York 6/4 CC (Rusk cut) on FB, $12,500

[arpthark]

Yes, Brett. It seems like tubadom has moved away from the "cut it to CC" phenomenon from back when there was a dearth of large York-style CC tubas. So many options, there's no real excuse to do it now (aside from Frankentuba-ing, boredom, or whatever). But who is gonna &#^$ up a 6/4 York BBb these days...?

The new phenomenon of "keep it in BBb!" is, among other things, more cost-conscious, costing $0 as opposed to $X,XXX+ dollars.

[UncleBeer]

Isn't the BMB 6/4 CC based on a Rusk-cut Holton, including the big gap at the bottom from the shortened bows?

Yes, but the bows are made properly, and not merely shoved up inside the next largest one. And as for layout, where the bends are in the bugle has little acoustic effect.

[Sousaswag]

This actually seems like a more well-thought out design WITHOUT the rotor in the leadpipe.

Of the cut horns (that are always going to look weird) this one seems to at the very least have a decently designed valveset on it.

I’ve also heard that the Rusk-cut stuff was well regarded, but I’m wondering too if that’s coming from the era of lack-of-options.

Same with the HB obsession. They filled a void that otherwise wasn’t filled, and now, with the addition of the PT and MW line of piston/rotary C’s, they’re not as popular anymore.

[arpthark]

I have a Buescher bell-front 3-valve BBb here with that very long mouthpipe/tuning slide before the valves, along with a very long recording bell. Maybe I'll cut it to C and have a tuba that can't play below low F# as well as have no main tuning slide.

[Tubajug]

I have a Buescher bell-front 3-valve BBb here with that very long mouthpipe/tuning slide before the valves, along with a very long recording bell. Maybe I'll cut it to C and have a tuba that can't play below low F# as well as have no main tuning slide.

Do it! I wanna see pics!

Although bloke has a Buescher as well that he has laid out a plan for cutting to CC.

[TheHatTuba]

Is it fair to call those horns (Bueschers) cut when the branches remain untouched?

I assume the 5th valve (talking about the York now) was an after the fact thing, as Mr. Rusk seemed pretty insistent that the bore through the valves should remain consistent.

[arpthark]

I have a Buescher bell-front 3-valve BBb here with that very long mouthpipe/tuning slide before the valves, along with a very long recording bell. Maybe I'll cut it to C and have a tuba that can't play below low F# as well as have no main tuning slide.

Do it! I wanna see pics!

Although bloke has a Buescher as well that he has laid out a plan for cutting to CC.

Well, as-is...

[TheHatTuba]

Cool horns...

What's the 4 valve sousa under it?

[arpthark]

Cool horns...

What's the 4 valve sousa under it?

Circa 1938 Conn 28K Eb.

Sorry to hijack the Rusk/York thread. (Maybe I'll cut the sousaphone to F...?)

[dp]

I thought the Rusk cut horns were more well-regarded.

They still can be, and have been long after the advent of other big horn manufacturers. My first CC, purchased in 1999 was a Bob Rusk-cut B&M, he started with a brand new horn, cut it bead blasted it had it silver plated, and it was a heckuva player. First time my teacher played it he offered me twice what I'd paid for it...adjusted for inflation that was a LOT more than this horn is selling for. For years guys like B and M (see what I did there?) have been trash talking cut horns, today they gladly send a month or two's income (or more) to wuhan for something new and shiny....whatever floats yer boat I guess. But I doubt seriously if any of these Tubenet refugee preservationists invest much of their own skin by preserving big old BBflat tubas of any configuration.

The horn in the facebook offering appears to have been brought to a pretty high cosmetic standard, it'd be interesting to see if the mechanics of the horn match its cosmetics. Better still (and sometimes a lot of fun) if it plays as good as it looks!

