TubeNet

subject deleted

As one of the people you may be refering to, I will state my justifications and rationale for such a large stable. (My wife has heard these arguments too... ) I have quite a bit of money sunk into horns. I have owned 4 horns for over 5 years now, but accumulated numbers 2-4 over the course of 4 years when I was a single man living on a respectable salary from my R&D job in pharma. I had uses for all of them at the time (rock gigs, studio recording, quintet gigs, community band) and justified their purchase. 2 of my horns had paid for themselves in gigs by the time I purchased my 4th. I saved up money in an account for the purchase of the horns, paid cash, and purchased below market value. 2009/10 I juggled all of my horns and spent no net $$$'s in the course of the transactions.

Do I still have a use for the horns? - Yup.
184 - quintet (paid gigs), dixie/rock orchestra (again paid gigs), small orchestra (certain rep this works well susually a comm. group)
155 - quintet (paid gigs) & orchestra (paying gigs & Pictures coming up in comm. group)
163 - goto orchestral horn
164 - big orchestral rep, certain brass ensembles... again paying gigs.

I cannot support my lifestyle and family by playing tuba, but I do get paid for what I do, and the horns have (over 16 or so years) paid for themselves. Could I do them on 1/2 horns, yes. I don't see a reason to make the jobs harder when the appropriate tool works well.

Assuming that someone spent 20K on 2 new tubas, say, a Miraphone Firebird and Miraphone Bruckner, or something comparable, I'm sure they would have a plan in place to make up for that investment. The F will likely pay for itself in a couple of years, and may in fact pay for both horns in the long run.

There are lots of things, many of which are pretty silly, that cost 20K. Not to mention the fact that they don't hold their value or offer the same rewarding experience (at least for me) as playing the tuba. To each his own.

I have currently only got two tubas of my own (Neptune CC and PT-15-F), but only 3 years ago had seven - Why? Because they all had varying tones and I enjoyed playing them. At the time I was a single man with good job and could afford to indulge myself with all the tubas I wanted.

I have largely cut back because I met the woman of my dreams and have got married - so now have different priorities

Although I do get some paid gigs, I look on my playing as the most rewarding of hobbies and have never thought about the tubas having to "justify the expense". If you do something for the love of it, cost justification is just not a consideration!

1) I buy my tubas used. Although I'm not in the $20-$40K club, the amount I've paid for my 2 horns is less than half what they would cost new.

2) It's my hobby, and the cost is only big up-front. When I think of friends/family that golf, that can easily be $50 -- $100 per outing PLUS equipment costs, driving ranges, etc. Just a few years of that will quickly overtake my one-time tuba costs.

3) An old tuba friend of mine (he's about 75(?) now, and just bought a Fafner) once told me "Spend it if you've got it. You only go around once." Seems as good of advice as I've gotten before.


Even if it's on the low end of your question, $20k, yes, that is a lot of money. But for someone who might be playing that tuba for the next 40 years (hopefully more), that averages to only $500/year plus some small maintenance costs. Even if you make $0 playing (like me), that's still quite an acceptable yearly amount for a hobby to me. I'm not sure what else I could do more cheaply and get more enjoyment (well... haha, besides the obvious! ).

I'm an enthusiastic amatuer. Once in a while I'll get a gig, sometimes even a really good one. Will I ever make enough money to pay for all my instruments? No way. Do I appreciate having really good gear? Absolutely. I really enjoy having beautiful instruments that play just the way I want them to and it inspires me to play more and improve my skills. It's a hobby. I don't collect, per se, but as a player it's really nice to have really great instruments to work with. I'm sure 95% of the gigs I've ever had could have been covered with the Bach 42B trombone and Yamaha YEP-321S euphonium I had in high school. And I probably would have sounded almost as good on them, but I certainly wouldn't have enjoyed it as much! Also, has having lots of the more unusual instruments helped me get some really cool gigs that I've had a blast doing that I wouldn't otherwise have gotten? Yep.

Shires 1YM-TW47/TB47-Trubore-TGS-2SS
Shires 7GLW8-T25NLW-TY-MT2/M2
Shires S1YM8-T00LW-T01.5N
Besson 968GS
Besson 2056
Ewald Meinl model Drewelwecz tenor baroque trombone
Ewald Meinl model Nagel alto baroque trombone
Thein "Alessi model" baßtrompete in C/Bb
Kanstul 290
Gautrot 11-key Bb ophicleide circa 1860

jmerring wrote:Repeatedly, I am seeing lists of the asenals owned by posters on this forum. I am astounded that anyone would have $20-40K in horns and that they would all be used enough to justify the expense. This does not seem to be limited to just pro's or dealers. Where are you people getting so much money?

Such feelings are often motivated by jealousy. Be careful--that is a deadly emotion.

I know toothless rednecks that own $40,000 bass boats that they take to the lake for fishing maybe once a year. Having a collection of tubas is no worse than, say, owning a camper trailer that sees the highway three times in five years. Or having a pickup truck with $20,000 in chromed off-road equipment that has never seen mud. Or restoring a '57 Chevy. Or maintaining a collection of carnival glass. Or having a house in the country with a private pond. Or having three 100-foot amateur radio antenna towers. I know people with all these things, and none of them are particularly rich. They just make sure they save enough to indulge their interests. And they often do it for many years, so that even a modest buying rate results in some degree of accumulation.

Rick "there is always a bigger fish" Denney

Rick Denney wrote:

jmerring wrote:Repeatedly, I am seeing lists of the asenals owned by posters on this forum. I am astounded that anyone would have $20-40K in horns and that they would all be used enough to justify the expense. This does not seem to be limited to just pro's or dealers. Where are you people getting so much money?

Such feelings are often motivated by jealousy. Be careful--that is a deadly emotion.

