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Got a question. Has anybody ever heard of Barrington tubas? Do you know if they are any good? Are they worth the cost for a high/middle school band program?

Barring from

http://www.dwerden.com/talk/forum/messa ... readid=620

I haven’t heard a ton.

Some 100 years Barrington - Illinois was the seat of the brass instruments’ maker Wllliam Frank.

Klaus

The Barrington piston tuba appears to be a chinese copy of the Mirafone 1271. The one that I obtained through Ebay appears to be an early version. It lacks the dual bore of the Mirafone, but plays very well. Last year I chose to use it to perform the contrabassoon part in the Brahms 1st symphony.

I would compare it to an Olds 0-99, with similar excellent intonation but a larger bore. The leadpipe on mine is curved upward, apparently set up for a very tall person. The newer ones that I have seen advertised have a straight diagonal leapipe like the Olds and Conn 12J, which is probably an improvement.

The valve guides are similar to the ones on Yamaha pistons, and I did find it necessary to make the groove a little deeper for one of the pistons. The valve cap threads are not cut as deeply as they should be, and may not last as long as they should. If those issues have been addressed on the newer versions they could be very nice small tubas.

Hi!
Shallow threads are an issue with those Tubas! I'm not sure wich Asian factory they come from, though. They do play in tune with a decent tone, and are suitable for your purposes!

Al

Dubious valve cap threads should disqualify whatever brass instrument from school usage. As I used to say my own kids as wellas to my students:

Please don’t invite disasters.

They will happen anyway.

Klaus

Hi!
I agree, Klaus, except that a mature student would exercise proper care of His/Her own property vs. a School horn! And I've seen a few Yamaha's and King's boogered up by students! Point of origin not withstanding, I would advise Band Directors be the ones to open valves, and direct players to oil pistons through the bottom caps. And you'd be surprised how many WoodWind and even Trumpet playing Band Directors beleive rotors are "permantly" lubricated, or that you can oil the bearings via the slides !

Al