SUPER-ECONO 3-VALVE KING FIX-UP - & RECORDING-TO-UPRIGHT METAMORPHOSIS - FOR A SCHOOL

[bloke]

I continued to quote a middle school band director lower-and-lower-priced options, and he continued to seem nonplussed...UNTIL I showed him some old beat-up King 1240 RECORDING basses that I had sitting around, and quoted him a price to straighten them out to "decent" condition, and shoot a bit of lacquer on them here-and-there...
...YET: he wanted UPRIGHT bells (of course ), so I did some thinking, and quoted him to allow for some FRANKEN-bells...

...so we struck a deal, and the formerly WORST (and the nicest) two of the three (that we have) will be fixed up, and leave nice open spots in my storage.
...even better, those spots empty spots will represent (well...a tiny bit...not very much) MONEY.

Again, I pulled the WORST and the EASIEST (of the three that I have) to sell to him. I figured that - if I fixed up the WORST one - it would be GONE, and the EASIEST would make up for the time that the WORST one took to fix...

...and this (again) is the WORST...but NEITHER had upright bells...so here is what I'm going to supply him with upright bells (because I'm NOT-NOT-NOT pulling the upright bells from the 2341 (FOUR valve) versions that are sitting here awaiting restorations (for obvious reasons).

In order to fabricate UPRIGHT King bells from King formerly-recording bells, I'm using portions of the "stack/chimney" portions of two hopelessly-trashed (cracks and holes) vintage Miraphone 186 bells.

I may not place the pictures in the ideal order, and (again) today I (not only) WORKED my @$$ off, but (also) I HURRIED my @$$ up (because this stuff ain't "fun", and it just needs to GET DONE)...so (per usual) no "during" pictures.

WHEN THIS INSTRUMENT IS COMPLETELY DONE, I'LL POST ONE OR TWO MORE PICTURES...

I guess I'll show the FRANKEN-BELL first...














YEAH...I HAD TO PULL ~BOTH~ LOWER BOWS (' certainly didn't want to...)
TO PROPERLY REPAIR THIS TUBA BODY.

[groovlow]

Super! I think King horns like these sound great, point and shoot for all levels of players.
I've heard children playing these at TC and had to look to see where the sound came from
Lucky director and tuba kids! Ya know they'll all want to play the MiraFone
Joe H
Funny i just acquired a '68 King fiberglass...Plays nice indoors

[KingTuba1241X]

Is there a source for the Gold King lacquer on the market anywhere?

[bloke]

Sure:
translucent dye additive

http://www.finish1.com/page_products_dyecolors.htm

They also sell it this same dye premixed in rattle cans, but it's VERY diluted when sold that way and - in my estimation - would require at least TEN rattle-can coats to achieve the really dark "King" coloration.

Is there a source for the Gold King lacquer on the market anywhere?

[sdloveless]

Kind of a tangent, but this thread got me to thinking. (I know, I shouldn't do that.) My 1240 has a fixed recording bell, and I've seen plenty of them with the collar for removable bells. Were any 1240/1241 tubas ever made with a fixed upright bell?

[KingTuba1241X]

Kind of a tangent, but this thread got me to thinking. (I know, I shouldn't do that.) My 1240 has a fixed recording bell, and I've seen plenty of them with the collar for removable bells. Were any 1240/1241 tubas ever made with a fixed upright bell?

I've never seen one, but that's not to say none snuck out of the factory. It definitely wasn't a production thing.

They also sell it this same dye premixed in rattle cans, but it's VERY diluted when sold that way and - in my estimation - would require at least TEN rattle-can coats to achieve the really dark "King" coloration.

Which of those shades are you using? I'm thinking less brown and orange next time..unless original factory look is desired.

[bloke]

It's probably "special gold color B"...(??)

I have a fairly large (a little dab 'll do ya') glass bottle, here, that has literally lasted me over 40 years.

[hrender]

Kind of a tangent, but this thread got me to thinking. (I know, I shouldn't do that.) My 1240 has a fixed recording bell, and I've seen plenty of them with the collar for removable bells. Were any 1240/1241 tubas ever made with a fixed upright bell?

I also have a fixed recording bell 1240. The closest things I’ve seen to a fixed upright bell 1240/1241 are the King 1215/1216 horns. They’re pretty rare. There’s one for sale now on the Austin TX Craigslist.

[bloke]

re: King fixed recording bells...
' have seem 'em ... pretty cool ... perhaps practical IF the ancient hard case is with one, intact, and sturdy
...or (I suppose...??) lug around in one of those super-large Pro-Tec drag-the-ground 241 bags

Tuba #1 is about ready to shoot some King super-gold all around it (blending in with the 1/3-intact original, and - also - on the Miraphone stack...and I went ahead and removed ALL the lacquer from the Miraphone stack, so it will look MUCH better with the gold sprayed over it).

Tuba #2...I made GREAT progress on it (not nearly as beat-up).

