Posted by Dave Karon on January 13, 1999 at 10:27:08:
In Reply to: York Tuba Questions posted by Bill Y. on January 12, 1999 at 19:00:43:
If the horn is in playable condition its probably worth it.
I bought one last spring. It was in VERY rough shape. The bell was flattened,
the leadpipe was bent over and almost flattened, many large dents in bell flare,
bottom bow and 3rd valve tubing, some braces missing or broken, and the 4th
valve tubing was almost apart. The horn still sounded pretty good. I've had a
lot of those things either fixed or temporarily patched. Fixing the leadpipe cured
a serious intonation problem with f (top of the staff). Mat at Dillon's said he can
make a new leadpipe for it, for what sounds like a reasonable price. I'd like to
get an upright bell for it. The horn may need a valve job and still needs a lot of
other work done, but sounds really good. After straightening the bell, I stripped
the front of it. I notice now that the bell sometimes "rings" after playing a note.
Maybe the laquer damped this sympathetic vibration, maybe not.
I note a few things about this horn. The valve guides are different from
those I've seen on other horns. They are a simple short machine screw,
rather than the (what I'll call) "block" type which is screwed into the valve.
The 4th valve tubing is wrapped in back of the horn, which makes it seem a
bit more awkward to hold. It also has no water valve, which I'll probably
add soon, along with moving the thumb ring to a more comfortable place.
Mine didn't come with a case, and that's been a problem.
I am interested in locating a hard case for it, which will accomodate the large
recording bell . Maybe separate cases for the body and bell.
Dave