Piston Marzan

[humBell]

https://ebay.com/itm/124935309624

[hrender]

Auction only (I try not to post those, fwiw). Looks like it needs a valve job. Not sure who can do that now that Anderson has stopped offering that valve service.

[York-aholic]

Those detachable bell Marzans look ‘muscular’.

Me like.

[bort2.0]

It's not dead yet

[Mithosphere]

Auction only (I try not to post those, fwiw). Looks like it needs a valve job. Not sure who can do that now that Anderson has stopped offering that valve service.

Dan Oberloh, but I think he's three times the cost that ASP was. But it's also Dan, so you know the quality is better than the manufacturer.

[the elephant]

Nirschl-made valve set — excellent quality and to me would be worth it to have Dan restore. Remember that a proper valve job requires the valve set to be removed from the horn, so a complete disassembly and reassembly is part of the cost. It is in no way worth the time and money, though, if you do not also have the entire horn de-dented and then rebuilt by a stud. It costs a lot more, but if it has to be largely taken down with a torch anyway, it is foolish to have it put back together looking like that, with essentially new valves.

So this horn would really need to be completely restored. If Dan does the valves, then it makes sense to have Dan do all the other work. Dan is very expensive and his labors take a long time, usually. However, if you really like Marzan tubas then it would be worth it, to my way of thinking. Otherwise, this tuba is pretty much shot as a player right now.

For a horn this nice but in this shape, it is a "go big or go home" situation, IMHO.

I think that whoever gets it (if they spent the time and $$$$$ to have it turned back into essentially a new tuba) will be quite happy with it. I personally really like these horns, but not enough to pay someone else to do all that work. I would, however, happily pay Dan for the valve work and then restore it myself in my shop. Others — I don't know what to say, as it would be difficult to determine whether the tuba plays well enough to merit such an investment prior to purchase, as I think as it is right now a playtest would make me say no. But a proper valve rebuild could change such a determination pretty easily.

Perhaps a budget overhaul, to include an Oberloh valve job and a local tech doing the teardown work and then rebuilding it to the best of his skill level with a thorough de-denting, but without replacing any slide tubes, sourcing missing things that work or fit, but that might not be authentic, and forgoing the buffing and lacquering. The bell could be fully refinished for fairly cheap, and the body could just be hand polished from time to time.

Nice tuba. I wish I had the money for it. Good luck to any of you who decide to bid.

[Rick Denney]

Is the plating worn off or is that just brass from the casing that has rubbed into the valve? I've seen old Besson valves that looked like that and cleaned up back to silver with an acid bath. That doesn't mean they aren't worn out, I'm just wondering if the brown color means the plating really is worn off.

Rick "didn't recall that the Marzans had detachable bells" Denney

[York-aholic]

Rick "didn't recall that the Marzans had detachable bells" Denney

Some did, some didn’t.

[bloke]

With the Anderson/Secrist tooling covered up with a drop cloth, there are quite a few tubas that - now - I just click away.

[LargeTuba]

It went for a lot.

[greenbean]

Investment so far...

$1,259 + $273 = $1,532. Not to mention sales tax for most folks/states unless they are a business.

I would say someone grossly overpaid for this. I think it Elephant is right: it is all or nothing on this horn. Right now, the horn has almost nothing going for it. (And I am being generous.)

[bort2.0]

In good playing shape, these are usually $3k to $4k tubas. For $1500, I'm thinking it's a break even at best. Unless of course, you needed the bell for so mething else, and other parts, and...what do I know! :)

[the elephant]

The point of diminishing returns was met when the winner posted that bid. It can be made into a really great tuba, but it will require the buyer to spend a good deal more than the final product will fetch if he ever decideds to sell it.

[matt g]

Yeah, these Marzans can be awesome tubas, but they usually don’t fetch top dollar on the open market.

Regarding the detachable bell, isn’t that how Connie Weldon’s was set up?

[Daniel C Oberloh]

Pretty decent tuba, worth being shown a little love.

[bloke]

The B/M Symphonic Geretsried 5/4 B-flat tubas – regardless of what name is engraved on the bell – remind me of those big Reynolds tubas (sonically, not so much appearance-wise), except with a 3/4 inch bore, instead of an 11/16 inch bore.

[Dan Schultz]

Those detachable bells share the same tenon/receiver set with the Bohm & Meinl/York 'Master' tubas.

I have one here now that is badged E.K. Blessing. It's identical to the Marzan except the main tuning slide is in the conventional lower position.