TubeNet

So, what do you do when you have little money to buy a tuba and no money to spend on traveling to try out different tubas since living area is in total obscurity of any significant place to buy a tuba? I'm kind of suck between a rock and a hard place and looking for advice. This has been an ongoing project for many months and I still feel that I have gotten nowhere. Any and all expertice would be appreciated. Thank you!

seriously, the selection in florida sucks, the only way i got my tuba here was because he was a friend of my dads, and now i am traveling to go try tubas at Dave Fedderly's Baltimore Brass store. i also started by buying a really cheap tuba, and would recomend getting something, anything that you can get a note out on, then get good on it, and by that time, you should have enough money to buy, and search for a good tuba

harold wrote:Buy a tuba from a reputable seller that also happens to be a tuba player. There are several on this board - Dan Oberloh, Bloke, Dan Shultz, Lee Stofer etc.

I think that this is the best advice. A number of reputable dealers have good used tubas available, and you can trust that they will give you a realistic assessment of condition. In addition to the names above (Bloke is Mid-South Music), I have had good experience with Dillon Music, www.1800USABAND.com (Taylor Music), and Wichita Band (www.wichitaband.com).

You don't say what your situation is. Are you in High School, College, older? Are you planning music as a profession, or as an amateur? The answer to these questions could determine the best course of action.

If you just need a tuba, any tuba, to play you should check with the dealers above and you should be able to find a good, inexpensive horn to start out with. When you get some more money you can usually get most of your money bacl from whatever you start with as long as you take care of it.

I nice roundtrip ticket on Southwest would do it. How about July 7 - 12.

Tampa - Baltimore $173.40
Chicago - Baltimore $186.90
Houston - Baltimore $229.00
Kansas City - Baltimore $152.90

I'm sure Dave Fedderly would have plenty of tubas to try.

Cute,

Where are you and what is your budget? Letting the collective mind of TubeNet know that will net you better advice.

Okay, I guess I didn't give too much info, so this time I'll try to do better. I have very little money for travel, meaning it needs to be within driving distance of podunk little Blackfoot, Idaho. I am the principle tuba player for the premier group, the Wind Ensemble, at Idaho State University. I am now currently playing (actually sharing with a real jerk because there aren't enough tubas for all of our players to have their own horn) on a Bb Miraphone and I still don't like it. I can make it sound really nice, but I just think it feels funny and the intonation is really different because I fell in love with the Perantucci I was playing in high school. So, I've been looking around at Perantucci horns as well as Rudy Meinls because I've heard they have a really nice, dark tone that can shake the walls. The only thing is, I've never played on a Rudy and I've also never even played on a CC tuba, either.
So, hopefully, this will be more info

cute_lil_tuba_gurl wrote:I have very little money for travel, meaning it needs to be within driving distance of podunk little Blackfoot, Idaho. I am the principle tuba player for the premier group, the Wind Ensemble, at Idaho State University.

I don't know who the tuba professor is at Idaho State; but Torrey Lawrence is at the University of Idaho and Michael Fischer is at Boise State University. Both of these guys are exceptional tuba players. Contact both of them and ask their advice. Also, be sure to attend the Big Brass Bash: http://www.hpnwbbb.org/

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Here's a thought...

You attend a state university and there has been mention of two other state universities in a previous post that are in the same system. Rather than ask two students to share a tuba, I would think that the brass teacher or band director could/would call up one of the other state universities and ask to borrow a horn that isn't currently in use. They may have to have it chem cleaned upon return, but it wouldn't be an unreasonable request.

Failing that, you can call me and I'll let you borrow my Conn 5J for a while. It's no Perantucci, but its better than swapping spit with another player.

Daryl

Cute--- I would say, do what a lot of us have done. Work this summer and save your money, and then buy a tuba when September roles around. If you get started now, making min. wage, you could get three weeks at a job in June, four weeks in July and four weeks in August. At $5.15 per hour, 40 hours a week, that's $618 for June, $824 for July and $824 for August, which adds up to $2266. You can get a lot of decent horns for $2200 or even less! In 2003, I bought a Kalison 5/4 BBb Pro 2000 tuba (in great condition) for $1800. A friend of mine recently bought a Cerveny Piggy CC tuba *brand new* for $2125. And that $2266 figure is just minimum wage---you can save even more money if you get a higher-paying job. So the point is, work this summer, save your earnings and use that money to buy at tuba at the end of the summer through any of the great sellers mentioned here. But that's really the only way to get a tuba of your own when you can't afford it: work and save it up.

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