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Is there such a thing as a good convertible tuba? I know that there is a good PT Cruiser convertible.
Phil

One more vote for the "no-such-thing-as-a-good-convertible-tuba" category.

hmmm, I played a convertible tuba all through high school and liked it.

We played those things for marching band and pep band, and they offered a pleasent solution to having a tuba to play at home, and in places where I could not transport the giant case that we had for our miraphone 186s.

And we didnt sound like grunting sows.

Perhaps it is a midwest high school thing, but it was rare that I would see a sousaphone in a marching band setting in high school.

Personally, I have never met a sousaphone I liked.

but thier much easier to spin

http://www.gulfcoastsound.org/news_20050224.html

they MUST be better than fiber-glass sousaphones which bounce across the football field when you through them (don't try this, we got into a lot of trouble and actually chipped the tops off of the bells) I've never tried a convertable tuba, I think they came out after I graduated or my high school was too cheap to buy them.

Uncle Buck wrote:One more vote for the "no-such-thing-as-a-good-convertible-tuba" category.

adam0408 wrote:Personally, I have never met a sousaphone I liked.

Ah, polarity already...

Never bother with a convertible smaller than 4/4. They hurt -- almost all of their weight gets carried by your arms because they're not long enough to balance on your shoulder.

For under $3K, you'll probably have to look at used instruments. While barely a decent horn, one of the best options had been the Yamaha 201 convertible. Kanstul has been making convertibles in which the entire valve section turns around so that it's more natural to play.

Apart from Yamaha's and Kanstul's horns, I'm not aware of any other convertibles that are worthwhile. There are marching-only tubas that are easier to hold and put out a really nice sound, and I can think of four manufacturers offhand (Yamaha, King, Kanstul, and Dynasty).

But, I'm going ask -- are you sure that you'd want one of these for pep band? The main benefit that I can see of this style would be to present a smaller target for thrown objects. Other than that, it'll be easier to carry music and swing back & forth with a sousaphone.

FWIW, my shoulder hurt the most after an extended break away from marching, and that was independent of whether I was putting on a marching tuba or a sousaphone.

tuba kitchen wrote:they MUST be better than fiber-glass sousaphones which bounce across the football field when you throw them (don't try this, we got into a lot of trouble and actually chipped the tops off of the bells)

I'll tell you what, though --

At the last high school band contest I saw, there were fiberglass sousaphones, big 20K's, other brass sousas, and a few smallish convertibles. The only tubas that consistently were loud enough to make it to the press box were the fiberglass sousaphones.

My guess is that, as a player, it's darn near impossible to get any sort of resonant feedback from the instrument, so you end up blowing the hell out of it instead. However, from thirty yards away, that "resonant feedback" just doesn't exist anyway, and all that's left is what's coming out of that bell -- which is the sound of the player blowing the hell out of the horn.

yoda_playin_tuba wrote:My old band director always used to say to the people who would blame the horn, "Its not the horn..."

There's the story (that I'm sure everyone's heard by now) of the high school kid who wanted a new trombone. His dad said that he'd buy him a new 'bone after he learned, and performed, the Carnival Of Venice on his ratty old trombone.

... but this horn I will soon buy is for dorm room practice, Pep-band playing (We're on a raised stage away from the audience and team) and for endurance training.

Hmm... If you're going to keep it in the room, a convertible takes up significantly less space. If you've got a way to keep your music legible (I had to hold it within arm's reach just to read the dots while playing) and have a secure place to set it down, a convertible can do alright. Unless you're miked (blasphemy! lol), see if you can locate something larger than a Yamaha 201.