Whither Dalyan?

The Big Ben · Post by **The Big Ben** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 10:16 pm

I hear ya... They were supposed to be pretty fair horns for the money and WWBW closed 'em out. Bloke had at least one for sale and spoke well of it.

How 'bout it, Bloke- was that CC Dalyan you had a one time deal or can you get more?

WakinAZ · Post by **WakinAZ** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 11:14 pm

Dalyan web site wrote:Distributed Exclusively by:
Orpheus Music
325 Nolan Street
San Antonio, Texas 78202

888-368-7770

dalyan@orpheusmusic.com
www.orpheusmusic.com

EDIT: that being said, the Orpheus site appears to be down.

TubaRay · Post by **TubaRay** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 11:34 pm

The word I have from one of the Orpheus employees is that they will no longer be carrying Dalyan instruments. I believe they have a couple of tubas left in their inventory. That seems to be it. I am unaware of any American dealer who carries them. Does anyone know more?

Gorilla Tuba · Post by **Gorilla Tuba** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 11:56 pm

Doesn't the tubaM&M place, a tubenet sponsor, carry Dalyan?

EDIT: Guess not - Did they used to carry Dalyan or have I been indulging in too many scooby snacks?

rascaljim · Post by **rascaljim** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 9:17 am

Ah weak... one of my students brought one of these into his lesson last week and I thought it played great... similar to a piggy... it was a prague model. I will say that I told him to take it to a shop and have some issues on the horn fixed, but it had a great sound.

I did look on the website about prices... and I would not pay 5000 for that tuba that they have for a list price, but 2 or maybe 3... sure.

Ace · Post by **Ace** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 4:19 am

I have spent a bit of time playing on two Dalyan CC tubas, each from a different distributor. Both were returned, either because of damage or cosmetic flaws to instrument and/or case.

I liked the Dalyan CC a lot and think it is quite a good value for the money invested. The tone, dynamic range, intonation, etc are pretty good, and the case is top notch.

Last week, I ordered the last "factory-fresh" Dalyan CC that WW&BW had in stock. The close-out price was under $1900. (They still have a B stock Dalyan CC for $1700? in their warehouse.)

tubamlb · Post by **tubamlb** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 8:34 am

Yes, M&M Tuba & Instruments did sell the Dalyan Line, The Instruments we sold were of good value

We do not sell the Dalyan now because we have the Alexander Tubas at the Hi End and we have the affordable M&M Line that has been so well received for students and serious musicians

Dalyan is selling in Europe , I understand since the Euro and pound are so strong

Thank you

Tubamm

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 12:25 am

http://www.dalyantubas.com/html/dalyan_low_brass.html

I'm sorta surprised Orpheus is dropping the line, assuming that is true. I rather thought they were invested in it, and spent some time in China helping them with improvements in production.

The prices were much less than the list prices often discussed. Their normal new prices for, say, a Prague was well under $3000 with a hard case. I tried a Prague and thought it was decent tuba, especially for the money.

Rick "noting that Orpheus has tried and given up on the tuba market once before, too" Denney

WakinAZ · Post by **WakinAZ** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:44 pm

It seems like a guy could make some money being a distributor for the affordable brands that everyone seems to like: Dalyan, Weril, Lidl...

I'd be interested to hear from Joe or Lee why it seems to be so hard to keep these lines going here in the US.

Eric "noticing the crap never stops coming" L.

Ace · Post by **Ace** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 2:18 am

I posted above that I ordered a Dalyan CC tuba from WW&BW. It arrived today. The box was labeled Dalyan CC tuba Apollo. The packing list said the same thing. Whoppee----I opened the case and there was a very nice Dalyan tuba inside. It really looked beautiful. At first glance, that is. The horn was in BBb! Sigh.

Ace · Post by **Ace** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 2:19 am

I posted above that I ordered a Dalyan CC tuba from WW&BW. It arrived today. The box was labeled Dalyan CC tuba Apollo. The packing list said the same thing. Whoppee----I opened the case and there was a very nice Dalyan tuba inside. It really looked beautiful. At first glance, that is. The horn was in BBb! Sigh.

Ace · Post by **Ace** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 2:52 am

Actually, Bob, I have no idea whether the problem is with WW&BW or with Dalyan. The factory in China may have put the wrong horn in a box labeled Appolo CC tuba. Who knows what went wrong and where. I must say that I have had very good experiences with WW&BW since my first purchase in 1995. They have been good to promptly correct errors in billing and shipments. I suspect they will get this current problem solved fairly quickly.

The BBb Dalyan in my erroneous shipment seems to be the Berlin model. It's a really nice horn with great intonation and tone quality. I'd keep it except I'm a trumpet player who has never become facile with bass clef BBb fingerings. I've always played CC tubas because I can read bass clef and use trumpet fingerings.

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 12:13 pm

Just switch to British Brass Band music, and you're set!

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:18 pm

WakinAZ wrote:I'd be interested to hear from Joe or Lee why it seems to be so hard to keep these lines going here in the US.

I'm not in the biz so I have nothing to lose by offering an opinion. Of course, you may have little to gain from it, heh, heh.

The bread-and-butter market for musical instruments comprises schools and school kids. The former are spending taxpayer money and the latter are spending Mom-and-Pop money. Thus, neither have much incentive to find the best deal, and often they aren't allowed to purchase used instruments.

Tuba people, like most of us, are more careful and selective, mostly because we have limited dollars and we don't measure quality solely in terms of "new" and "shiny". The amateur market at this price point is dominated by used instruments, and amateurs who are prepared to spend the money for a new instrument can usually spend more. And the adult amateur market isn't that big in any case.

Another issue with the schools is that the band director is rarely a tuba person and therefore buys from their local music-store buddy. That buddy also has no incentive to work towards the bottom of the market.

Schools that do shop at the bottom of the market seem to already be served by the house brands of the major mailorder retailers, which in most cases are just rebadged Dalyans and Jin-Baos anyway.

Tuba people just don't buy that way. Would be buy a new Dalyan copy of a Miraphone, or a used Miraphone at the same price? I know what I would do (and have done).

Rick "noting that sellers have to accommodate the market" Denney

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