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i want to try out a Rudy ... 6 valve F tuba..what do you guys think of them???...the only F i have liked is the 181...and i hear they are coming out with another horn...but i play on a rudy C now and would like to get an F to match.....whats your take???



thanx,

E

Bloke,
Well you have identified the real issue with the 181. The C works well played 4th (which I was at least used to from a M-W 45SLP). The best intonation after that is 4th and 5th for the BBb, and (ideally) 4th, 5th and 6th for the A. Unfortunately, those fingerings are a little awkward.

I've had some okay success with a long 1st slide I had built. However, my slide is really about 3/4 in. short of what would be ideal. At least for me, it's much easier to lip the Eb's up a little than to get the Bb and A down.

I love the sound, and the response--but one does have to deal with those pitches. I have heard people lip that A to C series into pitch really well-but it doesn't work for me. [But then, if you want ease of pitch, you play a Yamaha...]

Mike
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"Stay away from cliches, boys--avoid them like the plaque"
[Credit to Chris Wall]

I get the 3rd partial F in tune with the tuner, and use 4th valve to play the 2nd space C. I pull my 2nd slide slightly in order to get the B in tune, but its only partially effective. The A and Ab are also sharp below that, so pulling the 2nd slide a little is not a bad idea for me. I have also used 6th valve for B and lipped up.

When I was at the Miraphone factory this Summer, I had the chance to play on the prototype of the new 281 F tuba. A fantastic horn - and the intonation was flawless. The G in the staff was up to pitch and the C, B natural, Bb and A were dead on! The horn amazed me. It is more of a 4/4 F than the 5/4 size of the 181 but it has the same valve body. The big differences (that Christian credits for the intonation changes) are the slightly smaller bows and bell of the horn. They also tested about 4 different leadpipes on it the get the sound where they wanted it. My wife said that the sound of the 281 compared to the 181 is just as big, but cleaner. I will be getting one of these as soon as they are available in the Spring. The Brasswind has 6 of them on order - 3 gold brass 6 valve and 3 yellow brass 6 valve.

bloke wrote:Speaking of 181 F tubas, I'm sincerely curious:

How do those of you who use these deal with the second line/second space mile-high B natural and C? To me, those pitches are far too often played, and far to difficult to lip down c. 30+ cents "to scale"...

I had this problem with my 181 with several mouthpieces, but I found with the Schilke 69C4 and the Miraphone C4, this problem goes away.

Will this new 281 come in 5v (4 rotary + 1)? Silver plate? Whats the price? It sounds like my kind of horn and by December I will be in the market for one. Any info would be great.

How about the Meinl Weston 2182? These are horns that are great fun.

We can order the 281 in a 5 valve model in silver plate. It may take a little while longer, but it can be done. We usually stock the 6 valve models because we basically had to give away the last 5 valve model that we had in stock.