Posted by Richard on March 03, 2000 at 20:38:47:
In Reply to: Re: Mr. Jacobs OTHER tubas posted by Brian Frederiksen on March 03, 2000 at 09:53:15:
Good list Brian. Fills in the space between the dots. I will share this with you and the other posters. In 1962 while I was working on my Master's at NU, I saw the Dahmel (sp?) in Mr. Jacobs' studio. Is that it?, I asked. Yep, he replied. My I try it? Sure. I liked it's sound. I asked him if he would sell it. He said it wasn't his to sell, it belonged the the CSO. He brought it home to give it a thorough scrutiny to see if it could be improved (intonation problems). By then he was playing the York again, and using Hamburg's old Alex for F tuba rep. but he allowed me to take it home for a couple of weeks. I used it in school for a performance of Debussy Fetes. It was perfect for the simple requirements of that piece. I returned it duly. What became of it remains a mystery.
By the way, Hamburg's Alex CC. That became my first tuba. Mr. Jacobs sold it to me in the winter of 1958. If I could have kept everything, I'd still have it. It was of 20s-30s vintage, and needed work. About a year later, Mr. Jacobs got ahold of a piston valve CC King, bought the Alex back, and sold me the King. There was some previous posting about the ethics of a teacher selling instruments to students. Aside from trusting his judgement, it was clearly understood that "Jake" was not in business for his health, but his prices were reasonable and fair, and that he was entitled to turn a profit on his horn dealing. This was an aspect of the profession I was seeking to enter, and it was the real world. Pardon the digression. He told me that the Hamburg Alex CC was purchased from him by the Austin (Texas) Symphony soon after he got it back from me. Does anyone know where it is now?