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Hi I was wondering if this would be a safe buy? It is not a fake right? Thank you.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Nice-old-rotary-F-T ... 1e6104ffb7" target="_blank

Sorry, but I wouldn't buy an F tuba with less than 5 valves. You'll never play F# and B in tune, and you can't play low G and Gb. Keep looking.

Good Luck!

I can't attest to the playability of this horn, but my wife and I bought a Bari Sax for her from this seller. He shipped it well packed, and proved to be reputable. We love our Bari. Like tclements said though, you might be well advised to get a 5 valve F Tuba instead.

edited due to pachy wisdom/logic

Thank you everyone for your opinion I think I will pass on this 4 valve F tuba and look for a 5 valve one.

For 1K, It still looks like a bargain for a high-only horn (Berlioz, etc.) And while you learn F, you save for the extra valve (from Kanstul or Cerveny) and instalation.

My $.02. The recommendations to pass aren't wrong, and you'll miss the 5th... but the MW "Travel F" on ly has 4 and you can find some uses for it

J.c.S.

J.c. Sherman wrote:For 1K, It still looks like a bargain for a high-only horn (Berlioz, etc.) And while you learn F, you save for the extra valve (from Kanstul or Cerveny) and instalation.

My $.02 Recommendations to pass aren't wrong, and you'll miss the 5th... but the MW "Travel F" on ly has 4 and you can find some uses for it

J.c.S.

Do you think the RVW can be done on this tuba?

TYA wrote:Do you think the RVW can be done on this tuba?

You could, but you'd need at least 5 valves to play the low Gb's that abound in the first movement/elsewhere.

1-2-3-4 with no slide-pulling on a non-compensating F tuba gives you something akin to a 20 c. flat Ab. With lipping and slide pulling you might be able to get the G below that, but that Gb is probably out of reach.

Edited for goofy misinformation that cross-wired in my brain.

arpthark wrote:

TYA wrote:Do you think the RVW can be done on this tuba?

You could, but you'd need at least 5 valves to play the low Gb's that abound in the first movement/elsewhere. I believe Bill Bell premiered the VW in the USA with a Besson compensating four-valve F, but again, that was compensating, allowing low Gb to be played 1-2-3-4.

1-2-3-4 with no slide-pulling on a non-compensating F tuba gives you something akin to a 20 c. flat Ab. With lipping and slide pulling you might be able to get the G below that, but that Gb is probably out of reach.

There are always false tones G and Gb... depending on the tuba, they can sound quite good.

At least it's not a 3-valve F tuba!

It'd be a whole lot better to have 5 valves, but you could probably make it work with 4 valves if you *really* absolutely needed an F tuba toot sweet.

I'd say just pass on it and wait for something else... because chances are, if you were to try to resell this later, you'd either have a hard time selling it or you'd have to take a loss to sell it. Plus, you live in Hawaii and shipping won't be cheap.

I might suggest passing on it, but because it's something you can't try that has to be shipped in from overseas. Not because it has 4 valves; for a grand a -lot- of things can be forgiven.

arpthark wrote:

TYA wrote:Do you think the RVW can be done on this tuba?

You could, but you'd need at least 5 valves to play the low Gb's that abound in the first movement/elsewhere. I believe Bill Bell premiered the VW in the USA with a Besson compensating four-valve F, but again, that was compensating, allowing low Gb to be played 1-2-3-4.

Bill Bell's F was that little 4 valve King, a non-compensating tuba. I can play the RVW on a "lesser valved horn". I've done a fair share of for pay paying on a 3 valve E, including low range stuff. ****, I played the Ride for a college audition on one. It might not be an ideal horn but it's far from a useless one.

Aren't there only 3 low F#'s in that piece anyway, the 2 before and in the run and one at the very end? It's not like you're sitting on that note fff the whole time.

Yeah, I confused Arnold Jacobs' compensating Besson with Bill Bell's King.

Post amended!

bort wrote:At least it's not a 3-valve F tuba!

I have one! King chopped Eb. It's awesome, and almost useless!

J.c.S.

Thank you everyone for your opinion but I am probably going to go with one of those Chinese Firebird copies that have been getting good reviews on tubenet.