I pulled my OTHER trashed 186 bell out (was still mounted on a tuba, but I have a "pretty good" 186 bell lined up to put BACK ON to THAT 186, so...),
AND I pulled the OTHER two-piece-construction King recording bell...so I'll be doing that King upright conversion tomorrow.
I didn't work as hard, today, but I worked fairly hard.

I did a bunch of administrative until lunch, sold the bell TAIL off that Conn 8D French horn bell (to a boutique F.H. store) and (hopefully...??) sold TWO (more) tubas...
...and (again) worked on King tuba #1 and King tuba #2 today, until 5:40.
It's quite dark outside, now, so (maybe...??) I'm allowed to eat some of Mrs. bloke's good food, drink my last huge cup of coffee for the day, and sit for a while.

Hey...
> I got my lost love-buddy cat back.
> I thought that cat was dying of a fatal illness...He's alive and kicking MANY weeks later (even after being GONE for two weeks in the middle of winter).
> I found out that I had to cover a bunch (serious) medical and other bills for two of my grown children...so I'm basically broke...but (well...) I have work to do - and something to eat, so God's being good to me, even though my rulers aren't (but that's per usual).

bloke "chin up"

[Three Valves]

I can’t believe the cat came back, that is something!!

[bloke]

I love that silly little guy...

[jtm]

I love that silly little guy...

That's really great news!

[bloke]

I love that silly little guy...

That's really great news!

It's been OVER SIX weeks (INCLUDING the TWO weeks that he ran off...three weeks ago) since the vet gave him a steroid shot ("works every once in a while"...) and a death sentence (bobcat fever - spread by ticks)...
...and he NEITHER looks sick NOR acts sick...
(eating well...shenanigans with the other cats.
It's NOT contagious, btw)
He's gained his "ran off for two weeks" weight back, so I'm taking him to the vet for re-testing (and possibly leaving for neutering, if miraculously well) in a couple of days...
(Most all cats never get RE-tested for bobcat fever, because - well... - they die.)
I can't help but believe (so much time having passed, and so healthy looking/acting) that he beat the odds.
Here he is, after the first 9-1/2 months of his cat-adventure called "life"...

[Three Valves]

When fixed, he won’t run off again looking for love!!

[bloke]

King model 1240 bell conversion #2 (from curved to straight, for a middle school customer that is purchasing a pair of these tubas from us) is completed (other than the final cosmetics, to match everything up).

The two hopelessly-trashed Miraphone bells - which donated the upper portions of their "stacks" to these King bells being converted from "recording" to "upright" were only about 150 serial numbers apart. Based on the known origin of one of those bells, I'm thinking that it may be from an (originally) super-perfect-condition used one that my friend (who entered Pershing's Own, c. 1974 or so) bought brand-new when he entered the Army. After fulfilling his obligation to the U.S. military, he left the band, and asked me to sell his tuba. I sold it to a private school...probably around 1981 or so...

...so the only engraving on either bell will be "MIRAFONE" and the "Miraphone-made portions (from roughly the original mouthpipe level up to just below the bell throat area) will also be anointed with "glorious King orange".

I'm going to continue to quasi-document this, but I can't stop thinking about Dennis Askew...What a nice man, and what a loss...

[tofu]

.

[bloke]

(Most all cats never get RE-tested for bobcat fever, because - well... - they die.)
I can't help but believe (so much time having passed, and so healthy looking/acting) that he beat the odds.
Here he is, after the first 9-1/2 months of his cat-adventure called "life"...

Actually, there has been some positive news on treatment. Two or three years ago the University of Missouri came up with a new treatment that raised the survival rate from a low 25% to a much better 60%. So it's no longer an almost certain death sentence, still a serious issue with a 40% mortality rate but way better than the former 75% mortality rate.

I've seen the same research reported online...

I DEFINITELY saw the vet give the cat TWO shots...
On the phone (later) he only mentioned "steroid shoT" (singular), but the other one (possibly/likely...??) was that medicine discussed in online articles.

I've ALSO seen (in those same articles) that [1] YOUNGER cats and [2] cats who are treated EARLY (as I took him in as soon as I suspected "something") tend to add to survival statistics.

>> It's just that the vet was NOT encouraging after testing, treating, and handing the cat back to me.

Cats are resilient. I believe many that die young (of illnesses) do so because their owners don't notice symptoms (something that has happened with me, before) and things that could have been cured - early on - are (at that point) no longer curable. Often - with cats - its kidney problems, which also can be addressed (if caught early).

...yeah...tough ol' grumpy bloke wept, during the hour-drive home from that (seven weeks ago) trip to the vet.

[GC]

I'm glad you were able to get him back and are working on getting him into good medical shape.

We've never had an outside cat that died of old age, which is why we now keep all of ours inside all the time. My area is deadly on outside cats, between roving dogs, coyotes, and feline lukemia.

The Orange Terror, our latest. Sometimes he seems to be a bit too flexible.

[Name_Plate]

The bell section has perked my interest. I would be curious to hear how it sounds after the tubas come together. I wonder if it will have that king sound still or it it will take on a more mirafone sound.

[bloke]

well...
It still has that 22 inch King bell flair on it.