What's your ideal collection of horns?

[GC]

MW Fafner 5/4 BBb
Miraphone 1291 5V BBb
Rudy Meinl 5/4 CC
Rudy 3/4 CC
Besson 981 Eb
Yomamahaha YFB 841 F
Rudy Meinl 5/4 F 6V

[Tuba-G Bass]

Hmm, I am inclined to mostly historic Tubas,

My Dream collection would be,
Conn 24J/25J in Silver
Keefer BBb Tuba in Silver [3 or 4 Piston Valve]
Conn 40K Sousaphone in Silver [The Jumbo 4 Valver!]
1980's 186 4V BBb Miraphone
Weril J680 BBb [once my back gives out from playing the 40K!]

and in the spitpump dept;
Miraphone or Minich Contrabass Trombone in BBb
Boosey and Hawkes G Bass Trombone WITH the D trigger
Thein Contrabass Trombone in BBb

and a nice Army surplus Deuce and half truck
to haul it all!

Sadly, I am in reality hauling the below listed horns in
my '94 Saturn SL2.

[Doug@GT]

Here's mine:

A Getzen CB50 for most stuff
A REALLY BIG horn (MW2165, etc) to take to elementary schools and impress little kids
A mirafone 181 6v F (for looks)
A Yamaha 321 euph
An Alex 173 (again, just for looks--and Tony Clements did say it plays pretty good, too )
And this one:

(but only the whole set )

[Z-Tuba Dude]

Yorkbrunner CC
HB-2 CC
YCB 621 CC
Besson 983 Eb
Rudy 4/4 6v F
Meinl Weston 182 F
+ Old King 2341 with recording bell (for those outdoor gigs!)

I think that should cover most situations!

[Philip Jensen]

I'd like to fill out my antique collection.

I have a King BBb tuba and baritone (circa 1913), both made for the Navy with serial numbers only 125 apart. I would love to have a complete set of the brass family of ideally also Navy horns with similar serial numbers. I'm not sure if this is even possible. Did the Navy just buy King low brasses at the time mine were originally purchased and use other companies for upper brasses or did King sell to the Navy the whole set? Would be way cool to have a full set.

As for Tubas

Miraphone 1291 BBb

I'll be a Dillons tomorrow to have some work done on my Eb. I hope to try some other Eb's while I'm there. Maybe by tomorrow evening I'll have another horn to add to my wish list.

[sinfonian]

If I won the lottery I would go for:

Miraphone 1291 CC
Miraphone 188 CC
Miraphone 185 CC

A Miraphone 181 6 Values not only for even smaller groups but to be able to easily plan duets with my son who just started French horn (just read the F horn part and and plan C-Tuba fingerings, couldn't be easier right?).

Besson BE994 BBb and BE981 Eb (or similar models) in Sliver so I could easily join a Brass Band and play the Trebel parts using CC fingers but in Trebel Clef.

Finally a big Conn Rain Catcher Sousaphone for the annual forth of July parade (sitting on flatbed not marching).

[vmi5198]

I am a believer in only a couple of horns: high and low. Right now I have:

BE 982 (silver)
VMI 5198

I would like to sell/trade my BE 982 for a BE 983. Then I would be set for life.

[Lew]

I am generally happy with what I have:

Big horn - 1950's Martin BBb
Medium horn - King 2341
Small Horn - Besson 983.

I would consider adding a Miraphone 1291 as my medium horn, and would love a 4 valve version of the Martin. Otherwise the only things I would buy if money were no object would be:

Conn 4 valve BBb raincatcher sousaphone
4 valve BBb helicon
4 valve Eb helicon
Distin Eb helicon
Over the shoulder, 1860's, bass saxhorn.

[Rick Denney]

Like Joe, I'm quite happy with the tubas that I own. I'm to the point where I don't really have any tubas left to dream about. One possible exception would be an Alex 151, more out of curiosity than anything else.

If I won the lotto, I'd quit my job so that I'd have more time to practice without dominating all the other things that I'm also doing.

In summary, I have contrabass tubas in 4/4, 5/4, and 6/4, bass tubas in 3/4 and 4/4, and a competent euphonium. One of the contrabass tubas is redundant--I just can't figure out which one.

Rick "for whom time spent at work is the greatest deterrent to tuba improvement" Denney

[timayer]

MW Fafner
Rudy Meinl 5/4, with a 5th valve or tuning slide kicker
MW 2155 or 2000
Besson 983
B&S PT-10
MW 182

Tim Ayer

[MaryAnn]

I was pleased to see the two tubas I own on at least one person's wish list....I guess I really lucked out for a tuba newbie.

I like both my Miraphone 184 5U CC and my MW 182 F.
But I'd like....a bigger CC AND a bigger F.

Probably the new Miraphone 181? 6Valve F tuba...
And a Rudy 3/4 CC, if I could get rotaries.

