Tuba Restoration Part 4- 2023- band instrument repair- Wes Lee Music Repair 

Never underestimate the destructive power of a middle school student.

It's amazing you are able to take an instrument that from outward appearances looked ruined - the tubes and bell crushed and collapse with severe creases - and not just make it playable, but to undo what looked like irreparable damage, bringing it back to it's original form. If anything, the minor blemishes at this point make it look even more beautiful than if it was shiny and new - at least to to my tastes. Amazing job, it's a pleasure to watch your skill and enthusiasm for for your art. Looking forward to seeing more of your work!

Amazing workmanship. So satisfying to see an instrument brought back to life.

Never thought it would look so good after seeing how flat it started 👍

I can remember being assigned an old beat up tuba in HS. It got sent off one summer for restoration. I was super happy and careful when I got a brand new looking instrument the next year. Also got to use one of the college rotary valve Miraphone for the summer! Thanks for what you do. I am sure some student will be as happy as I was to get the restored tuba.

Stunning. I absolutely love to watch a craftsman at work, you are the man.

Wow, the money you saved that band.....The right tools in the right hands... That tuba is a battle scarred beast that will go on to serve another generation of Musical kids...

Thank you for the preservation of the educational instruments. As you pointed out, even student tubas are expensive. Using a ballpark figure, would you be able to share with us the approximate cost for this type of repair?

Love your videos. Thank you for not being judgmental when repairing this tuba. Middle school kids are rough on instruments. It is off putting when repair technicians look down upon student model horns and criticize the damage done to them.

Watched all 4 parts and found them very interesting . Thanks for bringing that tuba back to life . As a former baritone player in my Jr. an Senior bands the Bass line is the heart beat of the band and we need to sound great . Oh I’m 76 now so it has been a while since then .

Thank you for filming and making this series so that we can all enjoy watching you work your magic.

You sir are a magician with your tools and skills to repair such a damaged instrument. Fantastic job!!!

I really enjoy watching you resurrect instruments from the dead. I lived in Battle Creek, Mi for forty two years and just down the street from Ferree Tools. Really interesting to see you put some of their tools through their paces.

I just watched all 4 parts of this series of repairs and I really enjoyed it! Great Job Wes👍

Beautiful work, glad you're doing what you do to keep music in the hands, minds, and hearts of all our kids!

If I was a marching band leader, I would make my marching band students watch these videos to better understand how much work is involved in repairing these instruments. I would also give them a rough idea of the costs involved. Perhaps, they might take better care of their instruments. Wes is an excellent representative of his craft.

It is aways a pleasure and an honor to watch a most skilled artisan work his magic! No musical talent in me, but I am in awe of your metal working knowledge and skill. Thank you Wes for many enjoyable hours watching you in action!

A miracle worker!!!!!!

Hey Wesley, Excellent! Impressive craftsmanship!! We love watching you from Africa ❤🙏🏿

Nicely done! Such a satisfying series to watch!

Watching a skilled craftsman at work is like watching real life magic. Another excellent restoration! Thank you for sharing it with us.

Wes Lee: plumber and body work tech! Incredible job and series....

Incomparable metal work!

Fascinating mini series on a subject that I knew nothing about whatsoever. Great to see such care taken and appreciate you talking through the process 👍👍👍

superb 4 part video not a minute of wasted viewing time thank you

Fantastic series... thanks!

W O N D E R F U L !!!

Bravo ! What a performance!

Hey, I love your magnetic ball dent remover. On longer cylinder sections, have you ever tried an innertube cut to fit inside the section and inflated via the valve before you work the ridges/dents? It makes your hammer work count a lot more.

Your talents will forever touch a child's life. God bless you.

You missed show before and after comparison 😁😁. Sure another happy customer

So awesome!

lovely

Very nice work! One thing, you won’t need to go to the gym! lol! That was a workout for sure!

It's good to know how much you care about students and music in our schools, Wes. I always had music of some sort or another in school. We enjoyed it and it helped many of us to improve to a professional level in the years to come. Keep it up, friend!

Great work.

really amazing! well done!

Very good working

Fascinating! I’ve really enjoyed watching these videos, especially the complete overhauls and major repairs. It would be really interesting to know how many shop hours you have into these projects. Is that something you could share? You have the tidiest shop in the biz - and a tool for everything! And if not, you’ll make your own tools. ❤️

Amazing job.

Really awesome work Wes near miraculous!🙏🙏🙏

Again, wow!

Amazing job.!

