Small BBb Tubas

[Lew]

I've been feeling for a while that I needed a smaller horn to take to and from rehearsals. I started looking at various models late last year. There's really nothing in our immediate area, so I went to the Army Band conference this year to try out some. I was able to play the Lidl 701, Wessex "mighty Midget," and the Wessex Bubbie 5 (in F, although I would have considered it to play in Eb). I didn't look for or try a Yamaha YBB 621 or any of the clones of it or the 103 because I never really liked the way they played. I don't know if anyone had the Eastman EBB226 there, but I didn't see it, and frankly that's not a great environment to really test out a tuba anyway.

Yesterday I took a drive to Dillon's to check one out and ended up buying it. I found the intonation on it to be as good or better than any BBb tubas I have owned, and the last time I looked that was more than 30 over the years, if you count sousaphones and helicons. Last night I took it to rehearsal to give it a real try out. For me it's the perfect small tuba for an older community band player. It's easy to play, the notes slot well, and it's easy to play in tune, besides being relatively compact and light. Even with a 15.5" bell it projects well.

The build quality seems good, although time will tell. The valve slide alignment is excellent. It has 3 spit valves, although the one on the 4th valve tubing in way inside the tubing and hard to access, besides potentially getting it all over the bottom bow when emptied. A minor quibble is that the threads on the valve caps feel a little rough when unscrewing them to oil the valves.

EBB226.jpg

EBB226 spit valves.jpg

[circusboy]

Interesting that you didn't look for or try the Yamaha. This Eastman looks like a perfect clone of the YBB-621 [Not. See below].

I had the CC version of the Yamaha for a while and liked it, but wanted a bigger sound. I did like the Lidl BBb that I tried (hated their CC).

Anyway, it's always great to hear that someone's happy with their new horn. Congratulations!

[Lew]

I have tried the Yamaha 621 in the past and didn't care for it. If you look at the valve tubing layout it's very different on this vs the Yamaha or the JP, Mack, or other 621 clones.

[circusboy]

If you look at the valve tubing layout it's very different on this vs the Yamaha

I stand corrected.