Visit to BBC today
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2017 12:28 am
I'm in Baltimore for a few days visiting my family. I grew up about 3 miles from BBC, so I went over to the shop today. Here are a few opinions on the tubas I got to try:
Miraphone Bruckner -- Loved it! It's a noticeably smaller tuba than my Willson both in terms of physical size and sound, but still a very strong and capable tuba. Having owned a 1291 in the past, it really just seemed like a 1291 with rotary valves; which I thought was a good thing. It also reminded me of a 188, but broader and can handle a lot more pushing without breaking up. Killer low register, and perfect ergonomics for me. Not what I would call a 5/4 tuba, but rather a big 4/4 tuba that you can really get behind and push. I like that, instead of having a big tuba that you need to hold back. What a great tuba, I could easily be happy with one of these.
Meinl Weston Ursus -- Extremely easy to play, and an absolute monster of a low register. Plays and sounds like a huge piston tuba, but in a 4/4 size. Kind of crazy, really. But, it's not my sound profile at all, so while that was fun, it was all the wrong sound for me... so for that, I was not interested. I also found the ergonomics to be awkward in many ways (short leadpipe, weird 5th valve [long throw!], and enormous top bow/branches that are odd to hold). Great playing and sounding tuba, but perhaps it fits Mr. Baer's ergonomic requirements better than mine?
Rudy Meinl 5/4 -- Huge tuba, but it feels and plays a lot more reasonable when you're holding it. I think it's about 2 clicks larger than the Rudy 4/4, so that's a little weird to me. Massive sound and a lot of fun to play... but it takes a LOT of air. A better player might have an easier time of it, but I thought it took a bit of work.
Willson 3050 piston -- Similar to my rotary 3050, but I prefer the sound of my rotary 3050, which is a bit more focused than the broadness of this tuba. But, this one plays great and there's nothing at all bad about it; might be my favorite large piston CC tuba.
Scherzer CC -- This has been there forever, so I thought I'd finally give it a try. It's a lot like a Miraphone 186 that doesn't break up as easily. It's very much a standard 4/4 sized tuba, but it sounded and played a little larger than I expected. I liked it. Smaller than I want for myself, but I liked it.
Conn rotary BBb -- A very old 6/4 Conn BBb rotary tuba, and one of the worst tubas I've ever played. Maybe it needs repairs, or maybe I'm just a pathetic BBb player... but I couldn't get more than half of a scale out of it to save my life. I kept wondering what the hell I was doing wrong, and never figured it out. That said, the low BBb at FF was probably the biggest, loudest, most satisfying and earth moving note I've ever played. But everything besides that just didn't work at all for me. Yikes.
Miraphone Bruckner -- Loved it! It's a noticeably smaller tuba than my Willson both in terms of physical size and sound, but still a very strong and capable tuba. Having owned a 1291 in the past, it really just seemed like a 1291 with rotary valves; which I thought was a good thing. It also reminded me of a 188, but broader and can handle a lot more pushing without breaking up. Killer low register, and perfect ergonomics for me. Not what I would call a 5/4 tuba, but rather a big 4/4 tuba that you can really get behind and push. I like that, instead of having a big tuba that you need to hold back. What a great tuba, I could easily be happy with one of these.
Meinl Weston Ursus -- Extremely easy to play, and an absolute monster of a low register. Plays and sounds like a huge piston tuba, but in a 4/4 size. Kind of crazy, really. But, it's not my sound profile at all, so while that was fun, it was all the wrong sound for me... so for that, I was not interested. I also found the ergonomics to be awkward in many ways (short leadpipe, weird 5th valve [long throw!], and enormous top bow/branches that are odd to hold). Great playing and sounding tuba, but perhaps it fits Mr. Baer's ergonomic requirements better than mine?
Rudy Meinl 5/4 -- Huge tuba, but it feels and plays a lot more reasonable when you're holding it. I think it's about 2 clicks larger than the Rudy 4/4, so that's a little weird to me. Massive sound and a lot of fun to play... but it takes a LOT of air. A better player might have an easier time of it, but I thought it took a bit of work.
Willson 3050 piston -- Similar to my rotary 3050, but I prefer the sound of my rotary 3050, which is a bit more focused than the broadness of this tuba. But, this one plays great and there's nothing at all bad about it; might be my favorite large piston CC tuba.
Scherzer CC -- This has been there forever, so I thought I'd finally give it a try. It's a lot like a Miraphone 186 that doesn't break up as easily. It's very much a standard 4/4 sized tuba, but it sounded and played a little larger than I expected. I liked it. Smaller than I want for myself, but I liked it.
Conn rotary BBb -- A very old 6/4 Conn BBb rotary tuba, and one of the worst tubas I've ever played. Maybe it needs repairs, or maybe I'm just a pathetic BBb player... but I couldn't get more than half of a scale out of it to save my life. I kept wondering what the hell I was doing wrong, and never figured it out. That said, the low BBb at FF was probably the biggest, loudest, most satisfying and earth moving note I've ever played. But everything besides that just didn't work at all for me. Yikes.
