YEB-321s

eupher61 · Post by **eupher61** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 6:59 pm

if you can find a Cerveny Piggy, BBb or CC, and have somone play test it first, go for it.

Or, a Miraphone 186. they're pretty common (!) and about as consistent as anything out there.

I'd suggest not going to an Eb, unless it's something you're already familiar and comfortable with. The Yamaha will be too small for the bigger groups, chance are.

UTTuba_09 · Post by **UTTuba_09** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:02 pm

Yeah, I agree with eupher61, the Yamaha 321 is a fantastic small Eb horn. For all-around playing though, I'd definitely go with a good CC horn, the Cerveny Piggy's are good for that, ask around, email some college teachers, and then test some out...Happy Hunting!

Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 9:29 pm

A sophomore in high school would probably be best to consider sticking with a BBb tuba... unless you have serious ambitions of starving for the next six or seven years struggling to become a tuba performance major... in hopes of landing on of the only a dozen or so gigs in The World that pays enough to enjoy the finer things in life like food and shelter.

Go for a nice used Mirafone 186

WakinAZ · Post by **WakinAZ** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 10:31 pm

TubaTinker wrote:A sophomore in high school would probably be best to consider sticking with a BBb tuba... unless you have serious ambitions of starving for the next six or seven years struggling to become a tuba performance major... in hopes of landing on of the only a dozen or so gigs in The World that pays enough to enjoy the finer things in life like food and shelter.

Go for a nice used Mirafone 186

Like Greg said, Big Red, keep reading the above over and over.

Eric "for whom it took one semester of being a performance major at the best tuba studio in the world to see the writing on the wall" L.

DonShirer · Post by **DonShirer** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:11 pm

Played a 321S in our 40 piece town band, and had no trouble holding my own (even on a few outdoor concerts where the other tubas were absent).
Good intonation, but the tone was smooth rather than biting. Made a good quartet horn, however the pedal tones (with 4th valve) were a little weaker than I wanted, and I recently replaced it.

If you are going to be a professional musician, though, I doubt if your teacher would recommend an Eb for an all-round horn.

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 9:46 am

You're all forgetting a better idea: a King 2341. Durable, smaller bore, in the same ballpark for a used price, good intonation, nested valve cluster to protect it, and it's basically the same horn that has been built for a century, so when it does get banged around any repairman worth his tools and an established relationship with school horns should have all the crash parts needed to fix it.

Only because of high school, and what that all entails, to I say King 2341 instead of 186 in this context.

tubathig · Post by **tubathig** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:16 am

what would a 10th grader need an EEfer for... get him a BBb or CC, yes they are plenty of people that can do all of their playing on EEb... but most of them do it for a living

sloan · Post by **sloan** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:47 am

iiipopes wrote:You're all forgetting a better idea: a King 2341. Durable, smaller bore, in the same ballpark for a used price, good intonation, nested valve cluster to protect it, and it's basically the same horn that has been built for a century, so when it does get banged around any repairman worth his tools and an established relationship with school horns should have all the crash parts needed to fix it.

Only because of high school, and what that all entails, to I say King 2341 instead of 186 in this context.

What he said.

It only remains to offer the standard advice that you must play test a few 2341's before buying. You can randomly pick a 186 out of a pile and go home happy - with 2341's there's a big payoff for being picky.

On the larger question: if you can't play EVERYTHING you need to in high school (and auditions) on a 186 or a 2341 - then it's not the horn's fault, and another/different horn will not help.

The time to ADD (not switch to) C/F/Eb is the day when you can't imagine why anyone thinks it's a big deal. You just do it.
If it requires thought/time/effort - it's not worth the trouble.

On repairing a 2341 - everything is standard American; you can find spare parts at any hardware store.

Steve Inman · Post by **Steve Inman** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 9:00 pm

tubathig wrote:what would a 10th grader need an EEfer for... get him a BBb or CC, yes they are plenty of people that can do all of their playing on EEb... but most of them do it for a living

I was amused by this comment. 75 years ago, he would have STARTED on Eb tuba, were he a tubist .... How the times have changed!

Back to the O.P. --

I own a YEB-381, the 5v version of the 321. It is fine for a smaller / compact bass tuba. It works well in quintet. I can "cheat" (sorry UK bretheren) and use a standard Helleberg mouthpiece on it to get a little more sound. It works well in community band as part of a tuba section, playing the upper divisi notes -- by just the instrument intended to play them.

It is NOT adequate to be the only tuba in any orchestra -- other than perhaps a 20 piece pit orchestra.

In the world of Eb, a Besson 981 (one was featured earlier in this thread), a Willson 3400, a MW 2141 -- these are your best choices for a "one-tuba" Eb solution.

If you are playing BBb now, you may experience a little easier time in the upper register by moving to CC.

My favorite compromise between a CC that is big enough to do what you're asking and a horn with a lighter, "almost like a big Eb sound" -- is the hard-to-find Rudy Meinl 3/4 CC tuba. One that I played years ago really impressed me as a great overall horn.

Cheers,