Quintet tubas?

[Teubonium]

I'm not in a quintet right now, but when I was, my MW2141 EEb worked well.

[rperrym]

My favorite in the BBb family is the Meinl Weston HOJO front action tuba.
Rick

[GC]

I use my Conn Monster Eb because I only own one tuba, though I've used BBb and CC tubas in quintets in the past and usually had little problem. It has been my experience that most other quintet members seem to prefer the sound of a larger and deeper tuba.

My biggest problem with quintets is when the four other players won't open up even for a fortissimo, and I have to play quietly all the time. I find it tiring and stressful. I prefer to play with musicians who aren't afraid of reasonable volume.

[smitwill1]

I really like my YFB-822. Does what I want it to do--blends with the trombone (rather than sort of dropping off the bottom of the ensemble like a bigger horn might do). It is easy to play in tune (a bit of 1st valve slide pulling for A's; a bit of 4th valve slide pulling/pushing for the 5th valve stuff in the low end--Bb (push), A (pull), Ab (push)...). With a Doug Elliott mouthpiece (N cup) it has plenty of room for a range of colors--warm when you need it, bright when driven hard. About the only thing I've found awkward is the opening of the Bernstein/Gale "West Side Story". I've never had much dexterity...I imagine it's not a problem for a more coordinated person.

I picked up the F about a year ago to augment my previous "one-size-fits-all" horn: PT-4P. Turns out, one horn really doesn't do it all, at least that's my experience. It was just a tad too big for my brass quintet, and didn't really work for the small horn stuff in orchestra (Messian "Forgotten Offerings", Berlioz "Symphony Fantastique",...). Prior to that, I played a 185 CC, which worked great in quintet, but didn't really make it in orchestra. YMMV.

[Tubaru]

I'm not in a quintet right now, but when I was, my MW2141 EEb worked well.

I currently use a MW2141 in my quintet. In the past I have used a St. Pete 206N Eb, a Rudy Meinl F, and a Miraphone S186 BBb. I use whatever tuba I have at the time, listen to the other members and make myself blend in.

[dwerden]

For me, I found my Sovereign E-flat works very nicely. It is nimble enough and has a very good center, yet is large enough to give you the fullness you might want sometimes. Beneath a single trombone (vs. an orchestral trombone section), too large a tuba is too far-removed tonally for my taste.

Maybe I'm prejudiced because I'm primarily a euphonium player. But even with my euph-oriented background, I don't find a euphonium satisfying at the bottom of most quintet lit.

[jonesbrass]

Willson 3200 or Cerveny 653.

[toobagrowl]

IMO, most good 4/4 CC or large Eb tubas work great for quintet. I cant see how a euph would sound good on bottom....it isn't even a bass instrument. Heck, most F tubas I've heard in quintet don't "cut it" as a good bass bottom for quintet...

[Jack Denniston]

For the past several years I've been using my Willson Eb for quintet playing and that seems to work very well. Previously I used my CB 50 and my MW Bell Model. They both worked well, but I think the Willson Eb works even better.