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Uwe Schneider

Curious if the 841 is actually a good tuba, as opposed to the 641 which nobody seems to love.

The Peruvian National Symphony owns 3 BBb tubas, A Yamaha 641, a Yamaha 841G and a very old Alexander (I think is the 163). I have played the 2 Yamahas and actually the 841 is a great tuba! very different from that 641 wich I really do not like! Fast reesponse, in tune and easy to play.

joshealejo wrote:The Peruvian National Symphony owns 3 BBb tubas, A Yamaha 641, a Yamaha 841G and a very old Alexander (I think is the 163). I have played the 2 Yamahas and actually the 841 is a great tuba! very different from that 641 wich I really do not like! Fast reesponse, in tune and easy to play.

Very interesting!

From what I understand, Yamaha sells different tubas in different markets. I forget what their rotary CC model number is... but it's quite rare in the US, and I understand they are still made and can be ordered in other countries. It's been ages since I've played one of those, but I seem to recall a lot of people like it.

bort wrote:

joshealejo wrote:The Peruvian National Symphony owns 3 BBb tubas, A Yamaha 641, a Yamaha 841G and a very old Alexander (I think is the 163). I have played the 2 Yamahas and actually the 841 is a great tuba! very different from that 641 wich I really do not like! Fast reesponse, in tune and easy to play.

Very interesting!

From what I understand, Yamaha sells different tubas in different markets. I forget what their rotary CC model number is... but it's quite rare in the US, and I understand they are still made and can be ordered in other countries. It's been ages since I've played one of those, but I seem to recall a lot of people like it.

Yes I really do not understand why they do that haha... In the 90´s the Japan goverment made donations to the National Conservatory of Music and the National Symphony and tons of Yamaha instruments were donated. The Conservatory owned only two Yamahas 641 BBb until 2009, when the very first B&S PT10 F tuba was purchased by the Conservatory. The National Symphony still have their 2 Yamahas and the Alexander. As you can see, the BBb is the "main" instrument here.

So yeah, the "Tuba world" in Peru is actually very young...

Has anyone ever played (or seen?) the YBB-645?

https://europe.yamaha.com/files/downloa ... wBrass.pdf

Very interesting information, Jose! How many major orchestras are in Peru?

bort wrote:Has anyone ever played (or seen?) the YBB-645?

https://europe.yamaha.com/files/downloa ... wBrass.pdf

Very interesting information, Jose! How many major orchestras are in Peru?

The main orchestras in Peru are:

-The Peru National Symphony Orchestra
-The Cusco Symphony Orchestra
-The Arequipa Symphony Orchestra
-The Trujillo Symphony Orchestra
-The Piura Municipal Orchestra

The 645 seems to be the same as the 641 but with 0.815 bore and in goldbrass (oposed o 0.811 bore and yellow brass for the 641). The 841G have a different wrap of tubing. I have not tryed many BBb (or other tubas as they are not aviable for testing in Southamerica like they are in USA or Europe or Asia) But the 841G is really superior to the 641 in every way. Very comparable to a Miraphone 186 BBb.

joshealejo wrote:The Peruvian National Symphony owns 3 BBb tubas, A Yamaha 641, a Yamaha 841G and a very old Alexander (I think is the 163). I have played the 2 Yamahas and actually the 841 is a great tuba! very different from that 641 wich I really do not like! Fast reesponse, in tune and easy to play.

I have played that Alexander from the OSN! I effected what repairs I could, and played some concerts on it (early 1990’s perhaps). Old time sound, but what a tank.

There was a Yamaha YBB 841 at the Yamaha facility in MI years ago. Because CC tubas were the preferred horn in the North American market it was decided after the test horn did not get any attention they would not market them here. It is and was then an excellent tuba. It was not an arbitrary decision as some are suggesting.

I just checked, and there are two YBB-841 tubas on eBay -- one in Germany and one in Japan.
Besides the different valve tubing wrap, the bell looks bigger on the 841 compared to the 641. I'd like to try the YBB-841. I tooted on a YBB-641 several years ago and liked it -- I don't get the 'hate' it gets here.
I remember really liking the overall sound and low register Funny thing is some of the same ppl here who hate on the YBB-641 praise the Miraphone 186, which I think is a very "meh" tuba.

To each their own ......

I have been reading some of the comments about this horn...I actually have one that our band bought 10 years ago...we bought 2... personally...I feel it not so comfortable while I'm playing it...I find that it costs a lot to center almost notes and stabilize... particularly the rage between E1 - G1... And as I go climbing in the register it begins to be harder to blow and send the air flow...i don't like this tuba so much...on high register notes come very high and I have to correct with the slides... it's strongly compressed...another issue...the position of the 3rd slide...unlike the 641 it's behind the 1st slide and it's so inaccessible to move by hand if you don't put a trigger for it... recently...just this moment I saw in the Yamaha website this tuba was discontinued...I think for something must be...