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I just got back from TMEA today and thought I'd share some horn dorn that I accumulated during my stay. I spent 2 1/2 days there trying and retrying tubas galore. I have to say it was a lot of fun. When it was all said and done, my favorite was the THOR. I know it is almost a cliche' to say that now but, it is what it is. I have to give special mention to the 1291 and the new Besson 995, they where both great playing tubas. For the really big boys, I liked the production 6450 best over the PCK, PT-6, and PT-7. For the BBb the Fafner took the price. For the smaller 4/4 tubas I liked the PT606 best, really fine playing tuba. As you can see I had allot of time on my hands and spent it playing tubas, lol. Special thanks to Custom Music, Miraphone, and Mieln Weston for putting up with me. Nice meeting some fellow tubenet folks, special thanks to Charles for talking tuba with me.

Anyway enough with the talk, on with dorn.

Fafner in the hands of a nice young lady that was kind enough to give me permission to post her pic with the tuba. PT606P and PT-6P PT-6P and PT-7P

1291BBb and 1291CC and 1292CC 6450/2 and THOR 1292CC and PCK and St. Pete's CC

The new besson 995CC, really nice playing tuba and was in the running until the very end. With the new 983 to the left of it. Sorry for the crappy glare, the Buffet, Besson display has allot more lights. Petrouska, I played it once, and I really like the way it played but I spent all my time with the CC's so I didn't do allot of comparison shopping with the bass tubas. The only other bass tuba I played was the 45SLP which played great also. The low C and low Bb comparatively were great for both.

Thanks for making me drool on the keyboard

That new miraphone F now tops my list of "horns I wish I had". It's one awesome horn.

k001k47 wrote:That new miraphone F now tops my list of "horns I wish I had". It's one awesome horn.

It is indeed a great horn.

That Fafner in the woman's lap is a big one. The mouthpiece looks like it hits her in the forehead. She must have to use a stand to play the thing for more than ten minutes at a stretch.

Nice photography! Thanks.

I was there and these pictures look better than the real thing. Quieter too.

Nice pics!

It was a blast trying out the horns at TMEA. IMHO, I really didn't enjoy the Besson 995 as I thought I would. The notes below GG didn't seem to speak as well as the ones in the mid-range of the horn. Still a great horn, though.

Joseph

In the 4th picture, what's the slant-rotor horn to the left of the 1291 BBb?

Sonorous Lon wrote:

GC wrote:In the 4th picture, what's the slant-rotor horn to the left of the 1291 BBb?

Would that be the 289?

I don't think so. The 289 is a very tall horn, and this one is sort of squat like the 1291. Looking at the bows and tubing, it may even be a CC.

Edit: scratch that. After taking several more careful looks at the Miraphone web site, it seems to be built exactly like the 289 picture. I just remember it being a taller horn than it looks in the picture. My memory isn't what it used to be, though.

I wonder if it could be the 291 "Bruckner" CC rotary tuba that's listed on the website (no picture). Or is that the CC equivalent of the 191 BBb?

GC wrote:

Sonorous Lon wrote:

GC wrote:In the 4th picture, what's the slant-rotor horn to the left of the 1291 BBb?

Would that be the 289?

I don't think so. The 289 is a very tall horn, and this one is sort of squat like the 1291. Looking at the bows and tubing, it may even be a CC.

Edit: scratch that. After taking several more careful looks at the Miraphone web site, it seems to be built exactly like the 289 picture. I just remember it being a taller horn than it looks in the picture. My memory isn't what it used to be, though.

I wonder if it could be the 291 "Bruckner" CC rotary tuba that's listed on the website (no picture). Or is that the CC equivalent of the 191 BBb?

It is indeed a redesigned 289.
I played on it and it is a pretty large horn.

I can tell you that was definitely a 289, as I played it a few times and looked at the model number on the bell. It was a really nice playing horn too.

LJV wrote:I'd like to make a suggestion to the TNFJ that an effort be made to find a cute girl (see picture or think "German beer girls") to either hold the tuba or stand next to the tuba in future pictures from conferences.

I will second that suggestion LJV!

For the tubas, I think it is interesting seeing the PT-6P beside PT-7P as an example of the difference between a 5/4 and 6/4