Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by TubaDanny43 »

Hi,

Does anyone know when Dillon's shipment is supposed to come in?
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by Tom »

TubaDanny43 wrote:Hi,
Does anyone know when Dillon's shipment is supposed to come in?
A serious shopper is probably best served by going straight to the source: call Dillon Music and ask them.
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by Bob Kolada »

I probably sound like my own broken record... but any chance of an 18" bell?
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by bisontuba »

Bob Kolada wrote:I probably sound like my own broken record... but any chance of an 18" bell?
Why?? Terrific as is....
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by bububassboner »

How does this compare to the BBb? They had the BBb at the musik messe and I was less than impressed with that horn. I know Matt wasn't involved with the BBb so I'm hoping the CC is much better.
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by bisontuba »

bububassboner wrote:How does this compare to the BBb? They had the BBb at the musik messe and I was less than impressed with that horn. I know Matt wasn't involved with the BBb so I'm hoping the CC is much better.
The BBb, which I have not played, is a copy of a King 2341. The CC, designed by Matt, is incredible.....
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by Matt Walters »

Bububassboner,
I designed the Eastman CC tuba based upon the Eastman EBB534 BBb tuba. Same bell, bottom bow, top branch (1st branch) and 2nd branch. Also the same valve bore block. I did however give them my custom leadpipe with compound taper ratios that makes a tuba more efficient. That was a gift from Walter Lawson.
If you didn't like the BBb Eastman EBB534 tuba for what it was, then you won't like the CC Eastman EBC632 tuba and shouldn't buy one.

Everyone is different and it is arrogant of anyone to think everyone else should want and like the very same thing. When play testing tubas for a customer, I typically ask them about the tubas they own/play and what they like or don't like about what they have. Heck, I even think about how they talk on the phone. Hyper, laid back, concise, and so forth. Then I try to mimic how I think they might play if they were in the store. Fast air, slow air, need the tuning slide pulled out a lot or the slide all the way in, etc.

I've played some tubas costing 4 and 5 times as much as an Eastman that I wouldn't bother playing if they were given to me for free. Yet... their owners are proud of those expensive horns and play them very well and I then know they typically won't like what I like to play. Freedom to be different and have a choice is a great thing.
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by cjk »

Bob Kolada wrote:I probably sound like my own broken record... but any chance of an 18" bell?
Avatar for you sir.

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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by PaulMaybery »

I vote for an 18" version as well. 20 is kinda large for the opera/theatre pit, plus a little clumsy for getting in and out of cars and buses. Granted none of that has anything to do with how it sounds. :?

But, while were at it, how 'bout a gold brass bell option. Now that might have some warming effects. :tuba: 18" Gold Brass.

I can imagine Matt 'cringing' at all these ideas of what to do with his 'baby." :wink:
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by Dylan King »

The horn has a very warm sound as it is. I don't see any need for a gold brass version. The warm, mellow feel and sound may in part have something to do with the large bell. It seems to balance out the smaller bore size quite well.

The sounds reminds me more of my Yorkbrunner than the old Getzen cc tubas. It is a much improved, and much different instrument. I don't think that calling it a copy of anything does it justice. It is just that good.

The build quality is just as good as any Japanese or German horn I've seen. It is quite remarkable.
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by bort »

Question -- wasn't bell diameter a big thing when the Conn 52J/54J/56J first came out? Weren't those all the exact same horn (and very close to this tuba), but with different bell diameters?
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by Matt Walters »

Hey Gang,
I've got the smaller bell option for you. Check out this great playing, very in-tune CC tuba with a 17.3" upright bell. http://www.dillonmusic.com/p-19118-mein ... -tuba.aspx" target="_blank" target="_blank I find this to be a consistently good model.

Look people, there are so many more choices of CC tubas today that some customers get confused and walk out not buying anything for fear of buying "the wrong one". I watched a TV special about Costco and they don't carry two brands of the same thing for just that reason. If people had to choose between a big bottle of Heinz or a big bottle of Hunts ketchup, they are likely to choose neither.

If the smaller more efficient bore of the Eastman CC tuba turns you off in the 20" bell, I can promise you there wouldn't be enough difference to win over more than 2 or 3 buyers per year with an 18" option. I was told that King stopped the detachable bell version of their 2341 BBb because the last two years in production, only 2 people each year ordered the bell front version. Why make something more expensive for everyone so that 2 people can get a bargain? (Oh...that last statement is a political tangent handed to Bloke on a silver platter.) Anyway, the translation is that multiple bell options would increase inventory costs and turn away more buyers than we would gain in very particular buyers wanting a different bell size option.

If the consumer (myself included) votes for the lowest prices, the business (manufacturer and dealer) has to vote back with inventory control to stay long term profitable.
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by bisontuba »

58mark wrote:I played one, don't change a thing.
Big +1...
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by Dylan King »

+2

Best CC under 10K right now.

And even better, it's the best CC under 5K too.
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by Andy Rummel »

Hi all,

I thought that I would share my 2 cents, FWIW. I received my Eastman CC tuba 5 days ago and could not be happier with my purchase. This is one of, if not the best, CC tubas that I have ever played. First off, the ergonomics are near perfect as others have mentioned. I often feel that I have to contort my torso in some manner in order to hold the tuba, but the Eastman fits perfectly for my frame (6ft tall). The leadpipe is perfectly positioned for me and the valve angle is very comfortable. I did not experience any stickiness with the valves (using Monster Oil "Faster") and find the action fast and smooth.

