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Taking a break while my other driver is finishing up the last leg of our road trip, so here’s the new(to me) horn. Absolutely love how the horn sounds, and the 2nd valve slide trigger is awesome.

From what I’ve played so far I couldn’t ask for much better intonation, I’ll probably dig into it and making a tuning chart sometime this week if I get free time.

I’ve heard a couple people say they’ve had experiences with it so if anyone reading this has played it I’d love to learn some more history about it.

P.S. Please tell me if the image link works, I’ve never tried it before

Nice! Don’t use the img tag for links to imgur albums, only to files/individual pics. Here is the album link (even though it is only one photo):



Welcome to the Rudi club!

arpthark wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2026 11:37 am Nice! Don’t use the img tag for links to imgur albums, only to files/individual pics. Here is the album link (even though it is only one photo):



Welcome to the Rudi club!

Is it really only one? I’ll try to fix that in a minute, I tried to upload like five pictures. I’ll probably put a video out in a couple days. Off topic but can I ask about that rotor setup in your profile? I’ve never seen anything like that

tzridgway wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2026 12:10 pm ...Off topic but can I ask about that rotor setup in your profile? I’ve never seen anything like that

I can comment on it as I have test played that tuba in question.

That was a 1930s Alex 163 that the previous owner (I assume) had changed the 5th valve (2 whole step) linkage that was originally on the left hand to that setup. It was funky, to say the least. Either the owner had an extra finger, or they slid their hand up and down the paddles depending on the fingering needed.

Nice playing tuba, as I recall.

Kevbach33 wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2026 1:42 pm

tzridgway wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2026 12:10 pm ...Off topic but can I ask about that rotor setup in your profile? I’ve never seen anything like that

I can comment on it as I have test played that tuba in question.

That was a 1930s Alex 163 that the previous owner (I assume) had changed the 5th valve (2 whole step) linkage that was originally on the left hand to that setup. It was funky, to say the least. Either the owner had an extra finger, or they slid their hand up and down the paddles depending on the fingering needed.

Nice playing tuba, as I recall.

Yep! That's the one. I converted it (with help from friends at S.E. Shires) to a normal five valve right hand setup. Intonation ended up being, well, Alexander-y and the horn demanded a lot of work for me to play it at its best. I get maybe one day a week to play tuba if I'm lucky (never mind practicing), so I ended up selling it to a very nice gentleman in the DC area.

Before:



After:



All the work that had been done at it to convert it to that weird setup was REALLY well done, and it was very old work, courtesy of some master craftsman 75 years ago. You can see the bracket where it was originally a left hand fifth valve.

tzridgway wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2026 10:48 am

Taking a break while my other driver is finishing up the last leg of our road trip, so here’s the new(to me) horn. Absolutely love how the horn sounds, and the 2nd valve slide trigger is awesome.

From what I’ve played so far I couldn’t ask for much better intonation, I’ll probably dig into it and making a tuning chart sometime this week if I get free time.

I’ve heard a couple people say they’ve had experiences with it so if anyone reading this has played it I’d love to learn some more history about it.

P.S. Please tell me if the image link works, I’ve never tried it before

Congratulations!! As a fellow Rudi 4/4 CC owner, I wish you many happy years with this tuba. Mine is older and been around the block but still has an amazing sound. That 2nd valve trigger is really useful.

I previously owned a Rudi 3/4 and had a newer 5/4 on a several-month loan before purchasing my current vintage 5/4. I'd really like to try the 4/4 some day, but for some reason it seems to be the rarest of them (aside from the elusive F tubas and cimbasso).

tubatodd wrote: Mon Sep 28, 2026 6:40 am

tzridgway wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2026 10:48 am

Taking a break while my other driver is finishing up the last leg of our road trip, so here’s the new(to me) horn. Absolutely love how the horn sounds, and the 2nd valve slide trigger is awesome.

From what I’ve played so far I couldn’t ask for much better intonation, I’ll probably dig into it and making a tuning chart sometime this week if I get free time.

I’ve heard a couple people say they’ve had experiences with it so if anyone reading this has played it I’d love to learn some more history about it.

P.S. Please tell me if the image link works, I’ve never tried it before

Congratulations!! As a fellow Rudi 4/4 CC owner, I wish you many happy years with this tuba. Mine is older and been around the block but still has an amazing sound. That 2nd valve trigger is really useful.

I'm already loving the 2nd valve trigger. I know that Rudis don't have serial numbers, do you know any way I could figure out what era it's from? The seller wasn't sure exactly how old it was.

arpthark wrote: Mon Sep 28, 2026 8:29 am I previously owned a Rudi 3/4 and had a newer 5/4 on a several-month loan before purchasing my current vintage 5/4. I'd really like to try the 4/4 some day, but for some reason it seems to be the rarest of them (aside from the elusive F tubas and cimbasso).

My professor had a Rudi F tuba that he kept in his office. I had tried it out a few times. The low range was very difficult to play. He had a Yamaha 822 F as well and that had a MUCH MUCH MUCH easier low range.....which is why I bought one.

More pictures for those interested, and for those who can tell me more about the age



I think this one should actually work and be more than one image