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I have the opportunity to test out a newer Alex 163 which is for sale, however, in order to generate the $$ necessary I'd probably have to sell my 5/4 Rudy CC. Both Rudys and Alexs have a reputation for great color and quality of their sound. Can anyone with experience on both give me any guidance on the differences or strengths I might expect? and if you were to choose between the two - assuming similar intonation, which would you go with? I do Brass Band, (85 players), Orchestra (45 players), and typically use the F for any smaller groups. Any input is appreciated, it will all be weighed and sifted....

Go with the one that is most in tune with itself.

Go with the one that sounds the best.

Karl "easier to fix pitch problems than bad tone" H.

The Rudy people will say Rudy. The Alexander people will say Alexander.

I sincerely doubt either has any "tone" problems. I would probably pick whichever had the better scale, so most likely the Rudy.

I say Rudy.

Hope this helps (but I'm betting it didn't),

--Christian

I don't have a ton of experience with either, but I *think* the Rudy is a physically larger tuba than the Alex...? The Rudy I tried before was a big honkin tuba, fun to play but common sense of "okay, this is *too* big" kicked in. The Alex felt more reasonably sized, though still a large tuba.

Both are awesome instruments.

I've played Alexes and Rudis in equal measure for years. It's not the horn, it's the blower. Go try them out and get the one you want. Screw what we think.

ginnboonmiller wrote:I've played Alexes and Rudis in equal measure for years. It's not the horn, it's the blower. Go try them out and get the one you want. Screw what we think.

Gee, can we just use this answer for all our horn questions? Then we can eliminate all instrument inquiries from this board... and then we can just close down the board... and then we can all go practice like we should!

Karl "just havin' fun stirrin' the pot" H.

I think they're both crap (especially the Alex), but hey, I'll be charitable and take them off your hands for $3250. When can I come pick them up?

@TubaSailor

I think the best thing to do is to record yourself with decent equipment and good mic placement, if possible. Play similar/same passages on both tubas back to back. Do you have someone as an extra set of "ears" to listen to you play both horns? That could help too.

Everyone will have opinions on these two tubas. Having played and heard other tuba players play on both Alexander and Rudy Meinl tubas, I prefer the Alex sound. They sound a little sweeter and darker to my ears. But they are both great tubas. My opinions

There's gotta be some reason you aren't 100% happy with your Rudy - otherwise you wouldn't be considering a change. Whatever it is about the Rudy that you're not completely satisfied with, I personally tend to doubt will be solved with an Alex.

Pretty much agree with all that is said here. Both are great, try a few and see what you like.

Thanks for the comments - as to being 100% satified w/ the Rudy - aren't we all continually looking for better? (Greener Grass?) The Rudy is a fantastic horn, great sound, capable of burying almost any ensemble I play with (and with a mellow, full, sound - not a bark or blatt) - and also has probably the sweetest pp I've ever heard from a big horn. It is BIG - 22mm bore, 20" bell, and tea-cup sized rotors - and I'm not as agile on it as I'd like to be. I'm sure more practice time would help - I tend to get a burble on some attacks when things are moving fast. I think a lot of the comments on this board about the issues and difficulties with 6/4 tubas are 100% accurate, and I've experienced some of that with the Rudy. I'm wondering if the Alex, being substantially smaller, would have fewer of those issues. and - I haven't played a lot of different instruments myself, so I don't really have a good feel for the differences. That's why I posted the question, and I appreciate all of the thoughtful comments and pm's.

I am of the opinion that, generally, we all sound very much like ourselves regardless of what we play, particularly to most listeners other than tuba players. This has limits, of course: Gene Pokorny would sound different on a 184 than a piston Fafner, but I think the concept holds within general classes of instruments. To my ear, Sam Pilafian sounds like himself, regardless of what he plays.

With that in mind, I think facility/comfort with an instrument has much more of an impact on the way we are perceived than some of the tonal subtleties that "come with" similar instruments within a given "class".

My advice is to play what feels best and provides you the greatest comfort/accuracy.
Avoid something with intonation flaws - you'll just fight it.

Also - be very clear with yourself about what trade-off you are trying to work around or what you are trying to optimize for.
If it's just a size thing, that is somewhat easier - the Rudy 5/4 is definitely a big burly (though wonderful) beast.
If you are addicted to the Rudy sound/feel (and many are) maybe check out a 4/4 or 3/4?

Jim

TubaSailor wrote:Thanks for the comments - as to being 100% satified w/ the Rudy - aren't we all continually looking for better? (Greener Grass?) The Rudy is a fantastic horn, great sound, capable of burying almost any ensemble I play with (and with a mellow, full, sound - not a bark or blatt) - and also has probably the sweetest pp I've ever heard from a big horn. It is BIG - 22mm bore, 20" bell, and tea-cup sized rotors - and I'm not as agile on it as I'd like to be. I'm sure more practice time would help - I tend to get a burble on some attacks when things are moving fast. I think a lot of the comments on this board about the issues and difficulties with 6/4 tubas are 100% accurate, and I've experienced some of that with the Rudy. I'm wondering if the Alex, being substantially smaller, would have fewer of those issues. and - I haven't played a lot of different instruments myself, so I don't really have a good feel for the differences. That's why I posted the question, and I appreciate all of the thoughtful comments and pm's.

just me, but if I had a 5/4 Rudy Meinl with a good scale, I'd be begging my favorite repairman to (1) make the existing leadpipe removable, then (2) source and install a second, smaller leadpipe which actually has a receiver. I expect that a leadpipe with a smaller small end and the bump of a receiver will make any RM tuba easier to play. A "normal" RM leadpipe starts out as big as a leadpipe on a "normal" 2165 (ie, really huge).

Rudy. YMMV.

cjk wrote:just me, but if I had a 5/4 Rudy Meinl with a good scale, I'd be begging my favorite repairman to (1) make the existing leadpipe removable, then (2) source and install a second, smaller leadpipe which actually has a receiver. I expect that a leadpipe with a smaller small end and the bump of a receiver will make any RM tuba easier to play. A "normal" RM leadpipe starts out as big as a leadpipe on a "normal" 2165 (ie, really huge).

+1

I believe the smaller bore leadpipe can be obtained from Rudolf Meinl - definitely the way forwards!