TubeNet

Has anyone here purchased anything from the tuba exchange in North Carolina? I bought a used Mirafone 186 that was in like new condition and I got a great price on it!

Also, has anyone checked out the tuba museum thing that they have? It sounds very cool, but I live in New Hampshire so I am anxiously awaiting any sort of trip I hafta take to NC so I can check it out!

Congratulations on your new horn!

I do not think other's opinions of either your horn selection or the store you dealt with matter.

If you are pleased with your horn and feel well taken care of by the place and people you purchased from, you made a great choice.

I've only bought accessories (mouthpieces, gig bag) from Vince, with nothing but good experiences. TE also offers the best deal on Laskey mouthpieces: $95 shipped.

I bought my Weril H980s euphonium from them.

I had some problems with them on a parts order a few years ago. I have also been to their store. I would not deal with Vince again. I'm glad you folks haven't had any problems.
Phil

Vince does have a great collection of old and unusual low brass that are worth seeing. That's about all I will say about the TE.

My tuba's not actually a recent purchase, it's almost 2 years old now. I got my mirafone used there and got a great price. It was like new because a man bought it and passed away 3 days after.

I was overall pleased with my purchase, and still am pleased. However, after I had the horn for about a week the 4th valve's linkage became very clanky sounding. I called to see if they could do anything and they jsut didn't care at all and didn't treat me with respect because I was a younger customer.

Also, I was interested in the mirafone and that was the horn I wanted to purchase, however they kept pushing St. Petersburg tuba on me. I had no interest in the St. Petersburg and it seemed as if they either wanted to sell me a st. Petersburg, or nothing at all. When I was at a music camp I had the chance to try my friend's St. Petersburg and in my opinion, it didn't put up a fight to my mirafone, or any other mirafone I have played. It wasn't a bad horn, but it didn't fit me at all. Has anyone who shopped there been pressured to buy a St. Petersburg?

If they have what you're looking for, and you like the price, then it's all good. However, if it becomes anything more than just you handing them a check and them handing you a horn, as the old saying goes: "Caveat emptor".

My buddy just bought a kick-*** Gronitz PCM from them, and they did an absolutely horrible job of packing it. On the way out to the west coast, the bell got crunched pretty badly. Vince was absolutely worthless in following up to make sure the FedEx claim was processed expediantly, and if it hadn't been for my buddy basically grabbing the bull by the horns, nothing would've ever happened.

We strongly suspect TE of even more sinister thoughts in the deal, but in the end, it all worked out. This was, of course, in spite of Vince's total lack of follow-through or any semblance of customer service.

Just relating the facts of the case...

...Dave

I've seen some negative opinions on the old TubeNet board, but I've had no negative experiece there. I live about 5 min away from the Tuba Exchange & I've only bought a mouthpiece there. Vince was very friendly & I got to play around on a few horns before I left. (One of them being a prototype St. Petersburg CC that only had 4 valves at the time, but seemed like quite a nice horn during my 5 minutes playing it.)

-Evan

Hey T4S, watch what you say(and PLEASE learn to spell). No matter what you may think, most of your information seems to be second hand. I am not defending the business nor am I damning it. Try sitting back and listening before you jump in. You comments are sophmoric and you are showing your age. You aren't coming off as cool and you aren't making very many friends with your poser attitude. As Mark Twain said"It is better to keep ones mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and erase all doubt"


Chuck

He seems to be a cheap basterd on his bad days.

my experience was many years ago: many promises but at the end very undiplomatic when i did end up buying my ax someplace else. i would not do business there again.

Chuck Jackson wrote:Hey T4S, watch what you say(and PLEASE learn to spell). No matter what you may think, most of your information seems to be second hand. I am not defending the business nor am I damning it. Try sitting back and listening before you jump in. You comments are sophmoric and you are showing your age. You aren't coming off as cool and you aren't making very many friends with your poser attitude. As Mark Twain said"It is better to keep ones mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and erase all doubt"


Chuck

...not to mention, T4S, that you open yourself up to a major libel suit if you are unable to substantiate these claims. Remember, you're in an adult forum here, and you're potentially injuring a real person's reputation. If you have evidence that this is true, it would be very appropriate to bring it to our attention; but to repeat this kind of hearsay, without evidence to back it up, can get you into REALLY big trouble.

