Willson tuba

[Bob Kolada]

The 3400 Eb and the 3200 small F tuba are awesome. I would absolutely love to have both. I've never played a Willson contrabass. I think I like the small piston F better than the bigger one, but I've not played the bigger one in a while.
The 4th valve slide on the 3400 is almost unusably short, and the small 3200 (and the big one?) does not have a 4th valve slide on top. But I like just about everything else.

[TUbajohn20J]

I own a 3 month old 3100 BBb in bright silver. One word..AMAZING. To me, they are by far the best new professional BBb's that are still in production. Mine has very thick metal, heavy duty braces, a massive thumb ring, mother of pearl valve buttons. It is HEAVY because it is so well made. I use a PT-48 mouthpiece with it and it makes a massive sound. Huge low end, monstrous pedals. The high range is particularly good on this tuba, and the notes slot very well. It is meant to be held with the left hand on the first valve slide for fine tuning notes, especially in the low range..it has an adjustable locking mechanism on the first valve slide that prevents it from coming all the way out while playing. You can kind of see it in the pictures. You won't find a finer professional BBb horn around.

[CTAYLOR]

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=26290&start=12&hilit=willson" target="_blank" target="_blank

[Tom Gregory]

I have played a Willson 3050 CC tuba since 1995. It is a joy to play. I have played it with 100+ piece orchestras all the way down to brass quintets and solos. The intonation is really good. A common concern is the Eb (below the staff) is high and the Ab (first space) above it is low. I do most of my slide pulling on the 3rd slide. I was actually considering a HB 2p when I bought this. The W has a better low register and a stronger tonal output (IMO). The best mouthpiece with it has been the Mike Finn 3. I don't think it is a "flavor of the month" instrument but it works really well.

[iiipopes]

If you're seriously looking for a professional orchestra grade BBb tuba, in addition to the Willson, the two others to consider are the Rudy Meinl in your choice of bell diameter and the Perantucci GR51/PT605. Those are also excellent BBb horns, and all are in the same top-drawer league.

[poomshanka]

Keep in mind that, at least in my experience, the rotary and piston variants of the Willson CC and BBb tubas are *quite* different. Mine's already been sold, but I shared a few thoughts on the axe a while back that may be of use to you:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=25339" target="_blank

...D

[oedipoes]

Hey I was wondering if anyone has any comments on the Willson 3100 BBb tuba or just willson in general. Thank you

I tried many different horns last year, among them the Willson 3100 FA-5 and 3100 RZ-4.
I have a brand new silver plated 3100 RZ-4 on order now (12 weeks waiting, 7 down and 5 to go). Do I need to say more?

I was deeply impressed with the amount of sound and control I had with the 3100 RZ-4. Intonation was very good and ergonomics were better than on the FA-5. (but I have a BBC tuba rest now, so that wouldn't be a problem any more)
Like mentioned in poomshanka's original post, the rotary horn seems to have the best and most accurate response.
The workmanship on the Willson looked flawless, everything was constructed very rigid and all components fitted very well together.

Try the Willson, and then start saving some money...

Wim

[Dean E]

Hey I was wondering if anyone has any comments on the Willson 3100 BBb tuba or just willson in general. Thank you

I love my Willson 3050 5-rotary valve CC, and use a stand when I play.

I have three points to make:

1. It is big and heavy, and will not be ideal for smaller tuba players.
2. It does not play itself, but performing can be a wonderfully rewarding experience.
3. The ergonomic design of the rotary valve paddles is not ideal for some players.

[jonesbrass]

I play a Willson 3200S F as my main horn, and pull out my Willson 3050S (4P/1R) CC when I need the extra horsepower.
I can confirm most of what has been written already. They are extremely well made, and heavy as all get out. I also use a BBC tuba stand since I was in an automobile accident in October - highly recommend those with the Willson contrabasses.
The tuba projects like crazy. Seriously, while the horn is easy to play at any volume with great sound and intonation, when you are looking at heavy artillery, this is a great tuba. The euphonium sections in a couple bands I play with call it "the godzilla tuba."

