Posted by Jay Bertolet on March 26, 1999 at 09:55:40:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Whats the very best horn out there posted by Sean Chisham on March 25, 1999 at 16:22:08:
I'd be curious to know if anyone heard the same story I did about the Yorkbrunner origins. If anyone can substantiate or refute this story, I'd like to know the truth. The story goes like this:
When Hirsbrunner decided to make a York style instrument, they wanted to copy Mr. Jacobs' tuba. But they wanted to do it in Switzerland, not here. So when they contacted Mr. Jacobs about it, he said he would send them the tuba. However, Mr. Jacobs had 2 Yorks that he purchased at the same time. One played really well (that is the one that Gene Pokorny is currently using) and one didn't play so well. The not-so-good York is the one Jacobs used whenever the orchestra went on tour and had been subjected to several serious incidents of damage. In fact, the story I heard was that this horn had been rebuilt at least once because it was dropped a couple of stories during a load-in to a Viennese concert hall. Anyhow, as per standard procedure, Mr. Jacobs sent Hirsbrunner his "traveling" York, and not the "good" one. Years later, after Gene had landed in Chicago, Gene made the "good" York available to Hirsbrunner and this was the origin of the "modified" version of the Yorkbrunner as well as the conversion kits that were made available to current Yorkbrunner owners.
If anyone can illuminate the facts of this story, I would appreciate having the straight dope.