TubeNet

I am a band director and I am interested in purchasing a tuba this year for me to use for community band and also possibly for quintets.

I'm interested in the quality of the 1291 BBb clones...I've read about some valve cap thread issues and also about some valve guide issues...have these issues been addressed at all? Are there solutions for these issues? I'm also wondering if the 1291 BBb clone may be too big for a quintet...any thoughts on that?

Also, I am interested in the Eastman 534 but I really want to purchase a silver tuba..does anyone know if the 534 will ever be available in silver plate?

Any information would be greatly appreciated as I am going through this process of selecting a tuba.

I can only talk for Wessex, but you are correct that there has been valve cap thread issues in the past. In fact we almost stopped stocking that particular tuba (the Wessex Michigan) for that very reason.

However this last year we have been visiting the factory and checking every horn before accepting shipments and working with the factory to correct any problems. As a result of this process, I am confident that this problem has now been corrected. The last two batches we have checked have had no valve thread problems what so ever.

Contact Matt at Dillon Music re. if silver plated Eastman BBb 534's are possible..
Mark

I bought a chinese 1291 clone from Dillon two years ago.

After about a year, I was having some serious problems with my valve caps and emailed Matt about it. He sent me four new caps to try out, asking that I send those that I don't need back.

That pretty much fixed the problem.

I had a VMI 2103 before that and clearly it was of much better quality, but it turns out I like the sound of the 1291 clone better.

I have the Mira 1291 and have played 3 of the clones
All very good players. Not the real thing, but good and close to half the price of a 2nd hand Mira
None with valve issues.

I have the Wessex version of the horn that I'm quite pleased with. I've used it often in my professional orchestra and in brass band.

Thank you for the replies! Very helpful.

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