Welcome man. I use photobucket to share pics.
Since you're from Illinois, you shouldn't have any trouble finding vintage Gibsons in your area since they were originally manufactured not too far from you in Kalamazoo. Score an old one with one of those big pickups at the end of the fret board people call a mudbucker and you'll feel right at home with your tuba background. Models you should look for are the EB0, EB1, EB2 and EB3. The EB0 will be the cheapest out of those.