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Hi guys,

I am a tuba performance major planning on purchasing an F tuba in the next couple months. The horns I am primarily looking at are the Miraphone Elektra, Petruschka, Bel Canto, and the Yamaha 822. I've gotten minimal time on both the Elektra and Bel Canto and the others I have never been able to track down and try. I wouldn't buy a horn I've never gotten to play on, but if you play on any of these models and wouldn't mind letting me know why you like it and maybe what attracted you to it I would really appreciate it! From the moment I played it, I would say I loved everything about the Elektra, but I'd love to get some insight on some other horns.

Thanks,
Isaiah

Might help to give information on what the intended use of this F tuba is going to be. Large Orchestra Russian Literature? Small Ensemble? Solo works?

Any reason why you're considering the Petruschka and Bel Canto, but not the Firebird? Also, are used horns an option?

Any German (meaning BMI, Meinl Weston, B&S, or Miraphone) rotary valve F is THE standard and THE sound. Must be German and must be rotary.

Fell in love once with a Bel Canto but was wedded to a PT-15.

It's all good

Rotaryclub wrote:Any German (meaning BMI, Meinl Weston, B&S, or Miraphone) rotary valve F is THE standard and THE sound. Must be German and must be rotary.

Any reason why they must be rotary? I have a friend who was raving about the Miraphone Petrushka, which is a piston valve instrument. How different is the sound/response on the rotary vs piston valves? Being a trombone player, piston valves are not really something we deal with, though rotors are pretty standard.

I'm playing a rotary F right now. I really dislike fighting the low register, but that's really my only complaint. The more I play it the easier it becomes. When I was trying F tubas, I liked the playability of the piston F tubas more than the rotary horns. I think it's a personal preference thing. The Petruschka and Yamaha are pretty similar in my opinion, with the Yamaha sounding bigger than the Miraphone. My personal favorite F I tried was the Adams F. If only it weren't so expensive.

In my opinion, if it sounds like good tuba, who cares what type of valve the horn uses?

Sousaswag wrote:In my opinion, if it sounds like good tuba, who cares what type of valve the horn uses?

Well, some conductors and/or personnel managers may be "prejudiced" against what they see as a "student" or lesser level tuba. Not knowing tubas, they feel that this can be determined by where the valves are, or what kind of valves they are.

For example, tuba player shows up with a 3+1 configured Bb or Eb tuba. They are used to "top action" tubas being "student" level, so they see the tuba and scoff, even if it's a compensating tuba, or a York tuba someone stuck an extra valve on.