubing in places. This is pretty straightforwardly fixable, but it does detract from immediate sale value. Likewise for the finish blemishes.

I think the typical buyer for this would be someone who would be happy to use it as-is (after cleaning it up, replacing felts, etc.) OR someone who would want to buy it and restore it, either for personal use or to resell. I'm skeptical that a flipper would be interested in it (in large part because of the needed dent/finish restoration coupled with the detachable bell and what you could eventually sell it for). Even if it were in pristine condition, I'm not sure that this model would be worth all that much (say $1,000 or more). But I could be wrong on both counts.

If I had this horn and wanted to sell it, I think I'd count myself lucky to get $800 for it.

You might contact Dan Schultz (http://thevillagetinker.com/) and ask him if he'd be interested in it or if he would give you more of a professional estimate of what it might fetch on the market.