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What kinda of CC tuba would you recommend for a college student in need of his own horn?

Miraphone 186 or 188.

The Conn 2J I'm selling is a pretty good 'do it all' first horn. It is on the smaller side though, so you might want more horn in a symphonic or orchestral setting. I'd second the miraphone 186 5 or 4 valve CC if you have the money for one.

LJV wrote:

Dylan King wrote:Miraphone 186 or 188.

Find something you like, then buy a Besson Eb ; )

Really, Miraphones are benchmark instruments, but be patient and try many horns. Don't rule out older Yamahas, Conns, anything.

J.c.S.

The only way is to try and see what suits you, your sound concept and playing situation.

Most on here seem to love the Miraphone, but it may not necessarily be your sound? I really wanted to like a 188 I tried (it was a very reasonable price), but just found its tone bland and personally much prefer the sound of the equivalent size B&S PT-20.

You would not go wrong with this one, for sale on this list, and it will fit most budgets. ...and no, I have no connection to the tuba or its owner. Don't judge it by its looks.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=37153

I prefer the hollow ones myself, they are much easier to blow through.

In all seriousness, ask your future college tuba instructor. He / she may be OK with any horn in any key, may say "Get a 4/4 CC tuba," or may say, "You must by this brand and this model. And you must buy the mouthpiece with my name on it."

tuben wrote:For the price, this is hard to beat.



http://www.baltimorebrass.net/pic.php?id=728

$4,295 at Baltimore Brass. Don't forget, this model is one of three tubas Warren Deck won the NYPhil audition playing.

Ditto! I had one for a few years, and I (long before this post) had described it as a good, solid CC tuba. Get it!

skeath wrote:You would not go wrong with this one, for sale on this list, and it will fit most budgets. ...and no, I have no connection to the tuba or its owner. Don't judge it by its looks.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=37153

Another winner of a tuba. Though, do people really think these look bad? I've heard "don't judge it by its looks" several times about the Gnagey tubas. I think they look awesome! I shouldn't judge it by that?

Thanks everyone for the input. I really appreciate it. I'm really learning alot.

miketank09 wrote:Thanks everyone for the input. I really appreciate it. I'm really learning alot.

You don't hear that too often in these types of tubenet threads.

There's usually flaming and trolling left and right.

I was in the same boat as you a year ago and I took advice and played horns and I went with the 186 it is a versatile horn in which I can play in orchestras, bands, quintets, and just got top score at allstate doing a solo so its really a great all around horn

LJV wrote:

Dylan King wrote:Miraphone 186 or 188.

Also, there are PLENTY of great CC horns floating around for 5k.

Best of luck! I missed so many deals while trying to buy my first CC last summer
I missed a Kalison 2001 for $3500!

You would not go wrong with this one, for sale on this list, and it will fit most budgets. ...and no, I have no connection to the tuba or its owner. Don't judge it by its looks.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=37153" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Another winner of a tuba. Though, do people really think these look bad? I've heard "don't judge it by its looks" several times about the Gnagey tubas. I think they look awesome! I shouldn't judge it by that?

If you know what you're looking at, they do look awesome, and after playing one for 2 minutes you are hooked on the sound. My point was that many people, maybe especially the younger members of this board, often rate a tuba on the "shiny factor", which would cause them to overlook the Gnageys. Big mistake, IMHO.

I played an unlacquered Alexander for 30 years, so I appreciate the iconoclastic look. I also know the tuba Don Harry played in 1972. I think it had tape on it.

The only reason a Gnagey would stay unsold for 2 weeks is, too many people are seeing the frog, and not the handsome Prince.

PT-606p = awesome

The question could be: "Can you make any *one* of them sound good?"

The OP is just starting college and wants his own horn. Lots of things can happen in college- change of plans, what not- and something like a used Mira 186 might do the job at a reasonable price and not lose much value over two or three years. A Mira 186 in good physical playing condition will always be "OK". Might even be great. After a few years of high level instruction and practice, it could maybe be replaced with something else. By then, the player has a concept of "his sound" and will get some good out of trying a bunch of horns.

tuben wrote:

ZachDomrese wrote:PT-606p = awesome

What else have you played for comparison?
---list of horns---
I've left out a few, but the point is don't just jump in and say, "oh, the horn I play is awesome" as there are lots of choices out there.
RC

God forbid someone should like the horn they own...

I, personally, do not like the 606 but whatever....

When Jeff Rideout came through town on the way back from Texas a couple of years ago, I got to try out a bunch of tubas. So did several other guys.

Two guys in particular were looking for a tuba to carry them through undergrad. I watched these two guys try them all. It came down to one guy really liked the PT-20, and the other really liked the PT-606. As I had finished my trials, I stopped and listened. Each sounded great on the respective horns. Then I asked them to switch. Each sounded horrible on the other tuba. Then they switched back. Each sounded great again.

The moral of this anecdote: like tuben says, try as many as you can. But like the others in the forum have said, nobody sounds bad on a 186. So if you have the opportunity to try a lot of different horns, or even if you have to work to get opportunities to try a lot of different horns, by all means do so, and then get the one everyone else who hears you play it says you sound the best playing it.

But if you are limited in logistics or travel, then rest assured you will never sound bad on a 186. You may not sound great, but you will always sound at least good to better on a 186, and by the time you get to the point you have defined your tonality, your repertoire and your career path, then you can go find the tuba you sound great on, like these two guys did.

iiipopes wrote:nobody sounds bad on a 186...
But if you are limited in logistics or travel, then rest assured you will never sound bad on a 186. You may not sound great, but you will always sound at least good to better on a 186...

I think most people sound bad on 186's. I never understood how many people could play so unbelievably tubby on a horn like that. I think they sound even worse without a power sound concept. The most boring sounds I have ever heard have been on 186's and PT tubas (no joke).
I do not like them very much at all. I find them to be extremely difficult to play, almost impossible to slur on,....and I only like how I sound on them a quarter of the time, and THAT takes a while to be able to do. I would recommend almost anything over a 186/8 and probably a 188 (though I've not yet played one). I think the VMI 2103 is a much better horn in a similar style.

miketank09 wrote:What kinda of CC tuba would you recommend for a college student in need of his own horn?

I guess I'm the only one who thinks it perfectly OK to play on the school equipment? At least until you master the basics?

Surely the college student in question isn't going to a school without tubas available for students to play. What is the pressing need?