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1. Buy extra valve guides and replace the old ones when they show signs of wear and tear. 2. Keep the valves and casings as clean as possible, because Yamaha valves have the tightest fit of all brands and any debris that is in the casing will cause the valve to stick.

cc_tuba_guy wrote:...isn't a YBB-621 a rotor horn?

Here's Yamaha's web page on the YBB-621:

http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/Con ... CT,00.html

tuba4sissies wrote:Well, i've been looking at that 621, but i think its 3/4 size might be a little small for large ensemble or orchestra play. ... so i've been looking at yamahas and meinl wesson.. and i know yamahas are copies of MWs, but i play a more beginner yamaha, and i'll say even with the valves being crappy sometimes!! i like it. its the YBB321 i THINK. 4 top action valves. 4/4 size. i like its size. i can get splatting play low on it. so i'm not sure if my newer tuba should be 5/4. but i also want a smaller sized tuba for solo and ensemble work.

Hey, sis, I'm compelled to lay a few facts on you.

It's Daellenbach. And he plays a C version of the 621. And the 622 is a version of the 621. In C, it was the 661 that was a rotary, and the 641 in BBb.

Yamahas are not copies of Meinl-Westons (it really is easier to search for things if you spell them correctly). The 621 has more Besson blood in it than anything else, but near as I can tell it's not a copy of anything. It's Yamaha's standard student-model 3/4 tuba bell and bottom bow with a large-bore (for that size instrument) valve body put on it and inner branches to make it fit.

The Yamaha 321 is a top-action piston instrument, and it is definitely derivative of larger Besson BBb tubas. It's actually not that bad, and I'd rather have it than any of the Bessons it's derived from.

The 641 BBb tuba borrowed more from Alexander than Meinl-Weston, as the legend goes. The 641 certainly looks not much like a M-W 25 (the standard BBb rotary) to me. Again, I don't think it's a direct copy of anything. The rotary 661 CC was a sweet horn, in my opinion, with a folded-over fifth valve ala Rudolf Meinl, but otherwise not a direct copy of anything.

If you are splatting low notes, it's because you are putting splat into the horn. Your embouchure isn't able to keep up with your push. Push less and put in more signal with more air volume and less pressure. I can splat big horns as easily as little horns if I put a splatty buzz into them. But the 321 is not that small, and it's not a beginner horn even if it is a school horn. You could do very much worse.

If you get your own tuba, start with a 4/4. It will be big enough for most large ensembles and small enough for most chamber groups and solos. Specialty instruments are for much later--either when you've reached the point where you need it or gotten old and self-sufficient enough so you can buy it for yourself.

Rick "who has no real beef with the plastic Yamaha valve guides, and who has put quite a bit of mileage on them" Denney

I'm breaking in a new set of valve guides on my Yamaha 621 F tuba, and I suspect that's why my valves are a bit finicky right now, since they were just cleaned out and de-gunked. Man, were they filthy. They are the tightest valves on any horn I have ever played. They'll last forever if you take care of them.

I'm with Rick. If the horn is splatting, you're doing the splatting. Having said that, it is true that some horns take more punch than others before splatting. My little 621 doesn't take much to splat, so I have to be careful. I can still make some noise on it, just not as much as the big horn.

Baltimore Brass Co. had one of Chuck D.'s 621 CC's up at the store last week. A CC or BBb is a lot of tuba to be squeezing onto a 621 frame, and they get stuffy quick, and yes, they splat easily. Having said that, Chuck's 621 plays a lot better than it has a right to, and I enjoyed playing it, although it sounds exactly like my 621 F.

All through high school, I played on a YBB-321, the super-tall BBb tuba with four valves upright. Great horn. Still a great horn. They all play exactly the same, and you can definitely get lots of sound without splatting. I kind of wish I had one in the arsenal, there's been more than one occasion where it would have come in very handy.

Tom Holtz wrote:All through high school, I played on a YBB-321, the super-tall BBb tuba with four valves upright. Great horn. Still a great horn. They all play exactly the same, and you can definitely get lots of sound without splatting. I kind of wish I had one in the arsenal, there's been more than one occasion where it would have come in very handy.

Know what you mean -- my HS got a 321 when I was in 9th grade (it was a new model that year). Always enjoyed playing that horn. It's nice to see they're still in production!