I know toothless rednecks that own $40,000 bass boats that they take to the lake for fishing maybe once a year. Having a collection of tubas is no worse than, say, owning a camper trailer that sees the highway three times in five years. Or having a pickup truck with $20,000 in chromed off-road equipment that has never seen mud. Or restoring a '57 Chevy. Or maintaining a collection of carnival glass. Or having a house in the country with a private pond. Or having three 100-foot amateur radio antenna towers. I know people with all these things, and none of them are particularly rich. They just make sure they save enough to indulge their interests. And they often do it for many years, so that even a modest buying rate results in some degree of accumulation.

Rick "there is always a bigger fish" Denney

Rick has the best answer. I am tempted to add that it really is none of the OP's business how we managed to pay for our tubas. However, I will say that not having music as my primary source of income has allowed me to earn enougnh to have a few hobbies that do require some monetary investment. BTW, I have a friend whose hobby is recording music and his microphone collection alone is probably worth $50,000 -- I am happy with my Zoom H4. My next door neighbor has one of those boats Rick mentioned and a brand new Mercedes-AMG SL 65 (200+ mph) -- I am happy with my 11-year-old GMC Yukon Denali. And, while I don't live in a poor neighborhood and am very happy with my house, the housing development next to mine has several pro baseball and football players living in it and the houses there cost several times what my house is worth. It does no good to be envious of what others have. Just be glad for what you have.

Well, jealousy and envy is one thing, but appreciation and aspiration is a whole 'nother subject (and I think that's what the intent of this thread was)!

Doc wrote:All of mine, present and past, have paid for themselves. Although none of them have cost over $10K each, over the course of 25 years of tuba ownership, I could have paid for some seriously expensive axes.

Now, if I could figure out how a handmade 6450, a 2250, a Bruckner, and a Petrushka could pay for themselves without winning a major orchestra position, I'd be doing it instead of talking about it. Maybe I should buy a lotto ticket this year...

Not likely winning lottery twice the same year. Just stay a happy wanda-be.

K

I beat people up and steal their tubas. . . because at some point you just have enough tubas.

We all have a hobby(s) in which we sink our money, my father is a golfer and a wine drinker, my brother collects comic books, I play tuba. If that hobby is important to you and you're picky enough than that's what you spend your money on; the trick is to not get over extended. I know a professional trombone player who collects plastic mouthpieces of different colors. I can't tell what the difference is between them, but he swears they're good for different things. He probably has close to $1000 in plastic mouthpieces. There's no reason in having a large stable you don't use and/or you can't afford. If, however, you have the money and the use, then it's well worth it.

Great replies; all. I did not mean to be nosy, but I do admit to being envious. I hadn't thought of the hobby/collector angle. The idea just escaped my thoughts. To anyone that may have been offended by the post; I truly apologize.

Thank you all for the replies. I am gratified and humbled (as usual).

Need just one BAT for large ensemble, a bass for quintet, and a circular beast for marching in parades! That's already gonna be over 10 grand for good specimens, given luck and good buys. I know a guy with a passion for vintage model trains like Lionel and Marx. He has everything ever made and has track running all over his house. He has spent more than most of us on tubas. He is not particularly rich, but has built his collection up over decades.

Rick Denney wrote:[Or having three 100-foot amateur radio antenna towers.

OoooOOOOooOOooh! Rick, you speak to me.... that would be heaven!

Doc wrote:And if anyone has to justify it to your wife,

heh - I don't have to go far to point out the multitude of photography she has accumulated - 60's Haaslbad (sp), hard body Nikon, Nikon D3, Miyama 7m?... plus a few point and shoot. She actively takes pictures wherever we go, her work is good, but she does not entertain any commercial aspirations with her expensive collection... (comments in this direction usually make her mad )

The Big Ben wrote:

Rick Denney wrote:[Or having three 100-foot amateur radio antenna towers.

OoooOOOOooOOooh! Rick, you speak to me.... that would be heaven!

Or an Ebony view camera--maybe a Technika--. Tell me that doesn't also excite you!

Rick "whose tower is a tree that fell down last year" Denney

Rick Denney wrote:

The Big Ben wrote:

Rick Denney wrote:[Or having three 100-foot amateur radio antenna towers.

OoooOOOOooOOooh! Rick, you speak to me.... that would be heaven!

Or an Ebony view camera--maybe a Technika--. Tell me that doesn't also excite you!

I'll see your Technika and raise you a Leica M-series. (I already have the Hasselblad!)

I am sorry that I ever started this. Thanks, friends.

I would think that most of the amateurs on this site I owned only one tuba from age 15 till 40 the Besson new standard I bought with the money I got from a good gig that I fell into by default. This one tuba saw me through the national youth orchestra and wind ensemble as well as two concert bands.
Then at 40 I treated my self to a sousaphone instead of a crisis sportcar.
Enjoyed the large bore sousaphone so much that I set out to look for a Besson Soverign gave up after two years Along the way because I was always on eBay looking I bought two Bb euphoniums one for me one for my ten year old son.
Gave up on the Besson quest and bought a JinBao last month still trawl eBay and unexpectedly won an auction for a cheap 4 valve Cerveny.
So to answer your question we do this because we can I am sure that many others have similar stories the new standard I keep because it is the first tuba I ever owned. The sousaphone I bought to play in the towns marching band along with my twins. The jinBao I bought as I found the bigger bore easier to get the sound I wanted. The Cerveny because I wanted to try a rotary and my 10 year old can play it as well as his Euph. And I fancied the challenge of learning a new key. I have been lucky enough to be able to afford these as I have gotten older and have been very lucky this year with the cost of the 2 latest tubas.
I don't drink I don't smoke and my only hobby is music and I have nearly every tuba I need and want but your hobby always has a way of sneaking up and mugging you.