[tubeast]

I have grown to really like their instruments.
As can be seen below, I have one of them in my arsenal.
Back when I played CC and had the chance to try one out for a serious practice session, I considered them to require too much extra effort to make them sound good (well).
Last year I made up my mind and ordered a 6400 RZ5 BBb instead of the adjacent 3050 CC model. I have NO idea why Willson doesn´t promote their 6400 model line on their homepage. They told me that, rolled out to a straight tube, the horn would be exactly the same instrument as a 3100. It´s just the body design that makes for a taller horn.
I´m a tall guy with short legs, so a design like this will suit me better than the more compact 3100.
The 6400 is known for its notoriously flat F2 right below the stave. All my BBb colleagues with that horn face the very same problem.
All other notes are spot-on.
The horn was aerobically overwhelming at first, but I´ve gotten used to the airflow it demands during the past year.
The tuba is IMPECCABLY neatly built. It´ll speak easily at all ranges with large MPs.
Pedals were easy and solid right from the start. I had to really work on the notes between F1 and BBb0 for quite a while, but now am thankful I took the trouble.

One drawback: Ergonomics of thumb-operated 5th valve. I quickly discarded the adjustable thumbring and made up a carved hand rest myself.
A VERY long strap helps me keep the horn in place and serves as a rest for my left wrist so I can work the 4th valve slide for C1 (2345+pull, 1345 will be spot-on) and B0 (12345 + pull).
I love this horn.

[Bob Kolada]

Hans, do you have a picture of your horn? I've only ever seen the 3100-looking horns.

[tubeast]

Yes, I do have pics, but I haven´t gotten around to uploading them on something like image shack or the likes. We´ll see what I can do this weekend.

[tubeast]

For a quick glance of the 6400, just visit their homepage.
http://www.willson.ch
Click on "Willson direct".
The pic in the middle shows a 6400 RZ5 with left-hand operated 5th.
It´s the tallest horn on the right of the depicted shelf.
The two adjacent horns may or may not be corresponding 3100s in FA and RZ versions, for comparison.
The 6400 stands 105 cm tall.

[Jess Haney]

Really big heavy horn.

[Ace]

Thanks to OP for this post. In checking the tubas on the Willson link I ran across this interesting bass trombone with some carbon parts.
http://www.willson.ch/en/instrument/wil ... e-551ta-cf" target="_blank" target="_blank
I wonder if this could be done for heavy tubas as well.

Ace

[bort]

If I had to sum up Willson tubas in one word, it would be "Quality."

[bort]

Thanks to OP for this post. In checking the tubas on the Willson link I ran across this interesting bass trombone with some carbon parts.
http://www.willson.ch/en/instrument/wil" target="_blank" target="_blank ... e-551ta-cf" target="_blank
I wonder if this could be done for heavy tubas as well.

Ace

Anyway... back to the discussion, Ace, this is really interesting. I had never thought about putting carbon tubing, only a carbon bell. I wonder if there's enough *straight* tubing on a tuba to make this worthwhile to try? Certainly some places, but not as much as on the trombone and maybe not enough impact on the overall weight to be worth it. Going from 26 to 25 pounds isn't really that significant. It's very cool, though!

[tofu]

Isn't one of the advantages of a heavier tuba is that they tend to be more resistant to breaking up when pushed? And don't they tend to slot better? All this based on my anecdotal evidence of owning both thick and thin walled tubas.

And as far as the poster that brought this thread back to life it appears he owns a 3100 BBb acording to his signature so I'm guessing he was just searching for stuff on 3100 and added his personal (but brief) take.

I sure wouldn't mind owning one of these if I came across one bargain priced.

[bort]

I always figured that the heavier metal of the Willson somehow contributed to the uber projection of their tubas. Who knows... all I can say is that whatever they do, it works for me.

[Jay Bertolet]

My Kurath F has über projection. My Alex CC weighed about five pounds less than this large, heavy F tuba. They project about the same in our hall.

That's a pretty startling admission! You're suggesting that any F tuba can project into the hall as much as your Alex 163 CC, a horn I have always considered to be somewhat of a cannon? That statement seems to support the opposite argument than you're making, since the Kurath (the forerunner of the Willson F) has very thick metal used in its construction.

All kidding aside, the similarity in projection probably has a lot more to do with you than either horn. Still, I do believe that some instruments can be improved by changing things like thick wall metal or the heavyweight mouthpiece concept. I used to own a Cerveny 601 CC that I had metal strips added to in strategic places and the projection was improved. Similarly, I have a heavyweight mouthpiece that I use for outdoor concerts that really does make a difference out in the audience. Ironically, that difference doesn't seem to translate as well in a concert hall. I think being aware of placebo effects is a good thing so you can make a better determination. The Willsons are very good instruments and, if you try one and like it, maybe it would be a worthwhile purchase. The quality of construction on these horns is second to none.