Olds O-99-4

[ParLawGod]

Anyone ever play one of these? I owned one a few years back...seemed more like a 7/8 size tuba. Really enjoyed the sound in brass quintet (I'm only a BBb player, and dabble in Eb, so it was a good fit for me). Not the greatest for concert band, but chamber music it was a real gem IMO. I had the third tuning slide shortened, I believe at bloke's recommendation, and WOW...it really was the most in-tune tuba I've ever played. Sold it a few years ago, and I'm still kickin' myself! One of those instruments I wish I would have kept. Considered a student level instrument, but it definitely played better than that in my mind.

Anyone else have experience with these little horns? Did you enjoy yours as much as I did?

[LeMark]

I owned one for a while. Picked it up dirt cheap, shined it up, took out some dents, and sold it to a student for a very small profit

Nice horns! Could have used a longer 4th valve circuit

Nice rich tone for a small bore horn

[matt g]

Conn 2J/3J fall in the same camp for CC, imo.

[Doc]

These are good tubas. Pretty easy to play. Not cumbersome at all.

[tbonesullivan]

I play(ed) with a guy who has one. He's mainly a CC or F guy, but the price was right, and he wanted to at least get decent on 3 of the 4 standard tunings. Nice smaller American sound. I've heard that with some relatively simple modifications, the intonation can be brought under control.

[HoltonMammoth]

Joe Sellmansberger gave some good clues to the tuba community a while back. The 3rd circuit is correct on one version of these. Perhaps it was the 4v Bach version of these. By shortening the 3rd and possibly the 1st a little, the intonation can be very good.

[The Big Ben]

I have one and like it very much. The only problem is many of them have been through junior high band rooms. That being said, I've had mine for five years and have had a lot of restoration work done including an Oberloh valve refitting. I like playing it and every player of every ability who has played it likes it, too.

A band mate has a 099 3valve and puts a lot of sound out of it. The low notes that can be played with 3 valves come out very nice. If you want a light duty or practice horn, the 3v horns are a little cheaper. Like the 4v, many of them have had a hard life and you need to be selective.

[bloke]

In particular, these seem to be favorites of doublers - who mostly play trombone and baritone/euphonium...
...probably a combination of ease of response, a considerable amount of resistance – more resembling that which is encountered with their primary instruments, and accessible good intonation.

[ParLawGod]

Joe Sellmansberger gave some good clues to the tuba community a while back. The 3rd circuit is correct on one version of these. Perhaps it was the 4v Bach version of these. By shortening the 3rd and possibly the 1st a little, the intonation can be very good.

Yup, those were the modifications! Pitch was spot on after that.

[bort2.0]

I had the 3 valve version for a while -- it was the first tuba I ever owned.

When I graduated high school, I saw it sitting in the corner of the band room. Not many dents, but missing the 3rd valve plus missing the 1st valve stem. The director said he was going to make it ito a lamp, but that if I promised to fix it, I could have it.

I spent $900 to get it repaired and in good playing condition -- it was a great little tuba! I never played it all THAT much, but do remember practicing in my dorm room sometimes with it. I think I even auditioned for one of the athletic bands on that tuba one year, because it was all I had available at the time.

After college, I traded it in at BBC for $700, towards a VMI/MW-30. So for 6 years of tuba usage, I spent $200. That sounds pretty good to me!

[Dave Detwiler]

I played one all through my high school years (the school owned two of them), including in the High School Symphonic Band at the National Music Camp at Interlochen (pictured here). I loved that horn, and when I returned to playing after a 25 year hiatus, I had hoped to find one in good condition to buy and use. But instead, I found a VMI 3301, which is very similar, and I love it as well!

1979 National Music Camp.JPG (52.97 KiB) Viewed 2347 times

[Mark E. Chachich]

I have an O-99 with 3 valves that I bought at a junk shop. With some repairs (thank you Randy Harrison) it turned out out to be a fine tuba. I have always liked the O-99 tubas, they have a great sound and are very easy to play (my opinion).

Best,
Mark

[oompahJohn]

Olds 99's have a few things that you need to watch for. I have had about 7 go through the shop here this year, and the most common problems include; the bell is very susceptible to cracking if it is crunched and restored. Annealing is a MUST on the 099 before restoring a bell. The first turn dents easily, so many have the D shape and need to have the first bend removed to restore that. The valve threads are often stripped, requiring a re-threader and sometimes new material added to the thread which can be a Bench.
They have a good sound and are easy to play. The intonation is a bit low on the first and third valves, and I have seen some modified by taking a cm off the slides.
This is identical to the Bach Mercedes (a stencil) tuba which is about the same as the latest 3 valve 099.
It is easy to magnetic ball dent remove 90% of the horn, but as I said, be careful of the bell.

Oompah John

[bloke]

Their valves are now all 45 years old and older.
It's probably a really good idea to buy one in person or - if not - to buy one that the lacquer is shiny, obviously original, and would indicate very little use

The replacement troublesome (due to being oversized) Bach valves are sold out.

These days, complete valve rebuilds on those - from start to finish - probably cost about the same as buying one of those instruments used, if not more.

[arpthark]

I recently had three pass through here, all Bach. One was pretty easy to restore, and I sold it to someone getting back into tuba after several years off.

The second one was a 4 valve that required smoothing out the bottom bow and guard wire and putting them back on, along with honing a piston casing.

The third one is still in parts, but just requires a little more effort than I have the time for right now -- I need to drill out broken threads in the piston, source or make a new stem, find some finger buttons, and get the bell straightened out.

They all play pretty well and belie their size, in my opinion.