Suppose you were trying to get a job in an orchestra, and someone came into this forum and claimed that you had a habit of playing really well in auditions, then purposely messing up in performances. Suppose you lost your livelihood as a result. Pretty funny stuff, huh? That's JUST what's at stake when you trash a dealer's reputation in front a large percentage of his potential customers. You can't do it without evidence that what you say is true.

I know you're just goofing, but you have to be careful in the grownup world that you don't damage someone's reputation. Assuming you don't have proof, a retraction is in order.
________________________________
Joe Baker, who neither endorses the Tuba Exchange, nor charges it with any wrongdoing.

My experiences with Tuba Exchange have been not very pleasant. I was at TMEA and I was looking at their Schilke mouthpieces. I had wanted to see how they compared to my PT-44. So one of their associates came up to me to ask if I had a question about them and I said that I was just comparing them(rim, cup depth, etc.) The man proceeded to take my mouthpiece from my hand and put his FINGER in it!! I could not believe he so rudely took it and put his finger in it. I don't know where this man's fingers have been!!! I went to the nearest booth to get some sani-mist to clean it out. I was quite pissed but I didn't want to make a scene so I left. This and phone calls where they were quite rude have made my decision to never buy anything from them solid.

Ralph

poomshanka wrote:My buddy just bought a kick-*** Gronitz PCM from them, and they did an absolutely horrible job of packing it. On the way out to the west coast, the bell got crunched pretty badly. Vince was absolutely worthless in following up to make sure the FedEx claim was processed expediantly, and if it hadn't been for my buddy basically grabbing the bull by the horns, nothing would've ever happened.

The same thing happened to me when I received my Yorkbrunner from Jeff Rideout at Custom music. I have no comment on TE, and have never gone to them for anything. I just want to give props to Jeff at Custom for what happened to my horn. The bell was also crushed pretty bad during shipping, and Custom offered to take it back. I liked the way it played so much that I kept it. The repair job was a snap, and Jeff was very helpful getting every penny of the insurance money from United Airlines, who shipped the horn.

I wouldn't go anywhere else. Tuba World is the best.

-MSM

The complaints I've heard of Tuba Exchange, if 100% are true, sound like those you'd hear of just about any business: ie, he wants to sell the stuff he has to sell, even if it's not exactly what the buyer wants. So? How many businesses DON'T do that? If I were a merchant, I'd sure want to sell my stuff, and for as much as I could get. If someone offered to sell me their tuba for less than it's worth, I'd jump at the chance. Some would call that heartless, taking advantage, etc.; I'd call it shrewd business. Some of the same people who complain about this in a merchant boast of doing the same thing to some hapless pawnbroker or garage-saler.

I've heard tales that make it sound as though some other places are just in business for the love of tubas, their sole aim being to make sure everyone has a great horn, without regard to profit. Maybe, but I doubt that the others are as altruistic as that.

When a buyer knows what he wants, and knows what things are worth, he is always in a better position to make a good deal. If ANY dealer had a tuba that I thought was the right one for me, and I was able to get it at a good price -- whether advertised price or by negotiotion -- I'd buy it.
_____________________________
Joe Baker, who has never bought a tuba from anyone on this board, but did trade for one with Lee Stofer -- a very fair exchange, I thought, though I suspect still profitable for Lee.

listen up, young grasshoppers!!

nothing warms the heart (and makes me feel old) like a Kung-Fu reference.

UF_pedal_tones wrote:Joe Baker has proved his wisdom during this thread....listen up, young grasshoppers!!

When you can snatch this spit-valve cork from my hand... then you will be ready!
_________________________
Joe Baker, who advises washing your hands after handling spit-valve corks (eeeeewwww!!)

