jidikr wrote:Hello, I have few questions.
I was looking for B&S tuba(s) and saw some model has face engrave instead of B&S mark and said Mel Culbertson VMI Neptune. What is VMI means?
Also I am using Miraphone 1291 CC lacquer and want to buy bigger horn( 6/4) with very limited budget.
I saw b&s 5198(Mel Culbertson VMI Neptune Piston) with really great price for me. I don't know the original price.
Is it 6/4 tuba? and do you think it worth to change from 1291 to 5198?
My original plan was getting PT-6(p) is it okay to get 5198 Neptune?
Thank you
VMI means "Vogtländische Musikinstrumenten-Fabrik," and it is the same as B&S. I forget why, but they created this "brand" (literally just a different engraving on the bell) for importing reasons or something.
Mel Culbertson was a tuba player who worked with B&S to create the Neptune 6/4 tuba. The face engraving is for that model of tuba only, not for all of VMI (the normal VMI logo is the eagle from the German coat of arms).
The piston Neptunes are generally very good tubas, but people seem to like the rotary ones better (better pitch on the rotary -- not sure about sound quality, but there should be differences there as well).
You WILL notice a difference from the 1291 to the Neptune. The Neptune is much larger, and sounds much larger... but both will play and respond pretty similarly. I own a rotary Neptune and have had a 1291 in the past, and I think both played pretty similarly to each other. Very responsive, very easy to play.
The PT-6 and the Neptune are very similar to each other -- they are mostly the same except for the bell, bottom bow, and maybe like 10% of the rest of the horn. They will play pretty similarly to each other, but a bit differently -- I'd expect the Neptune to be a little broader in sound than the PT6.
Sometimes you will find Neptunes at pretty low prices -- it's a head scratcher for me. They are extremely well made 6/4 tubas, sound great, and are easy to play. I sure like mine!
Hope that helps a little bit!
