TubeNet

Hi All,

My son plays tuba and he seems to have outgrown his Yamaha 3/4 Bbb (105?) I was thinking of getting him a MackBrass MACK-TU410S.
From what I read, this seems like a good tuba that will get him through high school and college.

So, my question is.. do you think the Silver one would be the best finish to get?

TIA

Welcome to TubeNet!

You don't say where you are located. We generally suggest you and your son go to a good music store to try out some horns. That Mack Brass tuba may or may not work for him. So if you tell us where you are, we might have some suggestions.

Also, you may be able to get more tuba for the money if you buy used. Again, you would want to play-test it.

Sorry, I am from Connecticut.

We want a CC 4/4 tuba, and I have not found anything used near this price. Even the 2100 price tag is a stretch for us.
Our teacher thinks a CC is a good idea, but we didn't talk finish with him.

I realize that buying a tuba blind is probably not a good idea. From what I could see lurking on this and other forums is that if worse came to worse, we could sell the tuba and not lose too much money if it came to that.

I think at this level silver or lacquer is not an issue. A few think it makes a difference in sound. None of those people are non-tubist audience members.

Nor is play testing an issue. Tom McGrady of Mack Brass will pay the shipping back if the tuba is not what you want, so you can play test it no matter where you live. He nearly never has to make good on that, which tells you something.

The biggest issue, it seems to me, is whether that little Yamaha is *really* holding back his development as a player. It may be. If so, the tuba you are considering will allow him to take several further steps. Some of the finest players in the world have one of these sitting in their studios.

The biggest thing is, as has been said, to talk to his teacher.

I've played the Yamaha 105 and I bought a Mack 410 for my son, Diego, when he was 11. Here are a couple videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaKR1K3_PFw" target="_blank
http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=M5730" target="_blank
That last video has his quartet at 38:15 and it is necessary to use headphones or large external speakers to hear the tuba.

The Mack 410 was a perfect choice for several reasons. It is a good tuba, a heckuva deal, and the seller is a straight shooter. It is compact enough for a young kid to hold, but still has a 4/4 sound. In a pinch, Diego, who is not a big kid, can play it without a tuba stand. Getting him a CC for home while he plays the BBb at school was a really good move. It is analagous to growing up bilingual. Young kids' minds are so quick and flexible.

I would have bought the silver one if Tom had it in stock at the moment. Not because the sound is different, I just prefer silver and was willing to pay the extra $$.

Silver plating will still look good after 10 or 20 years, but it will tarnish. Polishing a silver tuba is a lot of work, but it does improve the instrument's re-sale value.

Lacquer looks great and is easy to maintain. (Just wipe it down with lemon pledge once in a while.) It will still look new after 3 or 4 years. But after 10 or 15 years it won't. If any modifications or repairs require soldering there will be scars.

It's quite possible that your son will want to get a more expensive tuba after 3 or 4 years. It's also possible that he may develop other interests by then and won't need it any more. It's also possible that he may be happy with that tuba for the rest of his life.
You are better qualified to guess about his future than anyone else, but it will still be a guess.

Being in Connecticut, you are not far from Dillon's music, one of the sponsors here. I would suggest you take a trip down there and try out some of their horns. They have basically the same 410 as the Mack Brass 410, and you can compare it to alot of other horns. Matt Walters is a great guy and will steer you in the right direction!

Let me put in another good word for Matt Walters at Dillon's. Matt was wonderful to work with when I purchased my Holton tuba, and I've been a regular customer of Dillon's ever since. Dillon's ships things out quickly, too.

Thanks for all of the advice.

I cannot say for certain that the 3/4 BBb tuba is “holding him back”. He plays in a youth orchestra and they recommended getting him a CC.

I also do not know what his future is for the tuba… it looks like it is sticking. He seems to have natural music ability, so we thought that a semi-decent CC might foster some additional opportunities. Players his age are using CC’s for the youth orchestras, regionals, and even band camp. He is always out-tuba’d wherever he goes. I realize skill is the most important thing here, but at some point we believe he should pick up a CC, especially if we wants do play in college. (many auditions require a CC)

We’ll keep the Yamaha 105 for his high school band practice at home, but thought it would be wise to ramp him up on a CC with his private teacher so that he may play a CC in the orchestra for the next season.

The Dillon shop sounds like a good idea, we will look into it.
Thanks Again.

Art Hovey wrote:Silver plating will still look good after 10 or 20 years, but it will tarnish. Polishing a silver tuba is a lot of work, but it does improve the instrument's re-sale value.

Lacquer looks great and is easy to maintain. (Just wipe it down with lemon pledge once in a while.) It will still look new after 3 or 4 years. But after 10 or 15 years it won't. If any modifications or repairs require soldering there will be scars

Bravo, Art! I agree 100%. With a silver tuba, you can spend more time polishing it than playing it. A good lacquer finish is MUCH easier to maintain.

Though, I play a CC tuba, for my students of high school age, I recommend that they stick with BBb in that they will be playing BBb tubas and Sousaphones in school. If they persue the tuba after high school and want to upgrade, then I tell that to consider CC tuba.

If he is in high school, the Yamaha 105 is definitely holding him back because of the small size and having only three valves. It's an excellent elementary/middle school horn, but the sound is too small to support a large ensemble. Also, the lack of a fourth valve limits the low range and makes it hard to correct intonation on certain notes.

I know it is customary to stay with BBb through high school and then tuba majors get a CC for college. But I see no reason to limit yourself to this tradition as long as he is willing to put in the effort to learn CC fingerings. If he knows his scales well and has enough of an ear to know if he's playing wrong notes, he should be able to pick it up in a month or so.

Thanks for all the replies.

I think I will pick up my son the tuba. His interests go beyond high school band and into regionals and the local youth orchestra.

While we are on the subject..Does anyone have a recommendation of what mouthpiece would be a good choice to use with the 410?

TIA

In my original reply, there was the suggestion that not everyone here would believe you are not one of the most prolific posters on this board who just got a boutique account in order to troll us incognito. I decided to be nice and delete that bit. Now, I'm pretty sure the only appropriate response is, "Congratulations, sir. It was less obvious than usual this time."

Were you referring to me?

Yes. My private message to you is quoted below, for the record. I am sorry I apparently shot at others and caught you in the crossfire. Again, I am certainly very sorry, assuming you are entirely legitimate, and at the same time I hope you can see where I am coming from:

Cool. I 'm sorry. I knew there was a chance you would be legit, but TubeNet is an insane place. There are at least four regular posters here who would put up innocent sounding posts like yours just to get a big row going for their own entertainment over perennial topics like lacquer / silver, this mouthpiece or that, German v. Chinese , etc. You led with one and followed up with another of these topics. I 'm now pretty sure you did so in all innocence, but as you can see I 'm weary of being trolled by that same handful of people. I apologize.

huskerdooo wrote:Thanks for all the replies.

I think I will pick up my son the tuba. His interests go beyond high school band and into regionals and the local youth orchestra.

While we are on the subject..Does anyone have a recommendation of what mouthpiece would be a good choice to use with the 410?

TIA

I find the Sellmansberger Imperial to work very well with my Mack Brass 410. It gives an excellent balance of clarity and depth to the sound.

DP wrote:

talleyrand wrote:I find the Sellmansberger Imperial to work very well with my Mack Brass 410. It gives an excellent balance of clarity and depth to the sound.

that'll shut the troll up

Yep, DP would be one of the four. Will the other three answer the (t)roll call?