My silver Alexander 163 CC

[bisontuba]

Those lead pipes made ALL the difference in the world....

[kingrob76]

I've had it for about 4 hours. It is amazing!

This is the LAST tuba I will buy for a good, long time.

I predict it'll be on the market by Christmas

[bort]

How is the intonation? It's always been a theory of mine that the often (but not always) sketchy intonation on the 163 and the MW 2155R was due to the ginormous leadpipe. And that replacing the leadpipe with one with a more reasonable taper might improve intonation.

Intonation is awesome! No problems at all. I have to use 23 for Eb in the staff (not unusual) and then the low register is a little different because of 4-valve fingerings. Otherwise... Dare I say it... Intonation is better than anything piston valve than I have owned.

The thing that surprises me the most is how flexible the tone is. Playing soft, it's thick and meaty, lots of presence and a big dark sound. Loud, you can have the same, or it can be search and destroy. All from a 16.5" bell. Holy cow, this is a ridiculous tuba. I love it.

[bort]

I've had it for about 4 hours. It is amazing!

This is the LAST tuba I will buy for a good, long time.

I predict it'll be on the market by Christmas

Nah, man, this is it. Put a ring on it, she's moving in, we are here to stay. This is it. When you know, you know! Take that seriously from a serial tuba owner!

[Mark Horne]

Brett,

I guess we've had this discussion for a couple of years now - it looks like my prediction was correct - Alexander is the one you have been looking for. 4/4 in size, 5/4 in sound, it is a deceptively powerful horn when you need it to be. And although the sound can be very dense, it seems to have just the right color when playing in an ensemble situation.

It's a beautiful horn in silver plate - congrats!

[Tubajug]

Did you get a chance to play test it first? It certainly looks great! I'm glad to hear it's such a player too!

[Patrase]

I am curious about Bort and the used Tuba market. Too bad no one has done a study on the price/demand of pre and post Bort ownership of the models he has owned to see if he is an ‘influencer’

[Billy M.]

I've had it for about 4 hours. It is amazing!

This is the LAST tuba I will buy for a good, long time.

Taking bets on how long till this one is for sale...

[bort]

I am curious about Bort and the used Tuba market. Too bad no one has done a study on the price/demand of pre and post Bort ownership of the models he has owned to see if he is an ‘influencer’

Interesting. He certainly is knowledgeable about quite a few. He’s an excellent resource, if nothing else!

Thanks... I know a lot of stuff about a lot of stuff. And have a good memory. Outside of that... I doubt that I've influenced anyone, nor do I want that responsibility on my shoulders!

What really happens is that even with a play test (and most times there isn't one), you can only tell so much about whether or not you want to keep a tuba. You need time to try it out, see how it works, and make comparisons to other options. Then decide to keep or sell. And yeah, selling a tuba is a pain in the ***, so it takes a while to do, and you might put it off just to avoid the annoyance of it. To me, it's ridiculous to think that buying a tuba has to be a long-term proposition. It's a tuba, and it can easily be sold. Keep it long enough to decide. Then keep it or not.

[hubert]

I really wouldn't understand manufacturing high-pitch C instruments in Germany for German/Austrian/Viennese (etc.) orchestras, as their orchestras don't utilize C instruments.

I suppose they were made for the Southern European market, where C-instruments were and are widely spread.

Hubert

[hubert]

CC tubas were and are mostly being played in Southern Europe (e.g. Spain, Italy), as far as I know; in recent times also in North Western Europe (The Netherlands and Scandinavian countries), but there almost only by professionals.

Perhaps a somewhat strange link, but was not Donatelli an Italian from origin? And had that something to do with the choice for CC, when THE 6/4 Yorks were commissioned?
Hubert

[joshealejo]

WOW !!!

So happy for you, Brett! It does really look GRRRRRREAT!!!!

[bort]

How do you like that 1st valve slide ring? I'm considering adding something similar for my horn

It's nice ... But I've never really found pull rings very necessary when you can easily reach the slide in the first place.

Also, the wild bend of the leadpipe sort of makes the slide ring a little harder to reach anyway. I may consider removing it later on, but no rush for that... I barely pull slides anyway!

[cjk]

How much are you asking?

[bort]

$,$$$ OBO

[bort]

$,$$$ OBO

So you're saying it's in the 4 digits?

5 digits is too much; 3 digits is not enough!

[bort]

Coming up on 3 months with the tuba.

Quite possibly the best tuba I've ever owned. Love it!