TubeNet

Right, a couple of my tubas have been gambles, that I'd eventually go somewhere worth going with that tuba. I glad I don't know what I want, more interesting that way.

For the sake of discussion, here are two possible rebuttals, both related to time:
1) "the tuba you really want" likely changes over time (development as a player changes opinions, new models come out, etc.)
2) at some point, waiting and saving isn't appealing... Sure, you can always wait it out. But if it takes 20% longer and you can make a few moves to get closet to where you want to be, then why not make the wait a little more exciting? As an older tuba player I knew in Baltimore once told me, upon buying a new Fafner -- "you only go around once!"

Bort made a good point by saying that the type of tuba a player may want can change over time. People develop, change their opinions (tastes) and newer models come out (with real improvements, not just fades). As well their type of work can also drastically change, as is in my case.

Now some people can pick up a horn, blow it the way the horn wants to be blown to get the optimal effect also hear immediately if it's what they want/need. They can hear in their head if it will work out in the field. Unfortunately I'm not one of those players.

I've been in places that had an enormous pick in tubas (Dillons, The Horn Guys, Thomann, etc) and made good choices but in hind sight not the best choice. This is in no way a reflection on the very admirable services of these establishments. (On the contrary, we should all be thankful that there are music shops out there crazy enough to stock a variety of high end tubas!)

I need to try a tuba out extensively, at home and gigging, in order to figure out if it works for me. Which qualities in the tuba make my life easier and which qualities make me work harder. Where's the trade-off. So I've invested in 2nd hand tubas over the years in order figure this out. The buy, try, sell, repeat method.

A lot of horns just don't come across my path and I have to really invest time and effort into looking for tubas. I believe it's cheeper to try out what I think I need in 2nd hand tubas, circling around my goal before I really invest.

Uh, I could be mistaken of coarse. I'm not a great businessman.

I've only owned two tubas (not counting the King contrabass bugle I sent back "home" last year). I bought the second one only after I realized which problems were mine and which problems were due to the old tuba.

I simply picked the one that I enjoyed playing the most.

Now, if I had to get more tubas to satisfy someone else's idea of what kind of sound I should make, then I suppose my shopping would get more complicated.