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This is a 1970's Fullerton, California-made instrument with about (I have no idea how to rate this) 80% - 85% original lacquer.

I'll get pictures up when I get a chance, but '80% - 85%' is an attempt to communicate that it presents itself well.
(It looks pretty darn good from a few feet away, and - up close - one can see a few worn spots and light evidence of well-done dent removal.)

There are NO cracks/patches/red-rot.

The first 3 pistons each show about a 1/4" wide vertical streak of nickel plating wear, and I would rate the piston-to-casing fit as "excellent".

Dents-wise the valveset has survived the decades relatively untouched. Even the original not-particularly-stout Olds water keys are still in place.

Someone before me did a darn good job of removing a fairly large away-from-the-mouthpipe side bottom bow dent, as well as having done a good job of removing a dent from the secondary lower bow (in the places that typically get dented. By the time I take pictures, I will have picked over all the small dents and minor bell creases that the instrument has apparently picked up since it was repaired "whenever". There is a shallow depression (ie. DENT) between a couple of the lower bows at a brace. I might fool around with removing it, but that may (??) end up being one really small and hidden dent that I might not end up removing...What's that thing that people say...?? "...has no effect on blah-blah-blah"

These seem to be a favorite amongst trombone doublers (16" bell, 4 front-action pistons, .656" bore) and seem to be considerably more highly thought of compared to the (still made today, competing model) Conn 5J.

They are also a favorite amongst B-flat players looking for a wonderful "brass quintet" tuba.

OK...When putting the final "ready-to-sell" touches on it - and if I decide that the #1 and #3 circuits are too long (ref: old-school "same length circuits as if it were only a 3-valve) I WILL shorten those two circuits to the "appropriate" (for what modern players expect) lengths.

$2000 takes it, and - if purchased by a school (and a hard case is needed) I found a good wooden hard case upstairs (with those quasi-DEG-style wheels (that can be included for an additional $300. I'm not interested in trades (unless absurdly in my favor, so - really - no), and the instrument is in good enough condition (particularly with dollars being worthless) to warrant this pricing.

The buyer pays for any shipping, and - regardless of what some shipping company's boilerplate claims - the buyer agrees that - once I hand it over to an agreed-to shipper - the instrument becomes the PROPERTY and RESPONSIBILITY of the buyer.

It's in western Tennessee in a safe area, and - if a buyer would like to play it first and then pay for it - they are welcome to come, play/like/pay/spend the night/be fed breakfast/drive home with their new-to-them tuba.

FOLLOW THIS THREAD FOR PICTURES (when I have them).

=======================

I MUST complete work on a Hoyer double horn BY SOMETIME TOMORROW, because its owner lives in the town where one of my "freeway philharmonics" (a concert this weekend) rehearses and performs...so I might not (??) get pictures up until very early April.

If someone views my verbal descriptions as adequate, I'll be glad to sell it prior to pictures being posted.

Good price.

matt g wrote: ↑Thu Mar 30, 2023 7:47 pmGood price.

I'm selling it because I've "upgraded", and this is probably good enough for you.

(Isn't that what 18-19 year olds say when they advertise their Miraphone 188's for sale, after they talk their parents into buying them Chinese 6/4 tubas?)

satirizing/lampooning aside...
I'm selling it because it's YET ANOTHER instrument that I finally pulled down out of the "stuff I bought to pretty-up and sell" attic, and am now getting it ready to sell.

Here are preliminary pictures.

Remaining to do are:

- shining up worn areas and shooting some clear lacquer on them for improved cosmetics
- shortening the LOWER #1 slide by about an inch (to allow for the UPPER #1 slide to be pulled out by more than an inch, so that it has room to be pushed IN to tune second-space C
- freeing up and aligning the upper #1 slide, for easy movement and on-the-fly tuning
- shortening the #3 circuit by several inches as (per typical in the 1970's and earlier) the 3rd circuit is extra long (as a 1-3 and 1-2-3 valve combination overall length compromise) as manufacturers - during that time - thought of the 4th valve "to be used in the extended low range only", RATHER THAN for F/C and B/E.
- There was an isolated minor depression between two bows (mentioned in the original post). I was actually able to just about completely remove it, via somewhat creative dent-removal techniques.
- In other words, my intention is to ship or hand this off completely ready to take somewhere (that very day) and play it..."for the love of it", for remuneration, or for both.

> Once those things are done, I'll be willing to sell it to whomever is interested in buying it.
> I'll post pictures of the ($300 optional case-with-wheels) in the next couple of days...It's in good shape, but needs exterior cleaning.
> My preference - with this tuba - is a shallow bowl style mouthpiece - which offers clarity, but that's just my preference. If sold to a school, I'm willing to include a (new) no-name Helleberg facsimile, because it's customary to include a mouthpiece, when an instrument is sold to a school.

I apologize for the fuzzy pictures, but I ended up having to take them at dusk, and the flash defined that I had to hold the phone more still that I was able to - at those moments.

