Big Mouth Brass C Tuba Review?

[PatrickYoung]

I was wondering if anyone that attended NERTEC or TMEA has tested their 5v C tuba. I'd love to hear how these horns stack up against the "Name brand."
Thanks!!

[tubajon]

I loved the 3/4 BBb. Will be my next purchase.

[Bill Troiano]

I recently typed my longest post of my life on Tubenet, regarding this thread and it's gone. I don't know what happened, but this one will be much shorter. I was always impressed with the BMB tubas when I played them at the Army Band Conference and more recently at TMEA. As Mark and others have said, you owe it to yourself to play these tubas. While they may have some design concepts based on other brands, these are mostly Dick's designs. What tuba made these days isn't influenced in some of its design by another well established brand? I have played the 6/4 CC, the 4/4 CC, and the F. The next time around I will try the BBb's and 3/4 CC and I hear that all of these tubas are fantastic.

Wanting a tuba with more breadth of sound than my current main tuba, a MW3450, I was looking for a large 4/4 tuba. I loved the BMB 6/4 CC, but at this age and at this stage of my playing career, I don't need, or want to carry a 6/4 tuba. I did consider a Thor and I even borrowed one for a few days. I like the way it played, but it also was more horn than I wanted to carry around. I always liked the 4/4 Nirschl, although I didn't care for the leadpipe angle and I liked the Besson 995, although any that I played, I had difficulty with the pitch. With the BMB 4/4 CC (J845) being built using the Nirschl tooling, it plays as good or better in some regards than the previously 2 mentioned tubas.

I did buy the J845 CC and the F (J445). I've used the CC on 4 rehearsals and 2 concerts, so far. I didn't announce that I had a new horn. I just came in and sat down with a different silver tuba, that I don't think anybody initially noticed. In all 3 ensembles, I received favorable comments regarding the fullness of tone and how it projected and was more present than usual. Personally, it sounds great to me. The pitch is better than average, with some of the usual tendencies. It's not the most in tune tuba I've ever played, but it is far above average. Some criticize the dependent 5th valve. With the dependent 5th valve, I don't miss the 2 notes I would have with a non-dependent 5th. If the dependent valve helps the tuba to play better, and I think it does, then I could easily live without the 2 notes. Plus, it has a long 4th valve slide to help tune some of those notes. Some are critical of the rubber band linkage, but it operates very smoothly. The tension can also be adjusted by adding or removing rubber bands. Some criticize that there's only 1 water key and it's on the main. I've always found water keys on piston tubas to be a waste because I end up dumping water out of the top slides. The workmanship may not be up to par with the big name horns, but it is excellent and I can't find anything that detracts from the horn's playability. The only negatives, and they are not major issues, is that the 5th valve tubing extends downward and you have to reach over it to reach the valves. It's not a big deal and it's manageable. Also, the valve caps were a little finicky and screwing them on took getting used to. Other than that, this a very fine large 4/4 CC tuba that plays as good as tubas twice the price.

As far as the F, I haven't played one seriously for 20 years or more. I just felt like I wanted to again and this BMB F is also impressive. It's probably in the middle sizewise regarding piston F tubas, but it plays plenty big, almost like a small CC tuba. It is very comfortable to hold and the slides are easily accessible. Pitch is very good for an F tuba. I had no problems with the valve caps on this tuba at all. Now, I just have to find a place to use it. I'm going to bring it to a concert band rehearsal tonight just to give it a whirl. Fingerings might present an issue, but that's due to not playing F in a while. I'll be more concerned about pitch and not standing out among 4 other CC tubas. I already told the conductor I was bringing it tonight. What do I care what he thinks. He's my son-in-law.

So, if you haven't yet, get out and play these tubas. They are out there and pros are playing them. The guys on here vouching for these tubas are spot on, in my opinion. Dick has done an outstanding job in designing these tubas and getting them to us at affordable prices. If the economics of it all bothers you, that's another story. Play them and decide. If this post doesn't appear on the board this time, I'm not retyping it.

[Toobist]

Thanks for that post Bill. Quality information with exactly zero speculation. Succinct and informative!

[TubaTodd]

...<Details about his BMB tubas>...

Bill is a great guy and has a tremendous reputation in the NYC metro area. If he thinks they are decent horns and decent enough for him to purchase a couple, then I would consider the BMB horns to be worth consideration. Now if I can only get to try one here in Alabama...

[Bill Troiano]

Thanks, Todd! That was kind of you to say! I hope all is going well in Ala. It's a great beach day here in central Texas.... except there's no beach! Actually, I have 2 gigs today - both with the J 845 CC. Life is good!

Since my last post, I did bring the BMB F to a concert band rehearsal where there were 5 other tubas, all CC's. The F worked out great and I might continue to use it there. I screwed up some low register fingerings, but that's from not using an F in so long. I had minor pitch adjustments to make. By 40 min. into the rehearsal, I felt like I could use this horn all of the time there. We're opening at TBA this July with Ecstatic Fanfare, by Steven Bryant. The tubas open on a sustained divisi Bb and C on top of the staff - perfect for F tuba!