"If you like to waltz with tomatoes,
Up and down the produce aisle...."

You guys make me sick. The Sousaphone is how you get the chicks

Rash of Tuba Thefts?

Slow news day apparently.

are they expensive? or can you melt them down for the copper?

These instruments are being stolen and used in traditional Mexican Banda music.

/Wets gotta dance

Also OBLIG (new window)

some_beer_drinker: are they expensive? or can you melt them down for the copper?

I imagine it is hard to extract the copper from the brass.

It won't be easy finding them, that city is the tuba capital of the world!
Link (relevant fun starts at 6:30)

Kwai Lo: some_beer_drinker: are they expensive? or can you melt them down for the copper?

I imagine it is hard to extract the copper from the brass.

You just melt them down and while still in a liquid state, start watching... the copper will harden first and you have to reach in and grab it out before the brass hardens.. simple as that.

/burns like a biatch tho
//right to the bone
///but then you've got perma-bling!
////if I use enough slashies, some kid on Facebook gets 7 free kidneys

Oom pah pah, oom pah pah, that's how it goes.

Linoleum_Blownapart: It's a Tuba Christmas tragedy!

I was in Tuba Christmas last weekend, so I'm getting a kick out of this reply.

Heavy metal? Well, weighty brass. Give me a break.

I play euphonium, a used base model will run $1100, new higher-end ones will be $8-$9k. The horn I had back in high school was a Boosey & Hawkes Imperial and to date it's the nicest horn I've ever played.

Acme Tuba, Tuba World, Tubas 'Я' Us ... International House of Tubas, Tuba Or Not Tuba, Tuba Ligation. Ahh, we've come to a dead end.

What's a tuba for?

Larceny, if you're in SoCal.

The targeted schools are in an area with a very large Mexican immigrant population

And that's as close as the LA Times will ever get to admitting that criminal aliens go on to commit other more heinous crimes. Heaven forbid they ever write anything about La Emme, La Familia or Mara Salvatrucha, that would be way too much like actual journalism.

As the parent of a band geek ..errrr... student ... who plays low brass, this is very sad.

We are fortunate that even though we have budget shortfalls, the band parents association does a lot of fundraising for the music programs.

Maybe these bandas should buy some instruments when they make enough money and donate them to the schools...

"Pattern of Tuba Thefts" is an incredible band name!

Earpj: Smeggy Smurf: [shirtoid.com image 500x500]

You guys make me sick. The Sousaphone is how you get the chicks

My son has that shirt.
He totally rocks the tuba.

/He's in 7th grade and they don't have enough sousaphones, so he plays concert tuba.
//The girls LOVE him.

When he's a little older, remind him that choirs have lots of girls, very few boys, and the instrument is a lot lighter. There's nothing much better for self-esteem than having a few dozen girls being happy to see you at lunch time.

/low brass player
//also in choir.

The downside is choir can make you gay.

Link (new window)

I heard tubas sell really well on the black market, even though it might be suspicious if someone tries to sell $13,000 worth of tubas.

phaseolus: Came for Police Squad! tuba references...satisfied.

theMagni: Tuba Christmas ceased in this area years ago. Miss it, do I.

Magnificent basterds, both of ya. Made me lol.

etch the school name, mascot and address all over the instruments. a musician willing to play an obviously stolen instrument should be seen doing so.