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For sale is a YCB-822S "Custom" (engraved on the bell) in bright silver plate.

This tuba belongs to a friend’s father, who is at an age where he can no longer play it (or take care of selling it himself). My friend is not a tuba player, so he has enlisted my help.

This instrument was purchased new in 1998 from WWBW. The owner drove up to select it from a batch of 3 horns. He wore gloves while playing it (still in the case, if you want them!) and it only left his house for cleaning and servicing at the local music stores. To me, this is the classic example of getting a used car that was only driven to church and back by a little old lady…etc.

It has only a few small dents. One on the front of the top bow, the others are on the back side of the bottom bow, the largest being about the size of my thumb print. The others are very small. It looks as though it was never placed on the bell. There is one small scratch on the bell, near the rim, but I had a hard time photographing it. The silver plating is 100% there on this instrument.

The valves work like butter, and show a little wear from 25+ years of use. I did discover what looks to be like solder patches in two of the valves. I have no idea if this was done at the factory or later in life, but I have found no evidence of leaks. See photos. The slides all move freely and are accessible with the left hand. The fifth valve has an extension for two whole steps vs. the flat whole step.

I’ve had the tuba for about a month now and have had a chance to play it individually and at a few rehearsals with our community orchestra. It has a nice big, warm sound to it. The bass trombone player and members of the bass section really liked it when I brought it to the orchestra. The bass bone player says he prefers it to my King 2341 that I normally play. It is marketed as a 4/4 sized instrument, but the body seems to have a bit more “girth” than my King. The bore is much larger as well, being listed as 0.768, giving it that big, warm sound.

I’ve found the tuning to be somewhat typical of other CC instruments. I have to pull for A and Ab, and use 12 and 23, respectively for E and Eb in the staff.

It comes with the original rolling hard case (only a few scuffs and scratches) with key, a Yamaha 67C4 mouthpiece, the original “owner’s manual” for its care, a buffing/cleaning cloth, the white gloves, and a note from the owner about how/when he bought it. There is also a website printout from 2011 that has the specs, stating that the mouthpipe is nickel silver.

Here are the specs from the Yamaha website:

Key: CC
Bell: 19 ⅝”
Bore: 0.768”
Valves: 4 piston, 1 rotor

Asking price for this beauty is $6,000. I know there are a lot of other similar models in this price range, but this instrument is in pristine condition and of exceptional quality. It is a “one owner” and has been very well taken care of. It is located in Lincoln, NE. I am willing to drive up to 4 hours to meet a buyer. This puts me in range of buyers from Kansas City, Des Moines, Denver, Chicago, St. Louis, and Minneapolis, to name a few. I will not ship this instrument. Offers will be considered. Pricing inquiries will be forwarded to the family and I will respond as quickly as I hear back.

Send me a PM here or jordanhluke (at) yahoo (dot) com.

HERE is a google folder with lots of pictures. A few photos are below for your reference and viewing pleasure:

No doubt the 822 plays a half size or so larger than the 2341.

I owned an 822 of similar vintage for a while. These are well built horns, as it was the top of the line for Yamaha at the time (knowing the 826 was in a stage of prototyping and small scale production) and the valves will be magically good.

If the pitch is respectable, this is a great deal. The sound is probably like a CB50/5xJ/ECB632/832 on steroids. The bore is a bit large, which seemed to make the instrument “stiff” in terms of timbre; the sound always had core but putting that “fringe” around the core was difficult.

Playing position was about a 45 degree tilt to get the hand happy.

If someone is in the market for a 4/4(+) CC, this is a great deal.

Holy cow that's gorgeous.

Bump! Open to offers. I haven't posted this on Facebook yet, but I just might.

The Tuba Exchange has a "demo" condition one of these for $12K. This one is half the price and (I would venture to say) nearly the same condition.

In the late 90s, one of our local universities owned three of these for their music majors to play in the wind ensemble. It was a more rural area where most couldn’t afford their own horns. Needless to say, as a section they always sounded amazing! Every time I spoke to them, they complimented how much they enjoyed playing them.

From a more personal note, my first CC tuba was a lacquer 822 from WWBW of similar time. I fell in love with the sound the first time I played it and, at the time, was choosing against MW2145s, MW2155s and I believe a miraphone 186. I battled a few sticky valve issues, but nothing that wasn’t fixable. Intonation required a lot of slide movement, but everything was fixable. Best part was the large bell. It put out a lot of sound and made the horn sound bigger than it was.

I do not know the seller but have no doubt that the buyer will be pleased with the sound and happy with their purchase!

Sale pending

SOLD