OK...
The TUBA is ready to sell.
The hard case - if desired - has not been cleaned up yet.

PLEASE NOTICE that the #1 circuit and #3 circuits have been shortened.
The #1 upper slide (obviously not apparent in the pictures) is nicely aligned and can be operated "on the fly" for issues such as 1st valve C and 1-4 "low" E-flat, etc.

Obviously, I've additionally picked over the dent removal work, shined up the uglies, and shot new lacquer (tinted to appear a bit "aged"...close to the slightly darkened color of the oem lacquer) where appropriate.

Really nice work, Joe!
Tim

Serious sounding inquiry. No money yet, but doesn't sound like a tire kicker, and sounds mostly like a buyer.
(??)

If absolutely sold, I will immediately update.

You shur make it shiny!

Three Valves wrote: ↑Tue Apr 04, 2023 9:39 am You shur make it shiny!

Based on quite a bit of the stuff that I see people buy , they seem to like to buy - more than anything else - "because shiny".

CASE PICS:

NOTICE: piston upgrade

Today, I realized that @York-aholic had gifted me with (amongst other gifts) an Olds/Reynolds .656" bore #1 piston.

The plating on that gift-piston is perfect, so I'm "paying it forward", swapped it out with the "good-but-slightly-worn" #1 piston, and am including it with this instrument.

bloke wrote: ↑Sat Apr 08, 2023 6:43 pm NOTICE: piston upgrade

Today, I realized that @York-aholic had gifted me with (amongst other gifts) an Olds/Reynolds .656" bore #1 piston.

The plating on that gift-piston is perfect, so I'm "paying it forward", swapped it out with the "good-but-slightly-worn" #1 piston, and am including it with this instrument.

Better than that piston sitting in a box in my garage for the next 20 years...

Ironically, there are some Olds parts in the “eventually send to bloke” box.

York-aholic wrote: ↑Sat Apr 08, 2023 9:56 pm

bloke wrote: ↑Sat Apr 08, 2023 6:43 pm NOTICE: piston upgrade

Today, I realized that @York-aholic had gifted me with (amongst other gifts) an Olds/Reynolds .656" bore #1 piston.

The plating on that gift-piston is perfect, so I'm "paying it forward", swapped it out with the "good-but-slightly-worn" #1 piston, and am including it with this instrument.

Better than that piston sitting in a box in my garage for the next 20 years...

Ironically, there are some Olds parts in the “eventually send to bloke” box.

If you have a really pretty #'s 2 and 3 that are from this same type of model (.656" bore Olds/Reynolds), I'll put those in there for whoever buys it. All the valves were fine, but one two and three were just lightly worn. I'd figure out something to give you in return.
Otherwise, the original 2 & 3 are in remarkably good shape, and now 1 and 4 both look new.

As soon as I wrote my last post, I wandered out there to look. It’s a valveset from an O99-3. Valves 1&2 are nice but have wear on the top and bottom 1/4” and 3 has had the valve stem pushed down ( ) and through the top port. The valve cluster and slides are in great shape though...

So, nothing there that will improve your 99-4 unless a slide crook or two want improving, but it doesn’t sound like it.

York-aholic wrote: ↑Sat Apr 08, 2023 10:17 pm As soon as I wrote my last post, I wandered out there to look. It’s a valveset from an O99-3. Valves 1&2 are nice but have wear on the top and bottom 1/4” and 3 has had the valve stem pushed down ( ) and through the top port. The valve cluster and slides are in great shape though...

So, nothing there that will improve your 99-4 unless a slide crook or two want improving, but it doesn’t sound like it.

You're always very generous, and this particular tuba is about as good as anyone should hope to find a 1970's popular model (which was probably used in a school).

So far, an individual (far away - ie. shipping but quite do-able) and a middle school (an hour away...budget money remaining, but not yet released) have demonstrated interest.

I'm not holding it, unless dough or a P.O. are involved.

I'd like it to disappear from here, and for someone to be enjoying it.
I suppose I could lower the price, but those that I see for less tend to be all beat up, worn, patched, heavily buffed (noticing their engraving having been blurred), and haven't had the #1/#3 circuit lengths corrected - nor the upper #1 slide dialed in...so I feel confident that (particularly with the hyperinflation we've suffered and lesser Asian instruments being priced higher than this) that I've pinpointed a good selling price.

Mostly, I'd just like it out from underfoot - now that it's all slicked out.

Thanks for looking !

bloke wrote: ↑Thu Apr 13, 2023 1:21 pm

underrated deep cut/bootleg (was this on Anthology III?) track

O-99-4 isn't overrated, either.

It may not have the quite the visual "Harley Davidson" presence of a 6/4 C, but there ain't nuthin wrong with a vintage Honda 350 B-flatorcycle.

I'll even sell it to y'all peeps who probably don't like me, and I promise I'll NEVER tell that it was me who sold it to you.

sale/in-person pickup scheduled for May 18th.

thnx.