Posted by bloke on February 04, 2004 at 16:15:10:
In Reply to: B&S History posted by Rick Denney on February 04, 2004 at 16:03:07:
Email David Graves at Baylor.
His was originally just such a tuba, and - I think - has a serial number...also "Giardinelli" is scratched into his mouthpiece receiver brace.
Charles Schultz in Memphis owned that tuba before David, and I believe that Charles, David, or both may know who the original owner was. If the original owner of that tuba can be tracked down, they may well remember when they bought it "new" and you could compare serial numbers.
If you email me at home, I'll give you my serial number, just as a reference.
I believe that there never particularly was a "time" that they stopped making them one way and began to make them another. Clockspring linkage tubas are still made today, and I'm quite certain that B&S would build a tuba with the back-thumb 5th valve, if someone ordered one.
I own a "Weltklang" 4-clocksprung Eb helicon (B&S) that one might believe to be quite old...but papers in its huge original trunk indicate the mid-latter 1970's.
Oh, the Weltklang? ...bought by appearance (and intuition)...a superb player (lucky)