Wessex F and solo Eb review

[bububassboner]

A few weeks back I was able to play test a number of Wessex tubas. Two of these horns were the new F tuba and the solo Eb. I'm going to be as straight forward as I can be with my opinion of these horns, giving both the good and the bad.

Wessex F tuba:

The good,
The old version of this horn had some pretty nasty intonation problems. The biggest being the F in the staff. This note (the tuning note) needed to be played 23. Well on the new version the F is nice and in tune. I found the horn to speak well and to have a solid low range. Didn't seem to have the "low c" problem that a lot of horns have. I had a fairly easy time playing through all the normal F tuba licks on it and found it to have a nice focused sound. The horn reminds me more of a miraphone horn than a B&S horn.

The Bad,
The C in the staff can ride pretty high. The note is very bendable but it did remind me of some older miraphone 181s in that regard. Can you learn to play it in tune without slide pulls? I think it could, but you will need to learn it. The horn had some build issues that I hope get fixed. The linkage was not assembled very well. Parts that were soldered on were not parallel at all. Now don't get me wrong, the linkage worked just fine but it is not up to the level of the German horns. The other big problem were the valves. The valves worked fine but when I took the caps off I found that neither the valve or bearing plate had alignment marks on them. So for the techs taking these apart be aware that you will need to add your own marks and number all the parts.

Overall,
It's not a bad horn. For those who need an F tuba but can not drop $5000-$10000 for a horn should look at this. Is it perfect? Nope. Will be be the easiest horn to play ever? Nope. I won't be selling my B&S symphonie to get one but I also paid over three times the amount for mine than the Wessex would cost.

Solo Eb

The Good,
There are a lot of good things about this horn. I play a Geneva Eb tuba and the Wessex solo Eb is flat out a better horn. The pitch is pretty easy on the horn. No alternates needed. The low end was also easy for me. Not as open as say a five valve non comp, but it wasn't that bad for me. The smaller bell really helps clean up the articulation of the Eb. Gives more of an F tuba sound and clarity to the Eb.

The Bad,
The valves buttons on it are tiny. Trumpet size buttons. Get a set of bloke buttons and you'll be good. On these horns a water key had been installed on the second valve slide. Unfortunately the water key is right where you rest your hand. It was pretty easy to accidentally push the button while playing.

Overall,
Pretty good Eb tuba. For someone who isn't normally an Eb player but wants a 3+1 Eb this could be a good choice. The gold brass bell isn't really an option from the common British brass band so if you like gold brass horn try this one out.

I don't own these horns nor do I represent Wessex. I won't be buying these horns for myself but I felt if I could give an honest opinion of these horns it might help others. If any of you have questions feel free to write here.

[Wyvern]

bububassboner, Thank you for the review and nice to meet you in Germany.

Regarding your comments, we take all feedback on board to raise the standard, and I will raise your comments on the F tuba when I see the Production Manager in October.

Regarding the Eb, that was a prototype you tried. Going from my own experience playing and feedback from various people - the production horns will have larger size valve caps and we are removing the button water key on 2nd valve slide, putting pull ring on as normal. Gold brass bell will be optional.

[bububassboner]

bububassboner, Thank you for the review and nice to meet you in Germany.

It was a pleasure to meet you too. It's always nice to meet a fellow tubenetter. If you want me to give your new travel BBb and cimbasso a go and post here about them you know where to message me.

[Wyvern]

If you want me to give your new travel BBb and cimbasso a go and post here about them you know where to message me.

If you are in the UK drop in to visit us, but I have no plans to return to Germany this year. I do plan Wessex Tubas to be exhibiting at Frankfurt Music Fair 2014, so maybe see you there.

[Billy M.]

I figure I'd bump this because I'd like to see if anyone else has tried/purchased the new F tuba and see what they think of it.