M & M tubas

jmh3412 · Post by **jmh3412** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 2:51 pm

Anyone got any opinions on M and M instruments. I apologise if this has been covered before but can't fiund any links?

Lew · Post by **Lew** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 3:35 pm

They are Chinese made tuba shaped instruments. I know one person who bought one and used it for a while, but was never very happy with it. You get what you pay for. Some Chinese made tubas are decent, and they are getting better, but these are not among the best.

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 3:53 pm

There's been a bunch of chatter on this general subject. See:

viewtopic.php?p=59639&highlight=#59639
viewtopic.php?p=50871&highlight=#50871
viewtopic.php?p=43735&highlight=#43735
viewtopic.php?p=43648&highlight=#43648
viewtopic.php?p=23364&highlight=#23364

Billy M. · Post by **Billy M.** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 9:56 pm

I got to try them at SERTEC. My overall opinion is 'it's a start'.

The Conn copy piston horn was not at all appealing. I thought the horn played very stuffy and didn't project well. The sound also broke fairly easily.

The 186/686 copy was a decent horn although I wouldn't put it in the hands of anyone but a person moving up from a 3 valve horn to a 4 valve. The sound broke easy and it felt very soft in my hand (I think they could become dent prone). It also had a problem of stuffiness and a bit of roughness in the rotors.

The 693 copy (compact 5/4) was actually the most impressive there. I found that it had a good sound (nothing spectacular) and built fairly sturdy. I didn't spend much time on it to use a tuner but the scale felt even and it blew pretty easy in all the registers. A bit more tweaking and quality control and they could have an item equal to what it was stenciled from.

Get the most obvious obstacles out of the way and they'll be on their way. From what was tried, I have to say, it definitely is a start.