1960 vintage Holton CC York model for sale


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Posted by Joe Sellmansberger on April 05, 1999 at 23:49:35:

offering my 1960 vintage satin-silver CC Holton York model. Similar to currently-made quality York copies in many ways: 20" bell, .750" bore 1-4 pistons / .835" bore 5th rotary located past the main slide. Hard case included with very heavy-duty wheels. Tight, non-sticking pistons with 100% nickel-plating integrity. No dents. e-mail me at sellmansberger(AT)worldnet.att.net for more details - I do not check tubenet very often. I will be forthcoming with all of the very strong points, and the things that you must work around to play this instrument. I do not find the pitch problems on this instrument to be any more difficult to deal with than the Hirsbrunner version, Meinl-Weston version, the Culbertson thing, or the York (which Mr. Pokorny let me toot on for a few minutes down in the locker room, once). The sound of this Holton is absolutely monstrous, commanding, and majestic. Slurs are butter-smooth -- believe it or not, a great (if you like[?]) "Carnival of Venice" horn!
I mostly find myself playing quintet, jazz band, and church orchestra jobs, and although it is an unbelievable "kick" to play and be heard playing this instrument in Shostakovitch, low Wagner, Prokofiev, and other similar situations (Have you ever done the Rutter "Gloria" with a top-notch choir? This thing would be PERFECT for that.), I get by really well 99% of the time with my B & S "f", and this Holton thing is just "sitting".
I am not "ditching" it, but I will offer it for a price that may well motivate some serious interest. I DO NOT get the TONE and MAJESTIC SOUND out of the Europe-originated York copies that I get out of this 1960 American-made Holton.
Finally, I should tell interested parties that this IS a conversion from a BBb. I did the entire job myself. I do repairs for a living (PLEASE do not email me asking about repairs! I am not available - thanks.) and know what I am doing. I spent many hours fabricating laminated hard maple mandrels to re-taper the bore of the shortened branches of this tuba to make everything acoustically smooth and logical. I also took great pains to route the conical branches as near to exactly like the York as possible. I also copied the real York mouthpipe bend angles and routing, not with a replacement pipe, but by re-bending the original Holton pipe.
This is an extremely heavy instrument so if you are considering it, be prepared to deal with it. Although this may sound like a joke, it is not: Extremely overweight players should not consider this instrument, unless you plan to use one of those tuba stands to play it. You and the tuba will not fit on the chair together, if you have a large gut, and being a very thick brass (heavy) instrument, it is really much better if you have a normal waistline and there is room to set the tuba directly on the corner of the chair with you sitting behind it, rather than letting this thing put your knees to sleep.
I have the #1 valve slide working extremely fast, so solving those problems becomes easily do-able. Another nice "extra" is the double-roller system that I designed and installed on the fifth rotor thumb spatula. This mechanism allow the spatula to roll along your thumb as you depress it, rather than getting hung on your skin and impeding quick action.
If you are email-impaired, or if your interested party-friend is, you can call me in the evening at (901) 761-0409.


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