TubeNet

I must say that of the entire site, quite possibly the most impressive and convincing thing I saw were the cases. I would be very, very skeptical of buying a Chinese made tuba that is clearly a near copy of a proven design, unless, of course, it had the power of the dragon in it or something.

tubafour wrote:.. I would be very, very skeptical of buying a Chinese made tuba that is clearly a near copy of a proven design, unless, of course, it had the power of the dragon in it or something.

They said that about Japanese stuff as well a few decades ago. Hopefully, for them, the Chinese will have a similar developement in their quality.
(Although with these starting prices things don't look good for the future $$$$$$$$$)

I agree with tubafour on the case thing. They do look really nice. I think its high time that quality instrument makers (ahem, miraphone, conn, etc.) start throwing in cases with their deals. I looked at the case specifically designed for the 1291 on wwbw, and the price was a whopping $999! Its ridiculous that these companies expect us to shell out more money on an instrument than a lot of people spend on cars, and then not give us a means to protect that instrument. I would liken it to this scenario: you buy a convertible only to find out that the top is sold seperately and if you want one that keeps the rain out, you have to pay five hundred dollars or more for it.

I can only assume that Orpheus also maintains a supply of parts for their tubas. I'd hate to have to try to get a replacement bell or thumbring or leadpipe "from the factory".

Has anyone checked this aspect out?

I played the Dalyan tubas (CC and BBb) at TMEA. The weren't terrible but they weren't great either.

At this point, I wouldn't buy or recommend these tubas. I didn't play the F that Lee Hipp was so jazzed about but the other horns were OK, at best. The pitch wasn't bad but playing it was very different from other tubas.

My biggest concert was the brass used. When I tapped on the side of the bell it didn't sound like other tubas I've played. I asked a friend with me if it sounded odd and she agreed. Hard to describe....

As a comparison, I played the Zeiss tubas when they were first imported (through the Georgia music dealer) and they had potential, as did the original Cerveny's I played from Walter Sear. For me, Dalyan isn't at that point but it depends on what you want. It might be someone's perfect tuba.

Be careful before you spend your money, get outside opinions on any tuba.

Does anyone know if the cases available seperately?