1964 Holton 345 CC

[the elephant]

I played a gig on this tuba this past Thursday night. I have been entertaining thoughts of keeping it. It is almost as good as my YamaYork with a new mouthpiece I tried in it at home. I was warming up for an outdoor Pops Series concert with some hard material programmed, the Yamaha already polished up, freshly lubed up, and packed in the gig bag.

Last week we had to cancel an earlier outdoor Pops event (a large/important one) due to Franci9ne blowing through simultaneously. We moved it to the next day (Friday) and the weather held out until we were all on the risers warming up.

Then it came down in buckets, a true gullywasher, completely missed by our friends at NWS and TWC. I had my Yamaha and that super-nice Cronkhite leather in the "badlands" finish that is sort of like a cross between oilcloth and a bomber jacket in texture and finish.

I patiently packed up everything as I was pelted by the cats and dogs falling from the sky, my horn covered in water and my leather bag soaked. We all crowded undercover with the audience up to the contractual time required (half an hour past the posted downbeat), killing that hour soaking wet and sweat-streaked, pretty miserable.

When it was officially called I drove my hour commute home, unpacked, and swore I would only use the hard case for outdoor events in the future. I was really worried I had ruined my expensive, still-smells-new leather bag, both inside and outside.

While all packed up for this last event, I decided to trot out the Holton 345 and warm up on it, thinking I *might* swap gig bags as that case is super-heavy and I had to walk over 200 yards of grass to the stage, so I would have to carry it by the handle and not roll it.

I also decided to try out some new mouthpieces on the Holton as I have not played this tuba since January.

WOW! This tuba *really* likes one of these mouthpieces, and it now plays very close to the Yamaha, to the point that I am not sure I want to sell it. It is not as good, but it is very, very similar. It is also much more familiar and predictable to me after all these years, so I decided to use it (and its gig bag) at that night's program.

It turns out that it is not that much heavier than the Yamaha, so the main reason for buying it has been negated. I was having heart troubles when I determined that I could no longer haul this Holton around, but I am on the mend, and that is not such an issue.

I hate selling this tuba. It is a toss-up for me.

$12,000 for this one or $30,000 for the Yamaha. It is a lot of money to ask for, and I won't just sell it to anyone for fear of it being treated poorly. It may come off the market. If you are interested in this instrument you need to contact me to chat about it. PM me if you are looking for a good tuba, not just a good BIG tuba.

I should have never played this tuba on a gig. Now I'm "conflicted"…

HAHAHA!!!

[Mary Ann]

For grass-rolling, I have often wondered if one of those two-wheeled hand-pulled golf bag carts could be mangled to work with a tuba bag on it. Those things are actually designed to be dragged through the rough.

[bloke]

For grass-rolling, I have often wondered if one of those two-wheeled hand-pulled golf bag carts could be mangled to work with a tuba bag on it. Those things are actually designed to be dragged through the rough.

I don't like sidebars in for-sale threads, but the remote stage gigs with me either involve snagging the golf cart guy to and from or pulling the tuba out of the case either at my vehicle (or at some entry point where there's a place to store things) and walking out there with the tuba on my shoulder.

I can understand Wade's emotions regarding selling this instrument. He's put a lot of love and time into it, as well as some very precise assembly work. I could use the revenue from selling the smaller Holton tuba that I built, but it's useful and it's excellent. These days, our rulers and their talking heads may be telling us that the rate at which our money is quickly becoming more worthless is slowing down, but maybe it's better to possess REAL things of worth than paper money - which only poorly represents worth, so I understand that aspect of Wade's concerns as well. If someone chooses to buy it, they are certainly going to get their money's worth and - as their money becomes more worthless, they're going to have easily double their money's worth pretty soon.

[the elephant]

Here it is next to my YamaYork. This is about as bad as it ever looks. I had not polished (or even touched) it since December 18th. It had been in its leather Cronkhite bag slowly developing a patina where I had failed to wipe it down after the last gig I used it on. I put it away with sweat on it and it tarnished in all the normal spots.

The size comparison is not fully legit, here, as the Holton is about two inches taller and has more girth than the Yamaha. But you get the idea. I like the comparison of the two tubas. The playing positions of both horns suit me well, but the Holton just fits me perfectly. The mouthpipe extends out into space more than normal to get the bell fully out of the way of my left eye, which is the one I actually read with. The vision path, for me, is excellent. The valves are well placed, again — for me — but do need a bit of a reach if you are used to fully vertical valves like on the Yamaha. I loved how this position worked for me, but now that I am using the Yamaha it feels *different*. (Well, duh…) I note the reach more now that I do not have to do it. However, that disappears after a few minutes of playing. While "different", it is comfortable and healthier for your wrist in the long term, as there is zero bend needed when the horn is tilted 35º to 40º as is the norm. (If you are one of those guys who thinks you are supposed to hold a tuba with the bell pointed straight up I can't help you there and you would hate this tuba.)

Also, I have been using the Holton's battle-scarred gig bag lately because we have been contending with rain from hurricanes at all our outdoor events, and I do not want the brand-new gig bag to get wet. This gig bag never seems to suffer from rain, so it makes sense to use it when I need it while I still have it.

One of the main reasons for getting the Yamaha was the incredible weight of the Holton' the Yamaha is easier on my back, hips, and knees.

Except it isn't.

It turns out that the Yamaha in the Holton's bag hurts my joints just as much as the Holton in the same bag.

Who knew…?

So the Glenn-made Cronkhite bags were made of heavier materials than the Torpedo-made Cronkhite bags, it seems. This makes me badly want a Cronkhite bag for the Yamaha that is Cordura, which is MUCH lighter than the leather bags in this large size range.

Likewise, the buyer of this Holton would be wise to purchase a Cronkhite Cordura bag for a 2165 as it would make this tuba much more portable, IMHO.