There is, and always has been murky intrigue in the lower-priced-instruments manufacturing and marketing. . . . .

I am certainly planning to be there, and exhibit. I have to admit, this is my favorite conference.

I plan to travel to DC, but not until the 1st week of February.

I haven't played yet this morning, but when I do, it'll be a Chicago Holton 6/4 BBb helicon, and maybe a York CC.

Lee Stofer Music has those Miraphone parts in stock - the complete water key assembly, and the nut for the valve lever hinge rod, plus a small lock washer that will prevent the nut from getting lost.

My website doesn't have shopping carts or online ordering, but I am happy to take phone orders.

Tuning is a very individual thing. It was once noted that, when the CSO was on tour in Japan, and Mr. Jacobs met with the tubist of the Tokyo
Symphony, he invited him to try out the York CC. He had to pull the main slide almost all the way out to be in tune, whereas Mr. Jacobs had to have
the slide ...

My assistant Eric Murphy brought this to my attention. I'll hopefully be talking to Mary Ann today, and see about the Alexander coming to Iowa.

@MartinMan please PM me.

russiantuba , this is further reasoning for going through a dealer. When a customer orders a case from me, I do not charge them or even accept any payment information until I have received the bag and am ready to ship. If someone bails out on an order and I get caught holding the bag (literally ...

Wes,
The best contact for a Cronkhite response is a Cronkhite dealer, if you're having trouble communicating with the factory. I
communicate with Quentin or Steve regularly, and am happy to help resolve an issue if I can. I've done this more than once.

Your post did get quick results. By the time ...

Rudolf Meinl, Sr. did pass away, and his funeral is this Thursday, June 25th, which I was told would have been his 87th Birthday.
He was a tremendous master hand-craftsman, to whom I will be forever indebted, as he helped me get to where I am
today. I feel blessed to have been able to play on ...

Chris,
Please PM or e-mail me concerning this.

I'm working with a machinist right now, and we are in the process of bringing that Helleberg mouthpiece in brass, silver-plated, to market. I should have a limited quantity in stock by August.

Lee Stofer

Tofu,
Thank-you for a very insightful commentary! From a tuba standpoint, it seems that the glory days of American tuba manufacture was during the 1920's and particularly the 1930's. After WWII, there were some very good tubas made, but they were never quite the same, and company buyouts and other ...

First, I wish to respond to a comment by Mr. Denney, concerning the Josef Lidl Company, which I have had various dealings over the past 20+ years. I asked the current Josef Lidl CEO how, if they were not using old Cerveny tooling, were they making tubas so similar in design that they even share some ...

I bought three Josef Lidl tubas in Cincinnati last month enroute to the US Army Band Conference. Buddy Rogers/ Willis Music was unable to attend, and I took three, so this fine brand would be represented.

I sold the Lidl 684 CC at the Conference, and sold & shipped the Lidl 701 BBb this past Friday ...

I'm surprised, too. I would expect a 2000 in excellent condition with MAW valves & Cronkhite bag would be priced in the $12k- $14k range, depending upon how cosmetically new it looks. I haven't played a bad M-W 2000 yet.

Tofu,
There's now an additional strike against UPS. Several months ago, our local UPS terminal closed it's customer service office, meaning that I can no
longer deliver a shipment (of any kind) to my local terminal. If I do ship anything with UPS, I drop it off at Ace Hardware in town, and then it ...

Some years ago now, I shipped a new Kanstul tuba via UPS to North Dakota. The bell was crunched. UPS denied any sort of claim, claiming that it was not sufficiently packed. I spoke to the local UPS Field Representative, who came to my shop, and I showed him in person how I pack tubas. He told me ...

I have a 1965-vintage Holton 105 available, good older lacquer, very nice valve & slide action. Feel free to PM me.