TubaForum.net

- What is the bell worth, and - having been re-lacquered (as it's shiny, and BOTH bow caps are missing, a portion of an incorrect mouthpipe has been pasted on, and the bottom bow is inordinately caved in...hinting at it being quite thin) - how thick do you suspect the bell now is?

- What are the rotors and linkage worth, and how near new condition is the fit of the rotors?

- Is there any value here?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/126976768121


btw...I'm just fine with WBIC...and/but I don't blame them for deciding to pass on an in-shop restoration.


Repair peeps often sigh when people bring in "treasures" they've acquired and expect someone to be able to "bring them back"...and - even louder and more affected sighs - when someone brings in such "treasures" hoping for some sort of resale profit.

related:
A couple of years ago, a middle school handed us a super-shiny (badly-dented) Selmer USA (based on ancient Buescher tooling) baritone saxophone to repair, and - during the same visit to the school - offered to GIVE us an "Elkhart" (economy-line pre-Selmer Buescher) baritone saxophone that was "old and brown"...

The shiny Selmer USA had the CRAP buffed out of it...and the smashed-in areas WERE smashed in BECAUSE they were paper thin...yeah...we straightened it out and got it playing, but it was/is ruined and (well...) not long for this world.

OF MUCH MORE USE...
We refused the gift of the old brown economy-line "Elkhart" baritone saxophone, straightened it out a bit, got it playing well, found a funky old bari-sax case in our attic, patched up that case a bit, and (yup) the "Elkhart" bari sax is now that middle school's "important/go-to" baritone saxophone.

Buffed-the-crap-out-of brass instruments are far most useless than mostly-Bondo cars, because those cars (if a good engine and transmission, etc.) can still be driven.

I would be interested at about half the listed price, but I do like those horns when they are working well.

yeah..."never refinished"...$600...maybe...(if I didn't already have so many other similar things in the attic awaiting restoration)

bloke wrote: ↑Wed Mar 05, 2025 11:47 am btw...I'm just fine with WBIC...and/but I don't blame them for deciding to pass on an in-shop restoration.

I agree. That comment pretty much sums up the, (cough) "value." If the seller doesn't think it can be fixed up to sell, then there probably isn't any value at all above salvage for reusable parts. I would pronounce this tuba DOA and send it to the parts morgue.

On the left side of the picture below, there appears to be some tight kinks that double back on each other. How brittle, how severely, and how many times has this bell been worked are questions that come to mind. There may be no holes or tears right now, but there easily could soon be. I like these tubas plenty and have no problem with WBIC either.

Prices are absurd. The seller is in the game. People might just see a German tuba.

“Not a buyer. Didn’t look twice given the price and condition shown in pictures.”

Bidding ended and it didn't sell.