I've hesitated to post on TUBENET for a while but for some reason felt a need to post on this topic. Having purchased two tubas recently, I must say there was not one dealer who didn't try to sell me on their brand versus the other guy. That includes Meinl Weston, Perantucci, Gronitz, and Miraphone. Guess what?...That's the nature of the business. If a car dealer didn't believe his cars were a good bang for the buck, do you think he would keep stocking them on the lot? Sure, we may scoff at those who buy a Kia over a Honda or other reputable car but someone out there is happy with their purchase. Same with a St. Petersburgh. A while back, a couple of tuba dealers lost some money on German tubas(mainly Meinl Weston). Do you think Vince was sitting back going "Oh, I wish I was selling Meinl Weston instead of these St. Petersburghs"? I doubt it. Yes, we seasoned tuba players tend to appreciate these nice German made tubas over cheaper ones. Some people prefer BMW and Mercedes over Kias and Hyundais. However, that doesn't mean that those who try to sell them are dishonest. There will always be a market for less expensive brands. If a consumer doesn't do his homework and prefers to cut expenses on a purchase, it's hard to blame the dealer. That's why many TubeNet posters suggest to others on this forum to FIND A PRIVATE TEACHER TO HELP YOU PICK A HORN. I would think a private teacher would be a much greater priority over countless tuba purchases and bad investments anyway. This is all pointless anyway because individuals are not the majority purchasers of these cheaper horns. The majority are band with directors who don't care enough to check into what good instruments are anyway. Also, some county school boards decide on instrument purchases without director or professional consultation. Kudos to Vince for knowing how to sell these tubas to a school board who decides for a whole county of bands. Last point is that how many of you have sat back and observed conference booths at a MidWest or TMEA? Seen all the kids who mishandle instruments and mouthpieces and never even check the price tag because they had no interest in purchasing? If that was your investment, wouldn't you be ready to snap by the end of the day?

DP wrote:And why not go to Campbell California were someone from SoCal can fly for under a hundred bucks round trip and get a Gronitz from LowBrassweks?

Personally, this would've been my first choice. Vince had had this particular horn sitting around for a while, however, and because he'd been able to purchase it at a more favorable exchange rate, Tony couldn't touch his price. Totally understandable, and Tony even recommended buying Vince's horn.

If they'd just packed it correctly, my buddy would've gotten a great axe at a nice price, and that would've been the end of the story. Where things fell apart was in "service after the sale".

General purpose editorializing and gasbagging from this point on...

To Joe's point - personally, I don't begrudge anyone making an honest living. Is it "dishonest" to try selling what you have on-hand, as profitably as possible, even if it may not be *precisely* what the buyer might be looking for? I don't think so. Unless someone's got a gun pointed at their head, it ultimately comes down to a buyer making (hopefully) an informed decision to purchase a given product, service, etc., and accepting the consequences of that action. Again, caveat emptor.

Do the best have bad days? Sure. Do the worst have moments when a little sunlight peeks through? Why not? Is anyone perfect? Not if they're breathing air like the rest of us.

Business definitely involves a bottom line. I think where some might take exception to any given retailer's tactics is in the area of how the retailer chooses to look after that bottom line.

In extreme cases, it's FEAR - F*** Everybody And Run. Many contractors and tradespeople these days (that I've dealt with, anyway) seem intimately familiar with this business model.

On the other end of the spectrum, I do think altruism and love, coupled with maximizing opportunities to give instead of take, can very nicely help keep the doors open for business. Some of the more world-weary may roll their eyes a bit at this idea, but I've found it to work quite nicely in the past, both as a purveyor and a customer. My strongest marketing tool has always been word-of-mouth, and as a customer, I look for opportunities to reward professional and fair service providers with as much referral business as I can.

Many ingredients in the success pie, without a doubt. How they're prioritized, in my opinion, is what's getting some retailers into hot water...

...Dave

The TE was very informative and gave me lots of great facts, it just bothered me that I knew I wanted a particular horn after playing one and he kept pushign other horns on me. The Sale could have been much quicker if he listened to me. They seem to nto respect me due to my age. At the time I purchased it (with help from my parents) I was 14. However, I did all my research, got advice from my teachers and other teachers, and played loads of horns. The mirafone 186 just clicked with me and fit me liek a glove. I knew the horn I wanted, and he just didn't seem like he wanted to sell it to me. Maybe it had to do with the fact it was on consignment, I'm not really sure. I do realize they are a business and every business has to try to be succesful. Even through the bad experiences, I still love my horn and got a great price on it.