When I bought my Holton, a year or two after the Bohm, my teacher called me to tell me he'd just received a cut 6/4 york on approval to play test. It took me most of the day to get over there, and I was looking forward to a blow fest with several big horns. But when I got there, he'd already taken it back to the train station to return it to the seller. Big horns are not for everybody, and its entirely possible that some big horns are not for nearly anybody. But beleaguering the issue seems senseless. So I'll stop -grin-

[TheHatTuba]

Pretty sure I pestered you about that B&M (and 173) years ago. Sure was a looker... Need to pester you about another horn some time too

[dp]

I thought the Rusk cut horns were more well-regarded.

They still can be, and have been long after the advent of other big horn manufacturers. My first CC, purchased in 1999 was a Bob Rusk-cut B&M, he started with a brand new horn, cut it bead blasted it had it silver plated, and it was a heckuva player. First time my teacher played it he offered me twice what I'd paid for it...adjusted for inflation that was a LOT more than this horn is selling for. For years guys like B and M (see what I did there?) have been trash talking cut horns, today they gladly send a month or two's income (or more) to wuhan for something new and shiny....whatever floats yer boat I guess. But I doubt seriously if any of these Tubenet refugee preservationists invest much of their own skin by preserving big old BBflat tubas of any configuration.

The horn in the facebook offering appears to have been brought to a pretty high cosmetic standard, it'd be interesting to see if the mechanics of the horn match its cosmetics. Better still (and sometimes a lot of fun) if it plays as good as it looks!

When I bought my Holton, a year or two after the Bohm, my teacher called me to tell me he'd just received a cut 6/4 york on approval to play test. It took me most of the day to get over there, and I was looking forward to a blow fest with several big horns. But when I got there, he'd already taken it back to the train station to return it to the seller. Big horns are not for everybody, and its entirely possible that some big horns are not for nearly anybody. But beleaguering the issue seems senseless. So I'll stop -grin-

A lot of those cut horns are single instance experiments.

I have no doubt that some turned out well. As well as some not. I mean, heck, manufacturers can’t reproduce playing characteristics when they have mandrels, forms, and jigs to help maintain consistency.

Implied prior in this thread is the notion that hindsight is 20/20. Many of these old BBb tubas should probably have been left alone. However, it was the demand for large CC tubas 40+ years ago that led us to this current promised land of 6/4 York copy gluttony.

I absolutely admire people like @Yorkboy who preserve the original intent of these large old tubas and update them with modernized designs for valves and tubing.

I will stand by my previous concerns about the telescoped tubing and odd ergonomic design. With that being said, the execution looks to be well done in terms of finish and alignment and well-preserved.

Without Bob Rusk and his efforts, I wonder if there would be the plethora of 6/4 CC tubas we have now (understood that other dudes were cutting down 6/4 tubas, but not as prolific as Mr. Rusk)? Similarly, I wonder if we’d see stuff like the ECB-632 or whatever without Sam Gnagey and Matt Walters tinkering around with graveyards of Eb and Bb parts?

[dp]

Pretty sure I pestered you about that B&M (and 173) years ago. Sure was a looker... Need to pester you about another horn some time too

The Bohm went to one of Mike's incoming students at CU and he finished school with it and vanished. Wish I had it back. That Alex went to Austin and when first right of refusal was offered to me, I'd just incurred a 5-figure medical bill and felt I had to "pass." Wish I had it back. But more than those two instances, I wish I had back all the time I diddled around here and there and had put all that time into more facetime with whatever horn I had AT the time!

[kingrob76]

Rusk cut a lot of horns into CC horns, some were better than other. Dave Fedderly acquired two York "bodies" that he had Bob make into two 6/4 CC horns that look an awful lot like this one. One played REALLY well, one not so much. Both were similarly weird looking because of Bob's approach to building these. I have no idea if there was any telescoping involved or what, this is 20-25 years ago, but sometimes results were good and sometimes, not so much.

My point I'm trying to make is until you play it, you can't tell how the horn ended up - especially these Rusk-cut horns simply because the results did vary greatly.