New bass tuba

[MikeMason]

I bought a yeb321 today. Sweet little horn.plays very easy in all registers.very even sound In all registers. Got a great price on it. Now if I only knew the fingerings

[Mark E. Chachich]

Enjoy, I think that the YEB 321 is an excellent E flat tuba. I agree with what you said about this tuba.

Mark

[bisontuba]

Enjoy!!

[PMeuph]

I bought a yeb321 today. Sweet little horn.plays very easy in all registers.very even sound In all registers. Got a great price on it. Now if I only knew the fingerings

+1 on the horn!

For the fingerings: If you know treble clef Bb trumpet fingerings the Eb bass clef fingerings will come quickly. You can basically fake it until you make it....

[MikeMason]

No to trumpet fingerings. I can awkwardly do f tuba up a step,but I'm thinking of just putting a fingering chart and a rubank book on the stand and just rote immerse myself.

[peter birch]

I bought a yeb321 today. Sweet little horn.plays very easy in all registers.very even sound In all registers. Got a great price on it. Now if I only knew the fingerings

see the tips section above

[scottw]

I played a 321 for a short time, and, while I liked the sound, ergonomically--for me--it never felt comfortable. I found I much preferred valves front, and rotary at that. Different strokes!

[gactuba]

I just got one too. Pick it up tomorrow!

[bort]

Why are the Eb 321's so good, and the BBb 321's are such turds?

[DonShirer]

I started playing in a community band with a YEB321. Much later I traded it for a MW to give me more oomph since sometimes I was the only tuba in the group, but I always missed its better pitch accuracy (and less weight!). And I found I really didn't need 5 valves anyway.

[MikeMason]

I'm having this crazy idea. I'm likely to see only 15-20 f tuba tunes with the orchestra I play with. I only really play 2 solos with band.1 for middle school,1 for high school. There are around 10-12 other solos I like to fool around with or demonstrate for students. What if, instead of learning new fingerings, I just fed those 35 or so tunes into finale,raised the key a whole step,and just played them with f fingerings. Nobody would be the wiser and if I switched back to f at some point, no confusion. I do very little sight reading anymore. Symphony rep is announced a year out. I really like how easy the 321 is to play,and it was really cheap. How crazy is this idea?

[Donn]

Is it just a fling then? If you think after few months with your YEB321 the novelty will wear off, and you'll be back to some F tuba, then sure, make whatever accommodations so you can stick with the F fingerings. But why? Already have some reason to think Eb isn't going to work out?

[MikeMason]

I've got to admit that is a possibility. I've had a lot of f tubas over the years. This one is one of the best built and easiest to play,except for the whole e flat thing.

[PaulMaybery]

My sympathy regarding dealing with an Eb that sounds and feels great and not wanting to suffer the fingering issue. I had several wonderful E flats when I was playing with the Salvation Army Brass Band. A Yammy and a Besson Sovereign. Two of the finest tubas I ever played. I played them easily in TC, having been a HS band director with years of giving lessons with a trumpet in my left hand. On one occasion I took it to the symphony for a concert. Not really that difficult (Saint Saens Organ Symphony) It balanced incredibly well with the trombones. I did write in an occasion fingering when having to deal with the flats and sharps. For some reason I never managed to work it out in bass clef, and retired it from my orchestra stable. The closest I have found to that sound and feel in an F tuba has been the BMB. The bell is very similar to the Besson and the whole sound concept very much akin. I suppose it would not have been that much of an ordeal to just sit down and systematically/day by day just learn the E flat tuba as an Eb tuba. Sometimes I regret that for I believe, at least to some degree, that the E flat is a more useful instrument than the F tuba. Some of it is snobbery and some of it has to do with what is felt to be a better orchestral bass tuba - at least with regard to tradition. If you close your eyes - and ask - who else cares. BUT - I've accumulated 45 years on the F and only 10 on the E flat, so my choice was pretty much made to stay with the F.

[Billy M.]

... it would not have been that much of an ordeal to just sit down and systematically/day by day just learn the E flat tuba as an Eb tuba.

I forced myself to do just that, in bass clef no less.

Maybe Eb really is making a resurgence in the bass tuba market.