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Send it back and try another 606.
Its probably just a bad one.
That's the danger of not trying several tubas out at the store before you buy.

Volumizer wrote:Greetings,

Anybody tried the tuba, owns the tuba or even heard about the tuba can help me with some comments? I just got my new PT-606 and it feels very stuffy. Intonation is kinda hard to handle too. Isn't it supposed to be a great tuba? Or is it just me? Thanks =)

Stuffy? Something is really wrong. My 606 is the LEAST stuffy horn I have ever played. Could there be something in it? Are the valves in the right cylanders? There has to be an answer.

Cameron Gates wrote:Stuffy? Something is really wrong. My 606 is the LEAST stuffy horn I have ever played. Could there be something in it? Are the valves in the right cylanders? There has to be an answer.

valve alignment or something physically in the horn were the first thoughts that came to my mind too. Issues with the weight of the horn or a need to use an alternate fingering on a couple notes as problem areas for some players I could understand, but stuffy is not a word I would ever associate with any of the 606s I tried or the one I selected. It has always been the easiest playing horn with the prettiest sound of any I have played.

Hope this helps....

I would check for anything that was packed in the case that might have found it's way into the horn during shipping. You would be amazed at how well something can hide in there. I had a Bach 18 mouthpiece in one of those vinyl mouthpiece case work it's way out of the velcro pouch in the top of dent bag and find it's way around the bottom bow of my 184 Mirafone. The horn became stuffy and had intonation problems (worse than the ones I usually inflict on the horn).

probably not the case, but just keep in mind , new horns (if it is brand new that is), tend to be much stuffier.

Don't worry pal. It always takes a bit of getting used to with new horns. Rinse it, stick with it and i'm sure you'll learn how to make the tuba work for you, happily ever after

Have you brought it to your repairman to check the valve alignment?

If you want to DIY it, buy a small dental mirror and stick it inside a casing. Try to angle it so you can see the piston. The valve is not aligned if you can see little slivers of the piston on the upstroke and the downstroke.

I wouldn't recommend doing it because it's very time consuming and requires a perfect lighting situation to see exactly what's going on, but if there aren't any competent repairmen around you then good luck with it.