Lacquer vs. Silver, BBb vs. CC, etc

[swillafew]

I played a lacquered BBb tuba in a small group of brass players for 7 years. Tonight we met again after a few months off. I played my (almost new) silver CC all night. Not a person asked about it, asked if it was a new horn, nothing. That is all.

[windshieldbug]

How ignorant of them.
I guess you didn’t play it very well then...

[Ken Crawford]

I can't believe they didn't notice how much more professional you sounded.

[Worth]

I'm always interested in the what and why of other peoples equipment (to a certain degree), but many seem to not be. My daughter plays a Muramatsu flute and after this year's all-county I asked her what brands the other high-level players were packing and she neither knew nor cared.

[opus37]

I wouldn't be disappointed, it happens all the time. I've brought different horns to groups before. Usually, no one says anything unless it is another tuba player. They just aren't interested in tubas like we are. Do you ask about their instruments? The other night, I was approached by a French Horn player asking about my Kanstil. The bell has a very distinctive color. I've been playing that horn in this group for about a year. This is the first time she noticed it. Kind of typical for anyone other than tuba players and even in the tuba group, few ask.

[swillafew]

I guess you didn’t play it very well then...

It sounded pretty good when the correct fingering was used.

[Steve Marcus]

In general, the only people who notice a tuba player's equipment are other tuba players.

We notice...and we ask. Does that truly make us "nerds?"

BTW, Swillafew, congratulations on your new CC.

"What make/model is it?" he inquired, perhaps answering his own question from earlier in this post.

[Ace]

Swillafew, you have introduced a very entertaining and cogent subject. It is common that some players don't notice the equipment that others play or when they change to a different instrument. It bugs me when no one comments on my new/different horn. For ten years I played trombone in a brass quintet and I was so determined to cause them to notice what I was playing that I purposely brought in some instruments they could not overlook------an old King mellophone with slides to F, Eb, and C; a Meinl Schmidt 1905 four rotor trombone cut to C; and a wonderful Jupiter C three piston trombone. These were quite a departure from my Benge Bb/F tenor trombone. They noticed!

Ace

[Three Valves]

I get a haircut.

Wife says “what did everyone at work say about your haircut?”

Women.

[roweenie]

I get a haircut.

Wife says “what did everyone at work say about your haircut?”

Women.

Or, "did you get a lollipop with that haircut?"

[roweenie]

As an experiment, I've done this:

- DRAWN attention to new equipment and received compliments re: its sound
- NOT drawn attention to new equipment, and received nothing

Reality rears it's ugly head, yet again

(this quote earns three arrows and two light bulbs with good reason)

[windshieldbug]

I get a haircut.

Wife says “what did everyone at work say about your haircut?”

Nobody at work asked what key your old haircut was in!?

[Steve Marcus]

Whenever an audience member would say, "Oh, your tuba sounds so beautiful," Rex Martin (and probably others) would paraphrase Jascha Heifetz. He would flick his fingernail a few times against the bell of his horn and (as politely as possible) respond to the listener, "Gee, it doesn't sound so beautiful now."

...An anecdote that he would relate in the privacy of his studio.

[swillafew]

"What make/model is it?" he inquired, perhaps answering his own question from earlier in this post.

I have posted this before from last spring:



I really thought somebody would say something. PT-6 vs. GR51.

The BBb has a more flexible pitch, blows very easily. The CC, when you play above the staff it plays much stronger. Pitch is less flexible but more accurate too. Lower is not as good for the ease of blowing but the 5th valve straightens out the tuning in the lowest notes.

[toobagrowl]

Yeah, I change tubas depending on the music in the various groups I play in. The only other person who SOMETIMES notice is the bass bone player sitting next to me. And sometimes it takes them months to notice if I've changed horns

These were quite a departure from my Benge Bb/F tenor trombone.

Ace

Those old large-bore Benge Bb/F tenor t-bones sound really nice when played well. Brighter yet mellower/sweeter in tone than the large-bore Bach Strad Bb/F tenor t-bones. They were basically the high-end/pro line of King trombones. Wish more t-bone players still played those. They were popular with the more serious high school & college students of the 1990s

[Tubajug]

Well there's your problem! You didn't switch to pistons! They would have noticed that for sure!

[pwhitaker]

A few years ago the blind piano player in a trad jazz band I played with regularly could tell the difference when I brought a different tuba or sousaphone and even knew when I changed mouthpieces during the gig. I guess the ears have it.

[vespa50sp]

I get the stink eye from the director if I bring my 1915 Eb French Helicon. But the crowds love it.