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I would love to get my hands on a travel-sized tuba at some point, for a few reasons: I live in a very small apartment with limited room, so it would be nicer to bust out a mini tuba to practice some fundamentals instead of my normal horns sometimes. Also, I play in a punk rock band and would love to bring a mini tuba out and start doing some CRAZY things. I'm also interested in using it for solo electrobass stuff. It would certainly not be a replacement for any of my regular horns, but there seems to be lots of fun potential with it!

With that being said, I don't want to buy one that's really out of tune, poor quality, doesn't sound good etc. Does anyone here own/use/have experience with travel-sized tubas, like the Wessex or ZO brands? Are there other brands that are better? I'm open to any key, but preferably CC and Eb.

I tried the Wessex Mighty Gnome a couple of years ago. I couldn't get it to sound anything remotely like a tuba (though I've heard others who have), so I sent it back.

I have a Wessex Mighty Midget. It is cool and you can definitely make it sound loud but it just isn't as cool as I thought it'd be to have.
Its almost as if its tooo small. So you gotta wear it with a strap or you have to sit down. You have to mic it up if you play it in a loud band.

I have the Wessex mini tuba in Eb/F. The version I have if the Mark 5 or newest version. I had a mark 1 and sold it. The mark 5 is a much better horn because it is better in tune, has fuller sound and less back pressure. Mine has the gold brass bell. If you play it in the F configuration, you get 5 valves. With Eb I get 4 valves and some alternate fingerings with the 5th valve. For what you intend to use this type of horn, it will work very well. I mostly use mine as a practice horn and Tuba Christmas because space is always a premium at that event. My horn has a bit more back pressure than a big horn and the sound is brighter. I've had to work on my tone because it is less forgiving if you use too much pressure, don't have a good buzz (aka too thin) or other similar issues. There are a couple of notes that are hard for me to tune (like the G at the bottom of the staff) but using alternate fingering (such a 3 versus 12) seems to solve that problem. You will have to experiment a bit. You can't get the volume out of it like you can a bigger horn. I have to more frequently empty my spit valve as compared to a larger horn. I find it a bit mouthpiece sensitive. I had to try a few different ones to get the clearest sound. For me, the Salesmanberger symphony works best. Again, you have to find what works best for you. Am I happy with my mini tuba? Yes, I am. It fits a niche that other tubas can't. All in all, it is very portable practice, very small event horn. I don't think it is for everyone, but it works well for me.