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

[gocsick]

And an unfortunate skin condition

https://www.ebay.com/itm/355661350518?i ... Swx6tmKCUU

[arpthark]

What in the world?

And it's local to me...

[Sousaswag]

This tuba was for sale on the old forum long ago. I remember being frustrated with the seller’s lack of communication.

Blake… This is the perfect rotor C for you! Not a bad price either.

[arpthark]

I was off-put by the finish—looks like it took a refreshing dip in a bath of sulfur—but I did find the old pics on TubeNet and it was, at one point, normal bare brass. I haven't really seen raw brass develop a patina like that unless it was stored outside or near a woodstove.

Thanks for the encouragement, @Sousaswag but that tuba is about $9,998 beyond my budget right now. Although it would make a good complement to the Piggy.

[Sousaswag]

To me, it looks like that tuba has been sitting for a L O N G time. It’s probably a nice player, but I agree the finish and damage is off putting.

It reminds me of what my Willson F looked like when I bought it after years of neglect. Hopefully it hasn’t been ran over!

[Tubajug]

That is certainly one heckuva patina!

[arpthark]

Wouldn't be too bad if the initial lacquer strip had been complete.

[Dents Be Gone!]

I agree, guys. This is the way to go.

[arpthark]

Tuono = thunder

... maybe struck by lightning?

[bloke]

Tuono = thunder

... maybe struck by lightning?

The way you love me is frightening

You know, I used to be pretty smart, before I was struck by Lightnin'.

[kingrob76]

offer half and cite the fact it looks like it's been digested by Godzilla

[cktuba]

A Tuono was my main target when I was looking. But that looks like a HUGE roll of the dice. You could low ball offer and put in a couple K toward repair and come out with a gem. Or... NOT... Those are dice I (personally) would not roll. But to each his or her own.

[Sousaswag]

This is really a candidate for a pre-purchase inspection. I want the details on what happened to this thing.

[arpthark]

I'll see if I can check it out over the next week or so.

[bort2.0]

In that condition, I think this is a $6k -- $7k tuba.

However, if the owner spent about $1,000 on repairs and cleaning up the finish to a normal raw brass state, I bet they could get to the $8k -- $9k range. But the problem still remains, it's a high-end tuba that has some very visible and really weird problems. And that does not build confidence about hidden problems you can't see on the internet. Whoever had this, did not take very good care of it

In the end, I think somebody will buy this for some amount, and end up with a really fine tuba. I would just costing that person to not overspend up front, and clearly understand the amount of money needed to make it right

[bloke]

QUESTION:
Is that price to buy the tuba, or is that the price to put that custom finish on one of MY tubas?