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What Eb tubas do you guys think would make a good replacement for 4/4 CC tuba?

MIRAPHONE 183...it sort of depends on what you use it for though. That's the Eb that I like. Your experience may vary.

183? Isn't that a very small Eb tuba?

I find my Besson 983 to have a strong low range and can have a sound very much like a 4/4 CC, but for most people it doesn't have quite as broad a sound. The Willson 3400 is probably the one EEb that most would consider closest to a CC in timbre. I didn't find the hand position on it comfortable, but I think it would probably be feasible to use as a do everything horn.

From a previous thread, the three most suggested Eb tubas are Wilson , Besson and Kanstul. In my opinion, any of them would do a great job. It then comes down to personal preferences for tone, hand position and the like.

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I own a small Eb...so the more CC ish the better would be the case. The Besson 983 Seems like a great horn, but ones to try do not exist here in Alabama. Oh, and the Willson is too expensive, but if it is anything like the F version it is amazing..my tone tends to be a bit bright, so these dark "colorless" tubas work well for me.

+1 Besson 980/981/982

Miraphone 183 is a nice little Eb but in no way a C substitute.
Besson Eb's yes.
Willson Eb Is my preferred current flavour of Eb but I'm finding for ME it doesn't have the weight in the low range of a Besson.
Norwegian Star is another great large Eb as are the Melton Eb's in piston or rotary form. Never personally played a Kanstul York Eb but I've heard they don't have the low end grunt that some Eb's do.
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Mwtuba32 wrote:I own a small Eb...so the more CC ish the better would be the case.

What do you have now? I tried the 2 Eb route- 4 front valve Conn Giant and medium (621 sized) King Eb. It didn't work quite as well as I wanted. To maximize such a pairing I would go really small on the small one. Some sort of bass tuba/cimbasso hybrid perhaps.
Really, a big Eb and a euph or some kind of bass trombone (possibly even a valve horn) would a better pair. If you want a big and small horn in the same key a big Bb and small Bb is a better pair than 2 Eb's considering the extremes you can get in Bb tubas (1291 and Weril,...). Eb's just don't cover the same extremes.

The only really big and broad front valve Eb, if that's your thing, is that Gemeinhardt and that's no where near proven yet. The Willson is a leaner kind of sound and while there was a big Kalison Eb they don't seem to have been anywhere near popular. A 981 and a small York or Conn Eb might be different yet complimentary enough to work.

4 valved St Petersburg

LJV wrote:I have owned almost every tuba mentioned in this thread at one time or another. The one I still own is a Yamaha yeb-632s. But, IMO, no Eb is an effective CC replacement.

My preferred Eb, the British made Besson 981, has a big fat sound and easily goes into its lower range. But calling a substitute for a contrabass tuba wouldn’t be honest. So I agree with LJV.

There are very strong players like Sykes & Sheridan that can put out a monster low range. If a player wants to follow their steps, I would recommend one technical addition to at least the 3+1P compensating variant, which is what I know best: some sort of trigger allowing for in tune low F and E natural. 3rd slide is long enough, but will take vented pistons. The more obvious main tuning slide is not long enough to work with a trigger.

Klaus, who took up BBb basses rather than putting a trigger on the 981.