Love this!

great work

A job well done!

Sweet .....as a former musician this brings back memories of my high-school days traveling and competing with my tuba😢..

Well done mi(a)ster.

I play a tuba in my church. A hug from Brazil

Absolutely wonderful the work you do Wes Lee. I am impressed every time I watch your videos !

A true artisan!

Another great video, reinforcing my connection to the physical world. I'm a professional violin maker in Austria, very little experience with brass instruments, but physics is physics. Bravo. Lunch is on me if you're ever in town. Cheers from overcast Vienna,. Scott

U e the best ❤

Belo trabalho amigo Lee! 👍👍👍

This is so amazing skill❤❤❤

So nice when you try the instrument at the end of the work....Nice job :D

Amazing job Wes! I had my doubts, but you proved me wrong!

Thank you so much! What a great group of videos! What a great attitude about life and musicians! Cheers man!

I call that a win. I envy your tool collection.

I would like to see that re-lacquered. Tuba's are very expensive. Nice to see it fixed though.

Amazingly done, incredibly talented.

Wow that's an amazing job I can't believe how well that came out 🙂

As always… Amazing work!

Thats amazing Wes. Thank you!🌄

Your re-cap was great!

G’day Wes, Great job. As a mainly woodwind repairer I watch all the brass videos to pick up hints and tips on soldering and dent removal. I’d really like to do more dent removal myself rather than sending it to our brass guy. Considering the huge investment a full set of do everything dent tools entails, I’m wondering which must have dent balls, barrels, rollers, burnishers etc you’d consider must haves for saxophone and flute?

Fantastic Work! It looks great!

An amazing repair!

Fantastic Work!

WOW you do amazing work !!!!

All’s well that ends well! Thanks!

My curiosity of what it would cost for such a repair as the 4 part TUBA series you did. Tuba's are so expensive to start with. I am working on finding someone near me to do TUBA repair near me in VA. Definitely not as bad off as the TUBA you repaired. Thanks and it might help someone else figure costs involved in the up keep and care of the TUBA.

Nice work.

EXTRAORDINARIO SIMPLEMENTE EXTRAORDINARIO.

I have always been taught that the "pulling" of the solder is known as " Capillary Action".

Wow, when this came in i thought "Man, them bullies got him good"...

I can't event play brass,it takes real talent.im.a drummer.but I love watching you fix this stuff

So my tuba has rotary valves and the valves are almost all different heights. Didn’t he post a video on how to fix this? Or do I just take the valves out and put them back in?

so many questions... did you get a story on that? that looked like more deliberate damage than 'accidental'..... like it got run over, or thrown off a roof or beat up. what would the cost on a repair like that be? close to replacing the instrument? and how long did it take? was it day, weeks, months or hours?

Good day Sir, great great work! I am curious, is this the amongst the most expensive repairs the average school pays for? Do you get these often?

Thought my old tuba was bad haha

👍👍👍

I have two questions what type of flux in that bottle and what grade of solder do you use. Also, I can’t imagine how many hours you’ve got into that. Wouldn’t it be cheaper just to buy a new instrument. Would you share with us what that repair cost, thank you long time follower. How are you?

I have watched a few of your videos and see that I missed my calling. My job before I retired was remotely similar (copper and metal sheathing on monumental buildings in Europe) but I wish I had wandered into a shop like yours when I was 20 yrs old and asked for an apprenticeship. Do you actually train young folk your skills and pass down your knowledge of is it too much hassle?

Is that soldering or brazing? Or are they essentially the same? Obviously Wes is the expert, but I don't associate solder with a torch. Loved hearing it at the end.

How much do you think it would be to get a 1916 bass sax fully repaded and to fix it so then it isn’t 2 1/2 steps sharp

Some turd put a lot of effort into smashing that instrument up. Great repair as usual.

❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊😊

Are you using an oxygen condenser to produce the required O2 used when soldering?

Accidents happen ,yes,but that tuba looked like it had been maliciously vandalized 😮🤨

So we see the physical damage, but what's the financial damage to do this exact level of work for someone?

Where can I buy the flanges for the braces?

is that a silver based solder?

How many hours went into this repair?

😮traslated to spanich place.

Hi Wes lee I wanted to know we’re are you located my dad has a alto sax that he would love to fix

6:48 Someone explain what this means please. Will solder flow to areas of higher heat?

What is the cost of such a repair?

Wes what do you use for the slide lube !? I use Vaseline at my job 😂🤣

any estimate on how much time this tuba took from beginning to end?