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Now that I own a Rudolf Meinl tuba, I totally "get" the fuss about them, and why they are so highly regarded. That said, I have only played Rudy Meinl CC tubas.

Do Rudolf Meinl F tubas have the same relative playing characteristics as the CC tubas? I'm thinking in terms of:
-- Depth/character of sound
-- Response/ease of playing
-- Difficulty to overblow/break the sound
-- Intonation (meaning "good" but not perfect)

I'm also curious how the low register responds on the Rudy Meinl F tubas (knowing the usual caveat that you have to learn it, blah blah blah).

Rudy Meinl F tubas are pretty rare, so I don't know much about them. Any thoughts? Thanks!

PS -- I'm not in the market (no money!), just curious about them.

I used to own a Rudy 5/4 F that was made in the 80's, and now I have a new 4/4 F. Rudy has continued to develop his tubas, and the low register issues that Adam writes about are now much less apparent.

I've also played a good friends' 4/4 that was made about 15 years ago, and the new tuba is much stronger in the low register. In common with all traditional German rotary F tubas there is some difference in response around low C, but this has improved over the years as Rudy has continued to work on improvements using computer technology, while maintaining the tradition of hand-crafted instruments.

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From looking at the Rudy Meinl website you might think that there are 2 F tubas currently made, but there are more choices. Rudy will make you a tuba - pretty much any way you want it

http://www.rudolf-meinl.de/index.php?id=4550" target="_blank

The brochure says that the 4/4F is available with 4 - 6 valves, and with a short or long leadpipe. The long leadpipe enters the top of the valve like Bb and C tubas, and was the traditional way that the older Rudy F tubas were made. I'm not sure when the short leadpipe was introduced, but it is now the most popular choice. Rudy said that he still gets requests for the long leadpipe, mainly from Japan.

Here's a line-up of Rudy tubas that shows 3 F tubas and a 5V CC - a 6V and 5V with long lp, and a 5V with short lp. (sorry for not crediting the original poster, I can't remember who it was)

Bort,

You may want to call Lee Stofer regarding Rudy tubas.

As far as I know he's still the importer here in the states, plus, looking at his website, he has a used one for sale. http://tubameister.com/2014/04/rudolf-meinl-44-f-tuba/

I'm sure he can give you all kinds of details regarding them.

That's a great picture, wow! Thanks for all the great information! I'd really like to try one of these, but then again, without the money to do anything about it... it might be better off to not try one right now.

Billy, thanks for the suggestion, but I fear I've already taken too much of Lee's time over the years with my questions. I know he's extremely busy, so I won't call him until I'm a bit more serious about buying. You're right though, he's the man when it comes to Rudy's!

This obviously is a cut from the 4-tuba photo up this thread.

I get that one of the left-hand paddles is for the fifth valve and that another is for the 2nd slide kicker.

But what is the third left-hand paddle for?

Klaus

cambrook wrote:From looking at the Rudy Meinl website you might think that there are 2 F tubas currently made, but there are more choices. Rudy will make you a tuba - pretty much any way you want it

Cambrook is correct . . . Herr Meinl can produce whatever you want. When we lived in Germany, I was fortunate to visit the factory and try almost his entire catalog of tubas. At the time, I was absolutely stunned by the tone and response of his F tubas, including both the 4/4 and 5/4 models. Did not notice any problems in the low C area, but I never have with any of my F tubas.

Hi Klauss, it's hard to tell from the photo but I expect it's a trigger for the 1st slide.

Adam, congratulations on the tuba! I've been watching that horn and hoping it would sell before I did something stupid like have an F tuba just "show up" at my door.