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I am a long time owner of a besson sovereign 981 ee flat tuba[29 years].As I also own a bb flat Yamaha neo I was wondering if any of my tubenet friends have any experience or opinions on the Yamaha ee flat neo tuba?

bloke wrote:It seems to me that Yamaha's YEB-631 was their best-ever comp-Eb.
Even though it did not feature a 19" bell, I suspect it still would have been their best-ever model ~had~ it featured a slightly larger 19" bell diameter.
Others will disagree.

Many years ago at a brass band festival here in saskatoon Yamaha Canada had a couple of these for sale. As the neo ee flat[632] was set to come out they were offering the 631ee flat at a hugely discounted price. Played a 631 at the festival and during a rehearsal we had.I really liked it and its 17 inch bell.

I bought the Yamaha Neo Eb off the NABBA booth last year and have been extremely happy with it over a year of playing. As I primarily use it as an ensemble instrument, it resonates well and plays very well in tune (two most important aspects I want out of an ensemble instrument). I've played many Sover. Bessons before and think they are great horns also. The Yamaha just had something extra special that caught my attention in the sound. I'd be happy to answer any additional questions you have, so feel free to PM me any time.

I think the differences between high end EEb tubas are marginal and come down to personal preference. I play a courtois tuba, and on the odd occasion I play a sovereign it feels like I am dancing with the wrong girl.i have played a Neo EEb, and it is a fine tuba, it can get a bit 'barky' when pushed to an extreme dynamic in the way a sovereign and my courtois doesn't. the build quality is fine, but I doubt the it is significantly different to a sovereign [and a 30 year old one is a good one], to the point that I would probably spend my money on a restoration/overhaul of the sovereign rather than get a new Yamaha