Meinl-Weston 5450RA "Tuono" with hardware store repairs

[MiBrassFS]

Those levers/platen (provided they started out lacquered) look… burnt, maybe? What a weird condition for that tuba be in.

[the elephant]

Looks like a halfassed stripping job followed by several years of being stored uncased/unbagged in a room with hydrogen sulfide in the air, as in a sewage leak. That patina looks exactly like one caused by exposure to airborne sulfur.

Maybe it has seen use as a portajohn…



If the valves and slides function well, it should not take more than $500 to fix that baby up. If you like that model and it turns out to be a good player, it won't take much work to clean it up. Almost zero physical damage, and lots of tarnish (which can be chemically removed with ease).

The price is stupid-high, though.

"NO LOWBALLERS! I KNOW WHAT I GOT!"
— Facebook Marketplace Moron

[Sousaswag]

It really seems like he doesn't really want to sell it. I mean, in that condition, and his price not changing over the 2-3 times it's been posted...

[the elephant]

Dunning-Kruger Effect…

[Sousaswag]

The description does say “stripped lacquer” so maybe that mystery is solved…

I wonder how low he’s willing to go for that thing. There is a make offer button. Honestly, as it sits, that’s like a $7,000-$8,000 tuba. It is nowhere NEAR a $10,000 instrument, even being what it is. There’s too much unknown with it.

Maybe somebody will buy it this time around

[HumbellHouse]

I would beware of this listing everyone. I will not recount the story I heard regarding this tuba, but based on the seller's initials I know of this horn. If the story is correct, this horn should no longer be in his posession. I do not know if the seller's account was hacked but either was I will make a call or two to investigate the story for accuracy and update here as soon as I hear from my source. Bear with me everyone.

[Sousaswag]

Oh man… The plot thickens! You’ve got to tell us what happens!!

[kingrob76]

If it were closer to me I'd still offer half, contingent upon inspection. I can't imagine what the rotors might look like.

[catgrowlB]

Look carefully at the mouthpipe receiver --- the solder looks crusted or 'dried out' and separated -- like a fire got to it. Other areas on the horn look burnt rather than just stripped. Just saying.....kinda weird

[the elephant]

It would not look like that had it been in a house/structure fire. Fires in homes get quite hot, with sustained temperatures around 1500ºF. Soft solder melts at about 300º F, so brass instruments that have "burned" will melt or fall apart.

(I have had to cope with some hopeless restoration attempts for friends.)

Also, lacquer is very flimsy in this regard. There would be NONE left on the horn, even if the fire had not melted the solder or even the brass itself. This is a horn that was poorly stripped and then stored in the open air in a space with some sort of sulphurous vapor (whether that exposure was constant or intermittent is unknown) or some other chemical that reacts with copper like that.

The solder you see at the end of the receiver is often there, but polished up so that it is invisible. It is not abnormal at all. It could have been removed for a repair, replaced, or the finishing buffer at the factory just powered past it, as it is not really abnormal for places like MW.

Cheers!

Wade

[catgrowlB]

^ Not saying it was a house fire, just saying parts of the horn look 'burnt'. Maybe cigarettes or small flame torch for lighting candles, etc. Could have been a kid messing around with it until the parent stopped? The solder is definitely 'separated' at the receiver -- not 'flowed' through the joint well.
A 'cold joint'. Looks like a torch or flame was taken to the receiver without doing actual solder work.
Definitely didn't come from the factory like that....

[HumbellHouse]

So the story as I remember it was not confirmed by the shop involved. I apologize for stirring the pot, but stand behind my gut reaction of it seeming fishy for those and other reasons. I wouldn't pay 10K for that horn in that condition, regardless, but if someone is dead set on playing a tuono and wants to shell out the bread budget for a trip to a reputable shop to undo the damage and expect for some unforeseen issues to pop up during the process...