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Dear Neptune,please send one of these to bloke for evaluation.if it passes, I'll take one...

A tempting description. If that proves out I might break my pledge (no F tubas) and buy one as well. I'll be watching.

Can see how it could be read that way, but not intended.i had one of the old bad ones.with its really bad reputation,my suggestion is actually a good one.many of us know and trust bloke and his intonation standards.if the new one is really that good,bloke could sell some with his positive evaluation,including to me.otherwise,a lot of skepticism...

MikeMason wrote:Can see how it could be read that way, but not intended.i had one of the old bad ones.with its really bad reputation,my suggestion is actually a good one.many of us know and trust bloke and his intonation standards.if the new one is really that good,bloke could sell some with his positive evaluation,including to me.otherwise,a lot of skepticism...

+1

bloke "who bought Mike's previously-owned Chinese F, un-soldered it into parts, and stored away the parts-equaling-more-than-the-sum in various boxes for who-knows-what future uses"

Hey Joe, I'm guessing it's never sounded better after that

Mike, are you the guy who owned it after me? I seem to recall you writing that before.

Yep.you were right about it

bloke wrote: I guess the other question is this:

"Have the Chi-Com's decided to make them "great" for *one* by-the-container-load buyer, and are they continuing to make them "crappy" for everyone else?"

I have two of the "Chi-Com" horns and am very happy with both. I would not say that they are "great" in the sense of being flawless since there seem to remain several minor imperfections that I've detailed elsewhere. I find these to be irritating because just a LITTLE more attention to quality control would eliminate them completely (and I think not increase production cost). On the other hand, I don't know to what degree I might find some similar imperfections in an instrument costing five times as much. I would hope this wouldn't be the case, but given a lot of recent stories pertaining to some high-end euphoniums, I have to wonder.

But the Chinese clones (at least the models you mention) are VERY good, and my impression (from the two I have, and from others I've seen and have seen described elsewhere) is that this level of quality and performance seems to be present in the instruments that several different suppliers are now providing. I think what we're beginning to see is distinctions emerging in terms of some "features" (e.g., the Wessex raised lead pipe on the EEb), some more attention to detail in terms of "little things" that just result in a better "product" by some of the suppliers (better valve felts, springs, etc.), and perhaps some other small details, some of the "accessories" (Jonathan tells me his newer horns come with better and less bulky cases), etc. But I do have the sense that the overall quality of the instruments is broadly the same while we're beginning to see the emergence of what might be thought of as distinct "stencil brands".

I knew there would be great scepticism about this tuba.

I am currently in Germany and will be meeting at least a couple of pros to try the new F tuba (amongst others), so will see what their feedback is like. Andy Loree will I know also be getting some local pros to try.

We will then see - and take it from there...