pre-St. Pete Soviet BBb $600 (Denver CL)
-
arpthark
- Posts: 5768
- Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:25 pm
- Has thanked: 1772 times
- Been thanked: 1910 times
-
humBell
- Posts: 2882
- Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:25 am
- Has thanked: 356 times
- Been thanked: 295 times
Re: pre-St. Pete Soviet BBb $600 (Denver CL)
I am trying to parse the description "pre st. pete"...
My history is a little weak. Was it made there while it was... Leningrad?
My history is a little weak. Was it made there while it was... Leningrad?
"All art is one." -Hal
"Kinds? There aren't any kinds. There's just music." said Kieth "There's always music, if you listen."
-Kieth (from The Amazing Maurice, by Sir Terry)
"Kinds? There aren't any kinds. There's just music." said Kieth "There's always music, if you listen."
-Kieth (from The Amazing Maurice, by Sir Terry)
-
bort2.0
- Posts: 5606
- Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:13 am
- Location: Minneapolis
- Has thanked: 374 times
- Been thanked: 1135 times
Re: pre-St. Pete Soviet BBb $600 (Denver CL)
"Is tuba"humBell wrote: Sat Apr 11, 2026 12:39 pm I am trying to parse the description "pre st. pete"...
My history is a little weak. Was it made there while it was... Leningrad?
Yes. IIRC, there are a number of different engravings on those, ranging from a single character up to a rudimentary "logo." The St Pete and Leningrad tubas aren't necessarily awful, but there's something about the really large bore that mismatches with the rest of the design of the instrument.
It works... Which I suppose is the one requirement to be a true Soviet tuba.
-
arpthark
- Posts: 5768
- Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:25 pm
- Has thanked: 1772 times
- Been thanked: 1910 times
Re: pre-St. Pete Soviet BBb $600 (Denver CL)
The one I posted may have been built in Kyiv, so maybe saying pre-St. Pete was a bit of a geographical misnomer, but they're all eggs from the same chicken.
Here is a Leningrad horn (which later became what we know as St. Petersburg). Seems a bit nicer:
Pretty similar except it has normal metal cork plates instead of the lower-cost cork bumpers as seen on the original post.
I sort of gather that the old Zimmerman --> Leningrad --> St. Pete lineage tubas are of higher quality than the ones you occasionally see being sold by Ukrainian sellers on eBay and the like relatively inexpensively. Those tend to be built in Kyiv and some have "Kyiv Radio Factory" engraved on the bells.
I think now, modern St. Petes are now known as STP Carpathians and are built in Ukraine, which muddies the waters even further.
Regardless, they all have the same basic body layout, being sort of stumpy/Piggy-ish, with a large bore. I'd love to find a parts one to use to modify my Piggy.
Here is a Leningrad horn (which later became what we know as St. Petersburg). Seems a bit nicer:
Pretty similar except it has normal metal cork plates instead of the lower-cost cork bumpers as seen on the original post.
I sort of gather that the old Zimmerman --> Leningrad --> St. Pete lineage tubas are of higher quality than the ones you occasionally see being sold by Ukrainian sellers on eBay and the like relatively inexpensively. Those tend to be built in Kyiv and some have "Kyiv Radio Factory" engraved on the bells.
I think now, modern St. Petes are now known as STP Carpathians and are built in Ukraine, which muddies the waters even further.
Regardless, they all have the same basic body layout, being sort of stumpy/Piggy-ish, with a large bore. I'd love to find a parts one to use to modify my Piggy.
-
bort2.0
- Posts: 5606
- Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:13 am
- Location: Minneapolis
- Has thanked: 374 times
- Been thanked: 1135 times
Re: pre-St. Pete Soviet BBb $600 (Denver CL)
I remember in the mid 90s, the St Pete tubas were sold on the German "Die Tuba" website, as-is or with the valve linkages replaced with German parts. Sounded like an interesting idea, in that it was an awful lot of work required to make a so-so tuba into a slightly nicer so-so tuba.