again: These are REPAIRS, and not "restorations".
I really dislike working on this model, and play-testing them afterwards is consistently unsatisfying...ie.
"I did all that work for THIS...!?!?"
Everyone knows what "before" looks like with these big school tubas...They're just like what's typically seen on the Grand Rapids eBay seller's eBay listings ("has some dents and needs a good cleaning"), as well as the "parts only" listings...
...and I'm not even getting into soldering issues, slide denting/alignment issues, folded-over mouthpipe next to the receiver, and all that jazz...
out of focus...?? (yup...I ain't goin' back out there, right now...)
The crease line on the bottom bow is VERY shallow. That side (per usual) was smushed flat, but I fixed it without removing the bottom bow. I could have annealed it, but it's cold as a witch's tit, today, and I just didn't want to go buff off the burned lacquer.
EVERYONE looking at THIS picture KNOWS what THIS side of this sumbich looked like "before"...
disgusting:
strubbing off the thick layer of dried tuba spit from the outside of these things...I found an old worn-out rag, and worked it loose with PB Blaster, and then dried it off with another old rag.