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So,for those of you who've played both, would you expect the intonation on an Alex BBb to be just as bad as on the CC? ie,would the f below the staff be just as bad as the g on the CC?Just idly pondering the one on ebay right now...(still quite happy with my Thor,but when I play my f,I wonder what it would be like to have a BBb or CC with a similar tone quality).

The BBb 163s I've tried are better - much better - pitch wise. I've even played a CC with a factory BBb crook, and it made a world of difference in the overall intonation. A marvelous German BBb is something which could do naught but help all of us. Someday I'll nab one, but for now...

J.c.S.

I have been told by a fine repairman that, if you have a BBb Alex with bad intonation, it needs to be taken apart and reassembled by a fine repairman. After that it should play dead on pitch with the exception of a flat 3rd partial.

The BBb Alexander tuba's he had were a fine witness to his opinion. He had the most outstanding BBb tuba I ever played, an Alex Kaiser model. If I'd played that tuba in college I would have been a BBb player for life.

Ah, the Alex Kaiser. Tucker Jolly played a BBb as his orchestra horn for a long time, he still has that beautiful beast but now plays a HB2-P I think. That Alex is amazing.

eupher61 wrote:Ah, the Alex Kaiser. Tucker Jolly played a BBb as his orchestra horn for a long time, he still has that beautiful beast but now plays a HB2-P I think. That Alex is amazing.

Actually, Tucker's horn makes the 164 Kaiser look like a toy. I've never been able to find any information on that mode, but it's easily the biggest BBb I've ever seen. For those who haven't seen this, imagine a rotary tuba so big the thumb ring is on the smaller end of the top bow, rather than the bell. %$#@ing huge!

J.c.S.

That's not a 164?

Funny thing is, though, TJs horn plays about as easily as anything. Of course, at that time, I had a Piggy and the size wasn't so much of a shock to my playing mentality.