TubaForum.net

matt g wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 5:47 am The current lack of 345s on the market should tell you how easy they are to find. There are probably still a few serving time in school band rooms, but they never sold as well as Conn and King tubas for band usage. They do show up from time to time, but it is infrequent. And yes, a lot of them were cut decades back when the supply of 6/4 CC tubas wasn’t as available as it is now.

In regards to intonation, very little compares to a good 186 BBb, as they are effectively the gold standard of intonation. “Set it and forget it”, as Ron Popeil would say. I don’t think comparing a 345 to a 186 is a fair comparison. I’d expect to have some slide manipulation needed.

lost wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 5:34 pm Holton used the same body on all of their large mammoth horns. The 345 just had a new York like valveset attached.

The quality on these horns is a hit or miss.

bloke wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 5:53 pm' funny what (simply) pulling them apart, removing dents, and sticking them back together not-in-a-terrible-rush does for most of them.

bloke wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 8:51 am Two reasons that you tend not to see very many of these around are (as I personally believe) as follows:
> They were always quite expensive. Just before they officially discontinued production, the inflation-adjusted-for-2021 price was nearly $30,000.
> They never really seemed eager to build these things, and it always took a long time to get them when ordered. I’m pretty sure they were originally created for Arnold Jacobs (more to have a copy of his York instrument, so that Holton could say *that the principals in the Chicago Symphony all played Holton, than to actually offer to the market...and the same sort of seems to be true with the Yamaha YCB-826S - more publicity value than sales value - yes?)

I have one in pieces that will be very pretty (never-creased bell, and never refinished) and pretty easy to fix up, and another one that will look good, but will be more difficult to fix up.
Currently, there are several instruments ahead of them. You never know how the intonation is going to be, until they are built.
Those that are made of all Holton parts all sound fantastic. Even though they are a lap sousaphone, if someone has the ability to focus their airstream, they can sound like a giant concert tuba, instead of a sousaphone. I do sincerely believe that “being B-flat length“ (which obviously defines a considerably longer cone with a more gradual taper) really helps this genre of tubas to be what they can be, and to NOT sport a tendency to sound “woofy” - as do quite a few of the C’s (to me...) Though wandering off on a tangent, I believe the fact that the expensive Yamaha C instrument is smaller than most of the others built in C helps it to not sound so much like a sousaphone…but again, that’s just my opinion.
Intonation-wise, many encounter a lower F that is flat, and an upper F that is a bit sharp. Some really old 186 Miraphone tubas behave the same way, and many older King 4/4 tubas as well. Being smaller, those other tubas - with the same intonation issues - might tend to be somewhat easier to “lip”. fwiw, most of the Meinl-Weston 6/4 C tubas that feature basically the same bugle as each other: 2165/2265/6450 - feature of the same intonation tendencies.
With these big Holton instruments, a thumb lever - which pulls in the main slide, and then lets it go back out when released - could prove handy.
When I rebuild model 345 tubas, I really strive to super-align their main slides, so a trigger add-on - if done later - is easy.
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bort2.0 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 24, 2021 6:56 pm Hrmm... I never thought of the Holton 345 as a particularly rare tuba, or hard to get. As in, if I ever decided I wanted one, I wouldn't expect a lot of trouble to find one.

Ive played a few. They are fun. Not what I wanted (then or now), but a lot of fun!

bort2.0 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 24, 2021 7:26 pm...if you posted here WTB Holton 345... How long would you expect to wait on it?

bort2.0 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 24, 2021 7:26 pm Ok, you're adding a lot of qualifiers there...

But if you posted here WTB Holton 345... How long would you expect to wait on it? Maybe I'm wrong though!