Need Help

[WoodSheddin]

I am a tubist in my high school band and next year I will be majoring in music education. This summer I plan on purchasing a tuba, however I know little about what brands are good and what brands are bad. First of all, I have to make a decision about if I want to play a Bb tuba or a C tuba in college. I am currently a Bb tubist but am flirting with the idea of switching. Which of the two do you prefer and is this a difficult move. Secondly, would you inform me as to the brands I should be looking at (both Bb and C). Go ahead and give the best horns for the money, and the best overall quality horns.

There are many more higher quality choices among CC tubas than BBb's. If you have the financial resources than I would vote for a 5/4ish CC tuba with 5 valves. Examples would be Meinl Weston 2155 or 2000, Rudy Meinl 5/4, Willson 5/4 CC, Gronitz PCK, B&S PT-6 or PT-6p, etc. These horns seem to give the most bang for the buck in the usage department. They are big enough to keep up with virtually any ensemble, but still small enough to use in chamber music with relative ease.

If money is tighter now and will hopefully improve soon, then you will need to buy a used horn to better stretch your dollar and to help insure you will get most of you investment back if you decide to resell it later.

The plus to buying used is mainly price and the chance to find a truly unique instrument. The downside is selection is generally much more limited and it can be tough to find a single location to compare instruments.

The plus to buying new is you usually have many horns to pick from which makes finding the "perfect" horn hopefully easier. The downside is that new horns can cost 50% more than a used horn.

Give a call to Baltimore Brass, Brasswerks, or Dillon Music to see what they have in stock and to check prices. All three of these shops stock new AND used horns AND most importantly they all three are soon to be TubeNet Sponsors!!!!!

[Lew]

With deference to Sean's more educated opinion than mine, I would suggest that there is no reason to switch to CC tuba as a music education major. Yes, there are more high quality choices among CC tubas, but there are plenty of good BBb tubas from which to choose today. You will primarily be teaching BBb tuba players in most schools anyway, so I see no reason to pay the extra money for a CC tuba. Unless you plan to do a lot of orchestral playing, I see no compelling reason to go with a CC.

Among good BBb tubas to consider, I would put the Miraphone 1291 at or near the top of piston tubas and the Meinl Weston Fafner near the top among rotary tubas, if money isn't a consideration. If you don't want to spend that much, the King 2341, Miraphone 186, Miraphone 191, M-W 25 or VMI 3301 are all good choices for BBb tubas. In my humble opinion the King 2341 is the best piston BBb tuba for the money and the Miraphone 186 would the best rotary for the money (although I like the Cerveny 686 nearly as much for much less money, even though it is a little more dent prone).

[WoodSheddin]

With deference to Sean's more educated opinion than mine, I would suggest that there is no reason to switch to CC tuba as a music education major.

Doh. Good call. I read it too fast and thought I saw music performance. I still believe there are many more quality CC's than BBb's to choose from, but there is no urgent need to choose CC over BBb.