There are two extraordinary things about this tuba. First, as others have mentioned, the intonation is as close to perfect as I have ever experienced. Other than a slightly sharp top line A (fixed with 3rd valve alone) each note is within a few cents for me. I have tried a couple of different mouthpieces and this does not seem to affect the intonation as with other horns. Poor intonation is a deal breaker for me and I am ecstatic that this horn is basically plug and play. This tuba lives up to the saying "It was tuned at the factory!"

The other extraordinary aspect of this horn is the sound. It is dark, very focused, and does not break up across the dynamic spectrum. Softs are effortless and the louder dynamics are very fun to play on this horn. I cannot wait to use it in an ensemble setting as I know that it will take whatever I can give it. This horn has been referred to as a small CC, but it does not sound or play that way to me. The very first not that I played vibrated a picture frame on the wall of my kitchen. Score!

In 2000 I played a true 4/4 CC built by Matt Walters that used a Conn bell, bows and branches and used Conn short action valves. It was the one that got away for me and I have been searching for it's twin ever since. I think that I have found it after 15 years. In my opinion this is the ideal tuba for 95% of the tuba players in the world. Will it be able to hang in the NY Phil or the Chicago Symphony? I don't know...I'll let Mr. Baer and Mr. Pokorny make that decision. However, for my job as a university professor, I cannot imagine a better tuba for my needs. This is perhaps the most versatile tuba that I have owned and it will find a welcome home in my studio for years to come.

If anyone in the Midwest would like to try the tuba out, you are more than welcome to drive to Bloomington-Normal, IL and I will happily find a great room for you to honk on the horn for awhile. Feel free to PM or e-mail me at (atrumme(at)ilstu(dot)edu and I will gladly arrange a play test.

Congrats to Matt Walters and the folks at Eastman for designing and producing a wonderful instrument. This is a game changer.

Andy Rummel
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by bisontuba »

Congrats! These tubas are great!!
Enjoy-
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by Watchman »

Why make something more expensive for everyone so that 2 people can get a bargain?
Well, bargain or not, now nobody can get it.
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by Antontuba »

Wow, am I honored and humbled. When at Dillon last year to pick up my 981 Matt serviced he brought out his CC, the horn the Eastman is modeled after, and handed it to me for a try.....boy the grin on his face when I reacted to how smooth and consistent it played (especially in the high range) and how sweet it sounded. As a matter of fact, it made me sound really, really good. Now, I just have to find a comparable 981....I'm going to find one.

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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by jsmn4vu »

Andy Rummel wrote:I received my Eastman CC tuba 5 days ago
Andy, thanks for that post on a couple levels. One of them is, it moved me to check on the status of my order, placed the first week of March. Word is the container has arrived, and the tuba should be here in a week to 10 days. Woot! :tuba:
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Re: Bought a new Eastman EBC-632 CC tuba

Post by Guest User »

I am very interested in these. How do they compare to a good (modern, not the older one) 186 CC a large band or orchestra?

I really loved my old 186, but it was really too small for a lot of heavy low register playing by itself. In community orchestras I had trouble making it heard from low G on down if the orchestration was really heavy. The few newer ones I have played seemed to have the same issue, but they make a different sound. It is not as nice, but it also does not get ratty when you step on the gas pedal. To each his own, I guess. I liked the older ones better, but for me both got lost in a large orchestra. And in band? Nope. If not in a section of three or four players I would feel like I was disappearing, and I can play pretty loud, too.

I have owned a couple of the old York and Holton Eb tubas in my life. The best way I can describe them is to imagine a sound bubble from the group. This is not the "good" sound bubble that you want to stay inside, but a bad limitation that you need to cut through. It is like a bubble that points inwards, if you can imagine that. All the tubas I have played that use this sort of bell (the original Eb tubas as well as the new King 2341 that I really like, and the Conn thing that I hate) seem to meet up with this wall or bubble and have trouble clearing it without suddenly sticking out of the texture. It is like they are invisible until you get to a certain level and then they become way too loud.

I have noticed this with some of our other good community amateurs like me. I have noticed this with our local symphony pro in some concerts. I feel the presence but do not hear all that much sound until the loud stuff, then I hear lots of tuba. He told me that it has been frustrating in that regard. I am just glad it is not only me who notices this. This bell type seems to have a hard upper end for volume unless you are a really strong player who can punch it out there.

How does this Eastman horn do in that regard?

I have been trying two locally owned Jinbao 410s hoping to get into CC permanently and stop bouncing back and forth between CC and BBb like I have been doing. I have borrowed these two JB 410s to use on several concert over the past two years. (One is a Mack with a gold brass bell and one is a Wessex in silver plate that supposedly has a red brass bell under the plating, but it does not sound the same as the gold brass bell one to me or to others; it sounds like a yellow brass 410 I played on years ago.) I really like these tubas. In some ways I like them better than the newer iteration of the 186. But they, too, seem to project poorly from low G on down. In octaves down there on really sustained low passages me and the other guy swapped parts and horns over several rehearsals and recorded with a mike out in the band room and one on the floor in front of us. Both of us were fine (well, as fine as we can play <g>) on both our horns on the upper part, and both had trouble on the JB in the lower register but not with his tuba.

As much as I want one of these horns, I am scared to get a tuba that becomes that much harder to hear out in the audience when I play the low part. I always play the low part and am quite good at it, but my personal BBb tuba is much easier to hear down there than the nice 410.

So is this Eastman horn more able to throw out sound in a large group when playing alone on a low part? If so I will have to get one! :tuba: :tuba: :tuba: :tuba:
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