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I've seen two. They both sounded good. The blurb about them on the Custom website faults the Yorks for intonation issues. I found the 606p had it's own intonation problems and certainly no better than the Yorks I have played (I'm talking about CC's and BBb's).

Other horns, in the same price range, include the Nirschl 4/4 and the Hirsbrunner HB-2X's. Speaking of price range, Custom does not post prices so I'm just guessing that these are all in the same price range.

Find the one that works for you but, holy cow, they have gotten expensive.

I played one at TMEA this year, and found it to be the best playing 4/4 there. I really like how it played, and I found the sound to be good. Hard to say more than that about the sound, because there was a bunch of racket at the convention as you can imagine.

After playing it and liking it so much I went looking for a price. Which was difficult because as Alex said custom doesn't list prices. I eventually found a price in a thread on here. It listed it at $10.5K. Which immediatedly took it out of consideration for me, because a THOR is the same price and I liked the THOR best overall.

I loved the sound, but the valve section is too big! I do not have small hands, I was completely uncomfortable with the valves. I had to spread the fingers too far. It's a great sounding horn if you have Rachmaninoff's hands.

I've been playing a PT 606P for close to two years and it's still my favorite CC tuba. It has a big sound that, for me, fills in the bottom of all but the largest and most aggressive ensembles. I've used it for solo and quintet playing as well as orchestra and band and have found it very adaptable. The instrument that I own has no bad intonation quirks. After having said all that I have to say that the reason I like the PT 606P is that it facilitates the way I want to sound. If your sound concept is different you may find yourself fighting the instrument and come to a different conclusion. This can be said about any instrument, therefore, advice from me or anyone else does not take the place of trying it yourself and developing your own opinion. You would not hurt my feelings if you tried one and told me that it's not for you.

How closely is this related (or is it) to the PT6?

Tuba Guy wrote:How closely is this related (or is it) to the PT6?

not very, The PT-6 reminds me of a tall german style horn. The PT-606P is a fat, squatty, compact horn. I play next to a guy that plays one of these, he sounds great and we work well together in an orchestra setting. I've played it once for a few minutes, I liked it OK. It was kind of awkward for me to play on and going from my 188 was a very strange change of horns.

Tuba Guy wrote:How closely is this related (or is it) to the PT6?

A lot smaller. The PT-606 is of similar size to the PT-20, while the PT-6 is a big 5/4.

Tuba Guy wrote:How closely is this related (or is it) to the PT6?

This is how it compares. No very much at all.

I had a chance last summer to play a PT6P and a PT606. They are both great horns. I just felt like I had to work a lot harder and fight the 606 way more than the PT6. I don't know if it was just due to idiosyncrasies of those two particular horns, or if each horn was typical of their respective models. I've never played on another example of either. The 606 was much easier to hold, and got a more compact, quintet-type sound. I didn't feel like the intonation was quite as good on the 606, and it didn't slot quite as well as the PT6 throughout the range of the instrument. The 606 was definitely the second-best CC horn of the bunch that I played. It wasn't all squirrely and horribly out of tune like the HB2 that was there (although on straight beauty of a single held pitch, the HB2 won hands down. Such a beautiful voice), and it definitely had a much fatter and "present" sound than the PT20.

I can also compare the 606 to the Miraphone 1291 (I frequently play on one that is owned by a friend of mine). The 606 doesn't come close to touching the amazingly easy, free, and resounding low register of the 1291. The middle register is very comparable to playing the 1291 as far as ease, intonation and sound quality. The high register of the 606 is ***WAY, WAY, WAY*** better than the 1291. The 606 doesn't get all thin and squirrelly like the 1291 does (in fact, that's the only reason I grudgingly marked the 1291 off my short list for the purchase of an all-around horn).

All the above comments are only from the point of view of one person who has not played other examples of these instruments. The playing characteristics of other examples of the same model may vary drastically.

BTW, any of the above horns beat the holy SNOT out of the Miraphone 186 I use every day!

Have a nice day!

Based on current trends, I would say that there are better horns for less money with similar availability.

For me, the high range isn't a deciding factor for choosing a tuba. Because, being a former horn player, I can play high on any of the tubas in question without issue. What was the litmus test for me was the low G. How easy and open did it play. The PT606 had a really nice low G that spoke quickly and fully. Of the instruments that I played at TMEA, it spoke as well as if not better than the 1291 in the Miraphone display. And definately better than both the 1292s in Miraphone's display and Tuba Exchange's display. But like is said before, the THOR is in the exact same price point and it played better overall for me in all ranges and volumes as compared to all the other tuba's there.