Wessex Kaiser

[paulver]

Curious....... has anyone tried the Wessex Kaiser? And........ is there any place here in the US they can be tried yet? I browsed their website very quickly and didn't notice anything regarding it. I remember reading on here that they were supposed to open a place in Chicago, but that's the last I saw of it. Was hoping to see one at the All-East/PMEA Convention in Pittsburgh, PA last month, but there was nothing represented.

[Ken Herrick]

If you take the trouble to look in the sponsors forum you will find info about the Chicago store plus email addresses to get the info you seek direct from the horses mouth. Shouldn't be too hard.

[Wyvern]

You can try at the Chicago showroom by appointment at;

Wessex Tubas LLC
344 E. Irving Park Rd. (IL Rte. 19)
Roselle Commons, Roselle, IL 60172

Email Opus@Wessex-Tubas.com" target="_blank or phone 616-843-6888 to make appointment

Also both the 4 and 5 valve versions of the Kaiser will be ITEC later this month

Also here is link to web product page - https://wessex-tubas.com/collections/fe ... 690-kaiser

[paulver]

Was able to get in touch with someone at the showroom. Thanks for the info.

[Lamminator]

IMHO, it’s a fantastic tuba. Best one they sell.

I agree. Great 4 valve.I haven’t tried the 5 yet.

[Lamminator]

IMHO, it’s a fantastic tuba. Best one they sell.

I agree. Great 4 valve.I haven’t tried the 5 yet.

I’m not sure how many times a symphony or band pro will play a pedal B natural, but if the already excellent false tone B isn’t good enough for those rare occasions, then a fifth valve is a nice option to have. Or if you like using different fingerings for convenience (certainly NOT out of necessity on this tuba), and you can justify the added weight/expense for your convenience, then get a 5th valve. I don’t hear many German or European players fussing about the need of a 5th valve on every B tuba they play, and they seem to manage just fine...

I’d be interested in trying it just to see the difference, but never once did the 4 valve make me think it needed a 5th valve. The idea of a fifth valve never even crossed my mind when I was testing it. To each their own. For me, the extra weight, extra cost, and extra “usefulness” of a 5th valve on this instrument would be hard to justify when it plays so well already. Of course, trying is believing, and as always, YMMV.

The 4 valve is all you will need on this particular model. Maybe on some other Tubas the 5th valve really does help. I agree the weight, balance, cost, ergonomics all tend to suffer in my opinion. A case in point is the Hagen 496, great in 4 valve but a lesser instrument in 5.

[Patrase]

I put dependant 5th and a 6th valves on my Fafner. Perfect for low register brass band playing. Don't have time to pull slides like in an orchestra

[Alecgrinage]

I played it at Midwest in December. Felt very similar to my Alexander. Wish it had a fifth valve though.

[Wyvern]

Although most people will be happy with 4-valves, we are offering with 5 for those that prefer. The 5th valve is independant, so gives some alternative fingering options such a 5+2+3 instead of 2+4. The 5th valve has two tuning slides, so player can set base tuning with option to then pull while playing with second.

The 4-valve Kaiser is TB690 and the 5-valve TB790. The latter is not on website yet, and will be priced similar to the TB693 Prokofiev

[pjv]

I own a Hagen 496 and wish I had a 5th valve.
This has everything to do with playing passages smoothly were you have 3rdP C's and B's and/or 2ndP F's and E's. Pressing a valve is quicker than pulling a slide. And you have to constantly keep the slide maitanance up to par.
If working extra hours to get that slide pulling is your thing, go for it. If not a 5thV pretty much solves this issue.

[Liberty Mo]

I played it at TMEA back in February. It was surprisingly easy to play. I’m average in stature (6ft) and found it comfortable to hold and it wasn’t an air hog by any means. It was heavy, but it’s a 6/4 horn. The horn was in a giant exhibit hall, and with the bell being so tall, it was difficult for me to clearly hear the sound. For me, that would be an issue with this style of horn, but this isn’t exactly something meant for all players and their needs. While it’s an apples and oranges comparison, I preferred the Prokofiev if I needed a large horn, that was a really nice offering. I can make no representation as to the build quality, to my untrained eyes, it seemed really well built. Other experts have weighed in on the build quality of Wessex in general, thus you can judge for yourself. Only time will really tell.

If someone had a real opportunity to use a 6/4 horn regularly, if that person wanted the sound of a Kaiser, and if that person didn’t care to spend 2-3x the cost to acquire a competitor’s offering, I think the Wessex Kaiser would be a viable choice.

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[Wyvern]

Customers often ask how the Wessex Kaiser differs from a Melton/MW 197 also based on the B&F Kaiser design. As we have never examined a 197 closely we could not say, but have just found out from our first customer of the Wessex Kaiser that he has closely compared and apparently the Wessex is larger in the bell throat and bugle, and slightly smaller in the valve bore. So although they look similar, they are quite different tubas.

[Chris Olka]

Can’t wait to see how this 5 valve version is! Oh...and I’ll just leave these three pics of what’s on my stand his week at work...for the folks that think a 5th valve isn’t necessary. Parts like these have been showing up with regularity at both of my orchestra jobs for the last twenty years...

[TheGoyWonder]

SO CLOSE but I'd max out all my credit cards for it with:
plain brass (no silver rotaries!)
kranz
even smaller bell flare... something like 16.5" and super open.
Lower top bow... It's an "old school" tuba so it should have classic proportions. I don't like the top bow higher than the leadpipe receiver anyways. The Golden Ratio (very approximately 3/5) is probably where the top bow should be, in comparison to overall height.

[oedipoes]

enough valves to be fully chromatic without faking/falsing

This! (yes, also on BBb tubas)

[Dan Tuba]

I have not played the new Wessex Kaiser, however I think that adding a fifth valve option is great. There is so much music that is being written/composed/arranged, especially Wind Band, and Brass band, where having the fifth valve, or a fully chromatic instrument offers a huge advantage to the performer.

I primarily play BBb tubas for my job, and up until recently, I only had 3 or 4 valve BBb tubas available to use. I kinda "grew-up" on 3 and 4 valve BBb tubas so I had to learn how to utilize "false-tones." After having access to 5-valved BBb tubas the past few years, I really have developed a huge appreciation for them.

I currently own a BMB J765 BBb tuba and I recently purchased a Wessex Luzern. For anyone looking for a great value and a very nice 5-valved BBb tuba, I would highly recommend that you try the Wessex Luzern. Wessex has made some really good improvements to the older JinBao 210 tubas. The new Z valves, solid nickel Wyvern engraved paddles, and stainless steel mini-balls/linkages offer a fairly smooth, quiet, and reliable valve-set. Are they Miraphone quality? Nope, however the valve-set is relatively smooth and "reliable."

I currently don't need a Kaiser BBb tuba, however I look forward to trying the new Wessex 5-valved "Kaiser" BBb tuba.