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Thread: Need more info on Eupho purchase!

  1. Question Need more info on Eupho purchase!

    Hello everyone! I am brand new to this forum, and I'm sure it shows! but I need everyone's help with an issue! A few months ago I purchased an old tuba-looking instrument at an antiques auction. With info and photos from the internet, I've identified that it is a Frank Holton (Chicago) double-bell Euphonium. Serial numbers are 26537 in back of the three valves; 27396 on a metal cartridge several inches below the third valve case. Unfortunately, the instrument came without the smaller forward-facing bell, and no mouthpiece, though I do have the very ragged case. Can anyone help me figure out the manufacture date of this instrument? Does it have any value to a serious buyer without the forward side bell? Is there any way or any source I could go to to get a replacement bell? If I decide to keep the horn for my own use, I have other questions. What type/size mouthpiece should I look for, and from what source? The horn has a standard shank, my trombone and baritone mouthpiece fit in it, but don't deliver the low sound I suspect the horn is capable of. And, yes, budget is a big concern here. Without that bell, is the quality of the sound coming out of the instrument being affected? I wish I knew how to cut metal and solder, I'd be tempted to fashion another bell myself, though I know doing so would be disrespectful to the integrity of the instrument.

  2. #2
    According to this page:

    https://www.holtonloyalist.com/serial-numbers/

    it was made around 1914.

    A missing small bell won't hamper your playing while you use the large bell. I have seen a few used db's for sale that had a non-original small bell, so some folks have found workarounds. One, I think, was to find an altonium with a curved bell and use it. Here is an altonium:

    Click image for larger version. 

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    You would have to have it cut at the right place (perhaps based on diameter??) and have a collar made to fit it as well as inside the bell pipe's neck.

    In reality, you need to be connected to a good repair person. You don't necessarily need one who has done this before, but you need someone who is clever. Such a person could do what is necessary, I suspect, even without prior double-bell experience.
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

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