keeping up my chops.....

edgarb · Post by **edgarb** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 11:07 am

I just bought an RV and will be going on the road soon. Hers the problem I can't take my tuba (5/4 Kanstul) it's just to big. I have been thinking that I could get a cheap euphonium off one of the auction sites. then I could play and practice for fun on the road then when I return my chops would recover quicker. What do you all think?

MartyNeilan · Post by **MartyNeilan** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 11:58 am

What about a 3/4 621 Yamaha or the Weril copy?

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 12:37 pm

Don't go. What's more important, tuba or an RV?

circusboy · Post by **circusboy** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 12:41 pm

Don't do it!

I thought the same thing when I ran away to join the circus, which included living in an RV and paring down a lot of my stuff.

I sold my York Monster and bought a really pretty little VMI euph. It just didn't do it for me. I really missed the bass sound.

I ended up selling it within six months. I went to Dillon's and asked Matt to show me all the smallest tubas he had. I played on a Cerveny Eb, a Weril, the Yam 621, a Jupiter--but I ended up with a Miraphone 3/4 F, which I still love and play 5 years later.

A tip: use bungee cords to strap the horn to your RVs sofa (hooks on the sofa frame, tuba held tight to sofa cushions).

Have fun on the road!

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 12:59 pm

My wife's uncle & aunt thought they'd "hit the road" for their retirement. He was a master craftsman woodworker, but sold off his wood shop and tools (which he would have had to do eventually because of arthritis, but still had a lot left in him at that point) along with the house. Within a year, they almost couldn't stand each other in such close quarters on an ongoing basis, sold the RV and bought another nice home but without a wood shop. He died suddenly about a year after that.

Just something to consider, if he'd kept his shop and a reason to keep getting up in the morning....

tubatooter1940 · Post by **tubatooter1940** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 2:23 pm

edgard,
If I were going R.V.ing, I would buy the smallest vehicle that could possibly do the job for us and make an addition somewhere up high where I could pad and strap the tuba of my dreams in perfect dryness.
One must make consessions to travel reality but you gotta have the right tool when you get there.
I'm the guy who shared his bunk on a 65 foot sailboat with my wife AND a 1976 Yamaha Dreadnought guitar. If a jam session breaks out, you don't wanna be caught unprepared.
I bought a Martin Backpacker Guitar to play when I cruise my 26 foot sailboat-tiny,3 pounds-guitar and case.
We loaded 2 EONs, board, 2 guitars and a tuba in John Reno's 19 foot sailboat and sailed 15 miles across Mobile Bay to a dock gig in Dog River on the Mobile side. We had 25 knots of head winds but the tiny boat sailed great with all that weight low and forward. We felt like clowns at a circus
unloading all that stuff onto a wharf out of that little boat.
www.johnreno.com/

Tom Waid · Post by **Tom Waid** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:19 pm

MartyNeilan wrote:What about a 3/4 621 Yamaha or the Weril copy?

Hello Edgar,
The 621 Yamaha Bb is the roughly the same size as my F tuba. You've seen my F tuba so if you think my instrument would fit your RV then the Bb version will also fit. Remember that I took my 621 F on a 14 month voyage to the Caribbean aboard a 28 ft sailboat.
Tom