Willson 3050 - yikes

[bloke]

Someone came down here today from "somewhere up in Missouri" with a one-year-old 3050.

There were a couple of little slide bow dents. ✔
There was an easy-to-fix upper body bow dent. ✔
There was a really sharp small dent near the edge of the bell flare, along with a couple of less-severe ones. ✔

...but damn, that bell is T-H-I-C-K
I try EVERYTHING before the "dent machine" on stuff like that (to avoid scratching up a large area to repair a small spot).
...so my typical technique is the small-side of a dent hammer covered with a silver polishing cloth (to minimize tool marks even more).

I had to push like HELL (and back-and-forth) to repair that dent as best I could...and the sheet metal is SO thick that (pushing up MODERATELY to locate that spot) wasn't showing me NUTHIN' !!!

OK...
It's done.
They're happy and on their way home.
I'm paid.

bloke "I have really strong fingers and wrists, but I'm really happy that Willson tubas make up such a small percentage of all tubas...and could an anchor such as a 3050 have saved the Key Bridge?"

[jonesbrass]

Definitely built like a tank . . . And weigh just about as much.

I often tell folks, “If I accidentally hit a wall with one of my other tubas, I worry about the tuba. With the big Willson, I worry about the wall.”

[arpthark]

I played the rotary version at Baltimore Brass last week.

How much does it actually weigh? People will exaggerate and say that 20K sousaphones, etc. weigh 30-40 pounds (obviously not), but I would bet the Willson does top 30 pounds if not very close.

I feel like you could substitute your strength training gym routine with playing that thing -- setting it down and picking it back up -- a couple times a day.

edit: internet says 25.3 lbs for the rotary version. Feels like more because the thick bell makes it so top-heavy.

[bloke]

not bragging, but feeling very fortunate that - at my age...

...I still have enough upper body strength to hold one of those in the air out in front of me....to stand-up/sit-down with one of them, and to be able to flip one of those things upside-down and work the bell flare on a roller.

[hrender]

Published weight: 11,2kg / 24.6 lbs

[arpthark]

Interesting that the rotary version is almost a pound heavier. All those Rotaxes! (Rotaxi?)

[bloke]

Published weight: 11,2kg / 24.6 lbs

My 32-inches-tall 4-pistons 1-rotor Holton (with lightweight pistons, and only a long semitone 5th circuit) weighs 24 pounds.

To me, that sounds like when they published the "bore" sizes -years ago - as the inside of the outside slide tubes (or something along those lines...??)

[Sousaswag]

Those things, from what I recall, may be a pound or two heavier than similar size tubas, but, as you mention, are super top heavy because of the bell.

I’m sure that makes it feel much heavier, because you can’t keep it from falling to the left, or, pulling you off the chair with it

[bloke]

Admittedly, the top bow dent that I removed was no more difficult to remove than most any other tuba's top bow dent.