Visit to Baltimore Brass

Mark E. Chachich · Post by **Mark E. Chachich** » Wed May 31, 2006 12:29 pm

I visited Baltimore Brass last week (one of my favorite places). Of course there were the usual very nice new and used tubas. There were three that I really liked.

Meinl Weston 32 (CC)
Very lively, nice centered sound, a fine all purpose tuba. This one is one of the few MW 32 models that is more lively then my MW 32.

Marzan (CC)
Nice centered sound, a fine all purpose tuba. I do not know this tuba does not yet have a home.

York E flat
A full bass tuba sound, nice response, five valves.

All tubas have intonation and other issues, I could easily deal with them on any of the three tubas listed above.

best,
Mark

hbcrandy · Post by **hbcrandy** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 9:24 am

Baltimore Brass Company is a great place to do your tuba shopping. It is run by a world class, professional tubist, David Fedderly. Dave is an honest man and a pleasure with whom to deal.

WoodSheddin · Post by **WoodSheddin** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 11:07 am

Baltimore Brass is one of the most ethical shops around for purchasing our instruments. This is why his shop does so well. I have purchased instruments from 3 different shops including Baltimore Brass and he is where I would FIRST stop for my next horn should I ever decide to buy another.

Alex C · Post by **Alex C** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 11:58 am

Ditto on Dave's shop.

tubiker · Post by **tubiker** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 1:23 pm

Ditto Ditto Ditto on Dave and his shop

Andrew Murray

Alex Kidston · Post by **Alex Kidston** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:12 pm

Good to read such well-deserved glowing reports - I've had the pleasure of dealing with David on three occasions and have always gone away feeling that I received his utmost attention and consideration. Always great instruments as well, and dealing with a top rate player / teacher means you can trust David's opinion.

quinterbourne · Post by **quinterbourne** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:30 pm

I think I might be making a trip down there this summer. The problem is that it is so far away. Custom Music is within driving distance from where I live, I went there a while back but I just felt like they weren't being completely honest with me.

They basically said that their tubas are the best and any other type of instrument is garbage. I mentioned certain horns like MW2145/2155/2000, Willson 3050, Besson 995 and the Yamaha 822... they said I shouldn't even consider them they were so bad compared to their instruments.

Although I agree that the B&S (the PT-606p was a dream) and Hirsbrunner are excellent tubas, and although I haven't tried the above mentioned horns yet, I must believe that there isn't necessarily all that much of a difference. At that point I realized they weren't trying to sell me a tuba, but that they were trying to sell me one of their tubas.

From what I gather from what I've read about BBC is that they are more concerned with making you happy instead of making the sale. I'm not that experienced in the tuba purchase game, and I would feel a lot more comfortable with people that aren't trying to take advantage... I can figure out when their trying to do that!

Ace · Post by **Ace** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:39 pm

I would like to echo all the positive comments about Dave and BBC. I've had three dealings with him and everything was above board, efficient, and honest. He really seems to care about his customers' individual needs.

Tubaryan12 · Post by **Tubaryan12** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 4:34 pm

Add me to the list of people that wouldn't think twice about dealing with Baltimore Brass Company. Dave took time to sit down with a hack like myself and gently nudged me into the last tuba I will probably ever buy. I love the horn more now more than I did when I bought it. If it ever needs replacing, I'll be heading east again.

fpoon · Post by **fpoon** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 7:45 pm

Another ditto for Baltimore, this one for their repair guys. I called asking about valve guides for my horn. They said they didn't have em in stock, and it might be a little $ to order em. But then they told me by best bet was to call Dillons (cause they'd have em in stock) and save some money!

Reminded me of Santa Clause in Miracle on 34th Street telling Macy's customers to skope out Gimbels! Class guys!

bort · Post by **bort** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 9:32 pm

Tuba-wise, I'm very lucky to be here in Baltimore. In fact, I grew up only about 5 minutes from BBC. David runs his shop right - when you've got a small, relatively connected community of potential customers, stories of poor service and bad experiences will travel quickly.

On a side note, anyone know why BBC doesn't carry Miraphones?

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 1:08 pm

montre8 wrote:It's good to see Dave and the crew receiving the accolades they deserve. Looking over the site, I was curious about the new Courtois he mentions that looks "a lot like a PT-606". Has this been discussed? Has anyone seen one?

Mo

I played one at BBC in January. It is indeed identical or nearly identical to a PT-606. Courtois is (was?--I can't keep up any more) owned by JA Musik, which also owns VMI where the PT-606/GR-41 is made. So, I'm sure this is a stencil that makes it possible to avoid issues of B&S exclusivity.

My own reaction to the 606s I played at a couple of Army conferences and to the Courtois at BBC is that they seem the same. I didn't try them side-by-side. They are probably the closest thing to a 4/4 York that is currently available, with a warm, colorful sound and very easy responsiveness. Some reports warn that they also have the 4/4 York intonation issues, too, but my own fooling around was not likely to expose that fault.

By the way, my own views of BBC should be apparent from having bought two tubas from him, and even more from having sent or accompanied many inexperienced tuba players there. I'll buy from just about anybody if the deal is right, but I'll only recommend a few places for those who ask my advice. When I recommend places like Baltimore Brass or Dillon Music, I can be pretty sure it won't end up with somebody mad at me.

Rick "who hopes all this worship isn't going to Dave's head" Denney

quinterbourne · Post by **quinterbourne** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 5:08 pm

The Courtois is listed as $7,600 on BBC while the PT-606p is about $10,500-11,000 in lacquer and $11,000-11,500 in silver from Custom Music (don't quote me on that, call them). I have no idea if the Courtois is lacquer or silver...

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 8:58 am

quinterbourne wrote:I have no idea if the Courtois is lacquer or silver...

The one I saw was lacquer.

Rick "who didn't remember the price" Denney