TubeNet

Wichita Band has this 14J. Asking $1495.

Mine is kind of a beater on the outside with valves that appear to be in good shape, so I don't know how accurately it represents the sound of the line in general. The tone is reasonably good. It doesn't have the best focus in the upper end; but it's not bad. I'd say about 80% focus and about 20% woof. It seems geared more for the low end -- a genuine e-flat pedal tone comes out strong; we're talking the real thing, not no stinkin' false tone stuff. But the high end isn't difficult either. I can play up to middle C without straining. Intonation seems about middling good. The receiver is for a large trombone shank. I haven't shopped around to see what selection is available with a tuba cup on a large trombone shank. I just use the 25-ish Herco mouthpiece that came with it.

It's a lightweight horn, weighs about 12 pounds, very handy and easy to pick up ... twirl on your finger like a six shooter ... great for playing tuba while riding bareback and roping calves. The crowd especially likes it when you juggle three of them. I had to give up cat juggling, so I turned to tuba juggling.

Instead of all the wordy stuff that doesn't tell you squat. I made you a quick recording. I picked the horn up cold, started blowing and this is what came out. The second half of the recording is a little better since I was getting a little warmed up. The room is acousticly dead. The file is about 1.8 Meg.

http://t-recs.net/mpegs/tubenet/eflat_demo.mp3

I didn't do the greatest low end work on the recording. When I'm loosened up, the horn can do quite a bit more.

Is that clicking sound the valves or your feet?

Could be dentures .... Nah. Not that old .... yet.

I thought I'd try to do a little better job with the demo. So here you go. I also did a quick Allora 186 demo so you would have some point of reference with the sound equipment. Check back in another year to see how much progress I've made with my tone.

I'm not the best tuba noodler arounder. Sometimes my brain goes one direction while my fingers go the other direction.

14J demo:
http://t-recs.net/mpegs/tubenet/14j_1.mp3

Allora
http://t-recs.net/mpegs/tubenet/allora_1.mp3

Anybody with an Elkhart14j have problems fitting their hand in? I have large hands, but not monstrous, and the back of my hand hits the top bows when I play. I guess it's designed for middle school students.

Anybody with an Elkhart14j have problems fitting their hand in?

Yep.

Is this (14J) one of those tubas where the octave from Eb to low Eb is more like a 9th? I'm always astonished when I play test an instrument that does that; like, how could they even manufacture something that bad? It's really common in cheap alto horns, and I think I've played tubas that were like that too. I mean, REALLY.

MA, who has found herself back playing as an orchestral tubist for the time being. The 184 CC 5U seems to project quite well enough for a community orchestra.

I think it plays reasonably well in tune. The lame demo I made sounds out of tune in spots because I was just blowing notes and hadn't decided far enough ahead of time to get my brain, face, and fingers all working together to hit the same note. So, there are some notes where my brain was thinking c, the lips were thinking b-flat, and the fingers were thinking d. And I tried to play some notes that are kind of high for me that I don't play reliably (working on it). Pay no attention to those notes. Just trying show the high and the low notes.