Pretty Tuba, Ugly Tuba

[Dylan King]

The most important thing to me is how fancy, expensive, and bad-*** my horn appears to other tuba players. Sure, other tubists make a beautiful sound, are in tune, play musically, da da da. But can they walk into a tuba convention with the best, most expensive gig-bag ever and pull out the shiniest, largest, most modernized and customized rare instrument?

I'd rather get the eyes of envy than the ears of musical contentment any day of the week.

Who cares what it sounds like. To quote the great orchestral tubist, 'lil Wayne...

Bling bling
Everytime I come around yo city
Bling bling
Thumb ring worth about fifty
Bling bling
Everytime I buy a new horn
Bling bling
Gold plate on YamaYork yo
Bling bling

[Tubaryan12]

Should I be looking for a bare finish in a marriage partner, also?

As often as possible.

[Untersatz]

Those old Besson bell-front tubas are on the other end of the spectrum for me

+1

What were they thinking by making the bell so low on the horn???
How in the hell are you supposed to see the conductor???
Or your music for that matter???

[Untersatz]

What about silver on gold - like the 50th Anniversary Conn Sousaphone?

Many of us agree that silver & gold don't go well together on the same horn, but I've got to admit that
the 50th Anniversary Conn Sousaphone is a beautiful work of art, it's just amazing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vULSZ-ouBOc" target="_blank" target="_blank

[bigtubby]

Most of my tubas are pretty ugly.

The gold/silver thing is interesting and it looks tacky to me. Wonder why the brass/nickel silver combination found on so many Euro horns looks nice, shiny or in patina?

Other visual-only factors: I love the looks of clock springs and S linkages even though they can be a PITA to keep quiet.