Tubas and Parts For Sale

.

  • This was a beat-up old York from around 1920 which turned up in my father's basement. It originally had four top-action piston valves with rather small bore. Even in its decrepit condition I found it fun to play. The body is similar in size to the one-piece King "2341" model. Shortly after retiring as a high school physics teacher in 2000 I went to the ITEC in North Carolina, where I discovered a new model Mirafone "1271" with a valve section that I really liked. The dual-bore pistons were very light and fast, arranged in an arc that met my fingertips perfectly. With the help of Matt Walters at Dillon Music I was able to obtain one of those valve sections brand-new from the Mirafone factory, with the main tuning slide and first crook included. I put it onto the York body with a Bohm & Meinl leadpipe, and arranged the 4th valve tubing with two slides so the upper one can be manipulated easily with my left hand, and the other one can be pulled way out for special occasions. Eventually I found a York bell in much better condition, and used it to replace the original bell. I used this tuba for about 20 years in the Civic Orchestra of New Haven, the Galvanized Jazz Band, and many other ensembles. I also made an airline flight case for it and used it successfully for several trips to jazz festivals. I decided to sell it recently because of my age, and it has gone to a new home.





  • A Silver-Plated Mirafone with Holton Piston Valves: (Now gone to a new home)


    This is silver-plated Mirafone BBb tuba with 4 Holton piston valves. I purchased it on Ebay back in 2007. One of my students liked it, used it while she was in high school and college, took good care of it, and recently asked me to find a new home for it.

    The seller stated that it was built for Arnold Jacobs by T.M. Koeder and used by Dan Corrigan in the Indianapolis Symphony. He said that information came from Sam Gnagey. Its length is 40", bore is 0.810" and bell size is 17". Because the original valve buttons were quite small I replaced them with improvised buttons made from quarters.

    The top of the bell was somewhat wrinkled when the seller originally posted photos on Ebay; that damage is still there. Although it could be repaired I suspect that the plating would be damaged in the process. I used this tuba at the TubaChristmas last December (2021) in New Britain (CT) with a cloth bell-cover which hid the wrinkles, and found that its intonation was fine when I used alternate fingerings for two notes. The pistons are in excellent condition. The valve cap threads are somewhat worn, but do the job if used carefully.

    The tuba came with a somewhat worn but entirely functional soft case which fits very well.



    My email address is ahovey2@gmail.com. I am in Connecticut.

    BACK TO THE TUBA-LOGIC PAGE: