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I am an amateur tuba player. I play in 2 community bands and a brass quintet. I currently own a Meinl Weston 2145 CC tuba which I love. I am considering purchasing an F tuba in the future. What is a good F tuba for solo and quintet use, maybe even some small orchestral situations?

Jerry

Meinl Weston 45SLP for a large piston F tuba
Meinl Weston 45SLZ for a large rotary F tuba

Both would work well in brass quintet and both were designed as large orchestral F tubas. I find rotor F tubas difficult to play, so I have a SLP, but from what I hear the SLZ is an awesome tuba with a low end similar to that of a SLP.

You may also want to look at a Yamaha 822. I've spent very little time with them, but recall the low range being very good.

jjelwood wrote:I am an amateur tuba player. I play in 2 community bands and a brass quintet. I currently own a Meinl Weston 2145 CC tuba which I love. I am considering purchasing an F tuba in the future. What is a good F tuba for solo and quintet use, maybe even some small orchestral situations?

Jerry

With respect to the other responder, I find that the Meinl-Weston SLP and SLZ sound too much like a small CC to avoid overlapping your 2145 by a wide margin. The SLZ is a wonderful instrument, but it's an F tuba I'd use for big orchestras, not little ones. Also, it's not cheap.

If you want the F tuba to play like your C in terms of low-register accessibility but to sound like an F, then consider the Yamaha YFB-621. It looks, plays, and sounds like an F tuba, but it does not require a special mindset to play the lower register as do most other F's. A low-cost alternative if you don't mind learning to feed air to that low C would be a Cerveny/Amati 654 (I think that's the number--Steve Inman or someone will correct me if it isn't). The tiny Meinl-Weston 182 has a little more projection than the Yamaha but also a smaller sound, in my opinion.

If you really do want a big F tuba with a small CC sound, the Miraphone 181 is a little easier on the wallet than a big Meinl-Weston, and I think it's a wonderful F tuba. The very expensive Willson is, however, my favorite for earthmover F's, though its price is way out of my league.

I have an old pre-Parantucci B&S Symphonie that works well in the application you describe and projects better than the little Yamaha (which I also own). It's an orchestral F, but it's still an F.

Rick "trying to cover several bases" Denney

that you try a bunch of different horns. I have found that tubas are like underwear - not everyone has the same fit or tastes. Fint the one that shakes hands with YOU.

if you find an alex f that is not too expensive and doesn't require learning "tuba in f#' fingerings in order to work with it would also be a good size. they are a little smaller than the B&S (similar in size to the older MW45(not SLP or SLZ)) but sound very big.

jon

I would like to second Rick Denney's points about a bigger F not providing contrast to your smaller CC. Another horn to consider is the Meinl Weston 45S (not SLP/SLZ) it is a full sized F that still plays like an F tuba. I only know of a few people that have them, but everyone who does loves 'em.