Dillon 12915

[ronr]

Anybody here played one of these? I’m thinking about buying one.

[Ken Crawford]

I owned the Schiller version, it was pretty good, certainly lots of bang for the buck. I only got rid of it because I found that I had a skin allergy to its nickel plating....

[DCottrell]

I got one in May of this year. It is a very good tuba. Construction is solid, the valves need a bit of break-in (nothing serious, but the occasional drag requiring a quick oiling in rehearsal), and the design is comfortable, if a tiny little bit big (I am just about 6ft and use a stand for maximum comfort, both for my posture/breathing and to save my legs). You will need clearance around your chair to dump water.

it plays quite big, and I am learning to let the tuba do the work for me. At mf to f levels, it has a broad and solid sound. At fortissimo levels, I'll need to breathe every 4-6 beats on held notes, but I can hold, say an F for 3 -5 measures at mp or p levels. While I have not gotten it to 'bark' like a King or Conn big BBb ( a sound I never really liked, aka blatissimo), I am learning to make it "bite" when I want it to, say to accent downbeats on a march or something like that ( it has kind of a German rotary tuba punch to it when played like that -- reminds me of a friends MW) I used to have a Cerveny 696 BBb tuba, and the response is similar to that. There is a lot of feedback to the mouthpiece, so a little input goes a long way. But I have not been able to overpower it, like I can with smaller bore tubas (I play Yamaha 321's, King 2341',s and similar instruments in my shop all the time).

All this leads me to the intonation. For me, i have the tuning slide all the way out. I think the sharpness is 75% me and 25% tuba. I played this in an outdoor concert this summer in full sunlight, the entire (brass) band was way sharp, and I was still higher than the band. Overall, the instrument has pretty consistent intonation, and I don't need to do a lot of slide pulling while I play, but I do feel as if I play it almost on the edge of its range. I have been playing tuba (as well as other instruments) for a long time, and I would place my skill level firmly in the middle of the scale. But I have played instruments that did not make me question my tuning (I have owned a Rudy CC and a Mirafone 186). However, the sound, response and feel of this tuba make it worth it for me. The more I play it, the better get (duh!). I think with better breath, I can bring it down to where I only need to pull the slide out 2 inches or so.

I tried this at Dillon's with all the (sub $7000) BBbs they had (thanks for your patience MW) and it came down to the Schmidt/VMI and this. Once Matt let me try one of the Olka mouthpieces with this tuba, I was sold. It came with a ginormous styrofoam and cordura case, which is sturdy but ridiculous big (it fills up the cargo space of my Forester,heh), and I use a Wessex bag to tote it around. If you are able to do so, this BBb tuba is definitely worth trying out. It is A LOT of tuba for the price. I am done shopping for BBb tubas. I hope this helps

[ronr]

That's DCottrell, this is just the sort of information I was looking for!