MA

[bigboymusic]

Here goes-you'll see the trend

1997 5/4 Rudy BBflat that Charlie K. tried to sell me cheap, but I didn't because my ex would have killed me..
Hirsbrunner 2P I sold to put the ex through grad school.
Besson 983 I sold to Chuck G because I was stupid and wanted to learn F.
1950's Alex CC 163 that I sold to put my ex through grad school.
1960's Meinl weston BB flat Kaiser I sold to 'be cool' an own an HB2P.

And of course the Martin 4V BB that I sold....

you know....

Just bought the BB Schmidt from BB though. Hope that when it is cleaned out and had a bit of valve work that it plays as close to an Alex BB as I think it will. Also have a YEB 321, and am saving up for a silver Fafner!

Paul

[Jay Bertolet]

I'm with Joe, I am blessed to have nearly exactly the tubas I want. Here's the current list:

Nirschl 6/4 CC
RM 4/4 5 valve CC
Miraphone 184 CC
Willson 3400S Eb
Cerveny 641 Eb
MW Cimbasso Eb

If I were to find the money and the opportunity to do so, I'd only switch two things. I'd trade my Cerveny Eb for one of the new Norwegian Star Eb tubas from Miraphone, IF I played one and liked it as much as I think I might. Otherwise, no change there. The other thing I'd add would be, like Rick suggested, an Alexander 151 tenor tuba. Gotta have a good option for Bydlo.

My opinion for what it's worth...

[Tom]

If money was no object...

Meinl Weston 2265 6/4 Piston CC Tuba
Meinl Weston 2000 4/4-5/4 Piston CC Tuba
Alexander F Tuba
The Mirafone 188 my teacher has

I'm quite happy with what I have right now though...

[cjk]

I'm assuming I won the lottery here:

--Mirafone 184 5uCC (have one, an absolute gas to play)

--Mirafone 185 5uCC

--Goldbrass Rudolf Meinl 3/4 CC with a second valve gadget

--The Bloke's B&S Symphonie 6 valve F (or one just like it with better lacquer )

--A 4 valve EEb American-made sousaphone or helicon (one with Anderson rebuilt valves and a nice scale, just for fun)

--A really nice 4v Olds 0-99 (I can barely remember BBb fingers, but I really like these)

--A sorta large CC (4/4+), one with more resistance than most big *** CC tubas. (think Conn 52j only blown up a size larger)

--An old Rudolf Meinl goldbrass 6 valve F. One of the ones with the normal leadpipe and lousy scale (not the newer ones with the B&S-style leadpipe and nice scales). I like these even though they're a pain in the ***, I really don't know why.

--A Conn 20j to use as a planter or umbrella holder, since that's all they're good for anyway


Christian

[MichaelDenney]

Since I am CC-illiterate,,,

-a 6/4 Martin or Holton BBb front action with a good scale
-the King 2134 BBb I had in high school

There's no budget and no storage problem, right?
-a Miraphone 186 BBb because I couldn't afford one in the '60s
-a Miraphone 1291 BBb
-a Yamaha YBB621
-an Alexander 163 BBb for the sound
-a 4V Helicon BBb for TubaChristmas

-a steam roller and the Conn 26J I had to play in college

-a Willson euph and one of Brian Bowman's students to entertain me with it

[smurphius]

You know, in reading this post, one could almost begin assuming which brand of tubas is the most consistent, or at least well-sought after horns. Reading down these lists, several people have one or two horns that is their dream horn, for each person it's usually something different, much that from their neighbors post. Then, usually about 2nd or third on the list, you see on almost every post a Miraphone. That mere trend makes me completely reconsidering horns that I want to try out and focus on buying. What do you guys think??

[Lee Stofer]

Forget winning the lotto, or owning a lot of horns - all of a sudden, I feel like heading to the beach with my suzie - er, I mean sousie ;^) (Repairman wakes up from daydream - it's time to finish 5 more french horns - sigh).

[MartyNeilan]

All of the above.

BUT, it would be a very mixed blessing for the following reasons...
At present, I have three very different tubas (MW2145, Martin BAT, older Cerveny F) and a dual bore bass trombone (Getzen 1062). Each horn has a very different response, scale, intonation, etc etc etc. I find that if I take a few days off on ANY given instrument, the next time I go back to that instrument my playing suffers. The horn is stuffy, uncentered, out of tune, or something else. I begin to question why I even bought it, since it plays so bad. After a day or two of practice on that specific instrument, the horn all of a sudden plays wonderfully.

If I actually had 7 or 8 horns for regular use, I could not possibly keep up the practice schedule to be proficient on all of them at the drop of a hat.

Although my MW2145 is far from perfect, its nice to know that 1 horn can cover the majority of situations if need be. (same could be said for Mirafone 186, Conn 52J, Rudy 3/4, Wilson EEb and other similar axes)

[winston]

.