I’ve been fussy over intonation for a long while as I’ve gotten different tubas into my possession. Some thoughts:

Warming the horn up to “operating temperature” is essential. As you said, things improved. Especially on my really big tubas, warming them up fixes a lot of things.

Whenever I play a ...

I am about to order a NEW Cronkhite leather bag for my not yet rebuilt Holton 345… I know it will be very heavy but I felt like that tuba deserves a really nice case.

Thought about this one.

Saw that patch and said “NOPE!!”

I also don’t need it. Learning to demonstrate self control

I have one here, originally intended to put it on either my 2165 or Holton 345, mostly because I wanted to be able to stick whatever mouthpiece in the horn that I wanted, until I decided to just have both American and Euro shanks for those Houser manufactured 3 piece models.

So… To not answer your ...

Yes... I chuckled at the provenance blurb too. Great sales tactic, I suppose!

Whatever the case, it's probably a nice tuba.

$8200 is steep for it, IMO. Yes, I understand it's music store pricing and all that, and that they can charge whatever they or the owner wants to charge. (I say that mostly ...

I would imagine this model is literally a cut 983 that they decided to throw together. I'm surprised it even exists, to be honest with you.

bort's probably right on why there are so few around.

Looks like one of the good ones. I am going to assume the lyre holder was added later, and the strap ring looks to have been as well.

Has the other telltale “new-ish” 2141 signs. Adjustable thumb ring (which is missing), updated leadpipe bend, and (before it was added) no lyre holder on the ...

Didn’t even know these existed. Compensating F tuba in the BE-983 style? Cool. Wonder how the pitch is.

https://flemingrepair.com/products/bess ... uaaIxaQnO5

I think I’ve seen a scant few 22” Holton bells. I’d imagine they either made a mistake and made some way too big, had a request, or some other silly reason.

This tuba was (is) (has been?) for sale on the other forum for a while. Last I saw, he wanted $8,000. Lack of price in FB is weird, could just be overlooked.

I’ve been eyeing that silver 4260 they’ve got there… Don’t need it, but man, I’m sure that thing is stellar…

I don't want to sound like I'm telling you that you're wrong, but I do wonder:

I've played several "show demo" tubas that were also not good players. I wonder if something was/is wrong with those particular instruments you didn't like? Maybe hastily assembled, out of alignment, or some other thing ...

If you’re someone like me who constantly has little things done to your horns, raw brass will be your friend. It doesn’t scar nearly as bad as silver or lacquer after dent and solder work.

Lacquer looks bad after repair work, regardless of the damage type, and a nice patina really looks good, even ...

Pay a visit to Martin. That’s the best way.

Love the set in my 2165.

Wanted to love a set in my 2141, but they didn’t fit right, so I sold them. See that saga in my 2141 thread.

You might consider contacting the Berliner tuba for this one!

MSRP on the bell is $3995.

Remember when I said I probably wouldn't get a 6450 bell to complete this tuba's transformation into a 6450?

Well... :laugh:

I ordered one. Expensive, but as I thought it over, if I'm doing this, I want to take it all the way.

90-120 day estimated delivery (like with everything else).

Even with ...

Cleaning off the shelf. They are all in excellent condition. G&W had some repairs done. Prices include shipping in US. Located near Chicago, IL.

Tindalls are all silver. Bought them recently, mostly just to try out. Not for me, or any of my tubas. They're very well made and comfortable to play on ...

Try a PT or RT piece - Their “standard shank” size is .530. See if that makes a difference. It sure did for some of my tubas.

American is probably .525, and Euro is probably .540

Neat. That will solve pretty much everyone’s biggest problem with the BMB lineup.

It sure doesn’t look like there is much room for that tuning slide to begin with. They probably boxed themselves into a corner so they HAD to use the dependent valves. I can’t imagine that was Dick’s first choice ...