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At Tuba Christmas this year, somebody mentioned that there was an opening in a local community band. I decided to take them up on the offer but I currently have a problem.

I decided to take a year off of school and just work, earning money to pay off my car, buy a new bed, save up some money in general and buy a new tuba or put a good chunck towards a new tuba. I've never had my own tuba and I've used the same university tuba for 5 years. Obviously, after I stopped going, I no longer used the tuba. But I have been practicing on the tuba my girlfriend practices on but it is a small 3/4, 3 valve convertible King tuba. Not very good AT ALL for concert bands.

So here's my question. Have any of you been in a situation where you didn't own your own tuba but needed to use one for a period of about 4 months? What did you end up doing? I'm looking to use a decent 4/4 tuba, nothing to fancy but definitely something to get me by in a good ensemble. I can obviously use my girlfriends but I'm trying avoid using it because it is way easy to over blow on anything over a forte. I do know there is a tuba to rent at a local music but they don't really deal with tubas thus they charge a lot more to rent one. I also know that all the tubas at my old university are being used so I've been thinking about asking local high schools to see if there is a chance that I could borrow one. Any of you ever done this? I do know a lot of band directors in my area personally but I'm hesitant to ask if this is something that should be avoided.

Let me know what you think I should do. I'm kinda lost since I've never been in this situation.

tubaribonephone wrote:Let me know what you think I should do. I'm kinda lost since I've never been in this situation.

Assuming you have the cash, buy a used tuba for an appropriate price, take good care of it, and then sell it to convert it back into cash when you are ready to buy something better. An old King 1241 comes to mind as a good contender. Battered but fully playable versions of these are frequently available for about a grand or a bit more.

Think of it as a free rental with a hefty security deposit.

Rick "the great is the enemy of the good" Denney

I just recently got out of an very similar situation!

This school year (August '08), I switched schools from a public/magnet school to a dual-enrollment school. My old high school was basically like any other, but with a bit more "magnet" stuff added on, but my new school is completely different. My only high school courses are AP English, history and mathematics. The school's number one priority is furthering academics. With this dual-enrollment, I also take college courses at the local community college, but I cannot take the ensemble classes. At my old school, I had a system-owned 186 which was great and I used it for summer, but once I switched, I had to return it, leaving me with no horn.

At that point, my tuba teacher very generously offered to let me borrow his smaller horn (YCB-661) to use before I can secure another one. For about three and a half months, I used his 661, but it eventually showed my mother and I that I cannot keep his horn forever, so we entered the tuba market and she bought me the YCB-621 I currently use.


tl;dr: I borrowed my teacher's horn 'til I got another one

I think it's worth a try to ask to borrow an auxiliary horn, even if it can't be for that whole year you are absent from school.

Good luck!

bloke wrote:Can you find something to do on weekends (or other available days/nights) that will make you $100/day?

No offense, Joe, but where does one find an unskilled job that pays that kind of dough after taxes?
I remember not too many years ago regularly bringing home less than $30 after a hard day of day labor. I realize we were taken advantage of, but even at today's minimum wage plus a buck, how does one net $100?

One of our community bands is sponsored by the Kokomo branch if Indiana University, and is directed by the city HS BD with rehearsals held in the HS band room. In this situation, they offer to rent out older HS horns for a nominal fee.

This inspires me to suggest that you contact an area HS BD to ask if they have any old, unused tubas that s/he would be willing to rent to a responsible individual such as your self. I have no personal experience to know if this would be successful, but that's the first thought that comes to mind.

Good luck,