MW 2141

Blake Dowling · Post by **Blake Dowling** » Fri Nov 02, 2007 10:57 pm

Well after many trials, I must say that this is the best Eb tuba I have ever played. And am now a proud owner of one.

Blake Dowling · Post by **Blake Dowling** » Fri Nov 02, 2007 11:03 pm

Sorry bob, but i couldn't stand my upright 321 any more, simply because i can't do upright valves. She's a real beaut.
Oh, and as aside, This horn definately can't supstitute for a good contrabass. I definately say go 1291. My teacher has one, and though I'm not a BBb guy I love it!!!

MartyNeilan · Post by **MartyNeilan** » Fri Nov 02, 2007 11:41 pm

Bob1062 wrote:
Blake Dowling wrote:This horn definately can't substitute for a good contrabass.
Maybe not with YOU playing it!
But congratulations on your new horn!

Bob,
Just because you CAN fit 5 people in a Geo Metro doesn't mean you SHOULD.
Food for thought...

SplatterTone · Post by **SplatterTone** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 12:52 am

Just because you CAN fit 5 people in a Geo Metro doesn't mean you SHOULD.

Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, their girl friends ...
and me.

Blake Dowling · Post by **Blake Dowling** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 12:58 am

well....it works

Stefan Kac · Post by **Stefan Kac** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 1:58 am

This horn seems to be a hot topic of conversation these days. Anyway, welcome to the club. The rest of you don't know what you're missing.

pwhitaker · Post by **pwhitaker** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 6:57 am

MartyNeilan wrote: Bob,
Just because you CAN fit 5 people in a Geo Metro doesn't mean you SHOULD.
Food for thought...

In defense of the maligned Geo Metro: I am 6'3'', well over 300 lbs and drove a 3 cylinder Metro for 9 years racking up 225K miles with NO repair work other than the obligatory services. I was on my 3rd set of tires when I sold it. I always had my BBb sousaphone - assembled - in the back with the seats down and routinely took the reed man with his 2 saxes and clarinet and both our stools to gigs up here in Maine which sometimes involved up to 5 hours of driving one way. This car got 50 mpg and was very comfortable - more room for me than in my wife's Volvo - and cost me $8700 brand new from the dealer. I could park this car in places that no other car could squeeze into - nice when one needed to be closer to the gig carrying a big horn. ...
I got my money's worth.

Steve Inman · Post by **Steve Inman** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 1:23 pm

Bob1062 wrote:
Blake Dowling wrote:This horn definately can't substitute for a good contrabass.
Maybe not with YOU playing it!

But congratulations on your new horn!

No -- this horn CANNOT substitute well for a good contrabass -- even if King Kong were the tubist. This is NOT a matter of airflow or a matter of volume. It can be played LOUDLY. This IS a good Eb tuba -- just tried out Dan Clouse's recently. I used a standard Helleberg mpc for my test -- as big of a mpc as I would dare use. This Eb tuba does not have the CHARACTER of sound to substitute for a good contrabass.

This Eb tuba might substitute for a small 3/4 CC -- I'd be willing to agree with that. And if you only consider the range between Eb just below the staff to the Eb up in the staff, HERE (and only here) it can probably keep up with a 4/4 CC. But its sound, especially below the Eb at the bottom of the staff, is too focused to fill the role of even a modest 4/4 CC. It certainly was not up to the task to fill the role of my Conn 56J, which I played side-by-side in the practice room, with identical mouthpieces. The Eb provided a very different sound below the staff. And once you get into the upper register, it clearly sounds like a bass tuba -- not a contrabass.

It is a very good Eb, and would be great for quintet or upper octave notes in community concert band (or lower octave notes with more than one tuba in the section). It does what an Eb tuba should do, and it does this very well. But it is not a euphonium in the upper register and it is not a contrabass tuba in the lower register. And it won't be mistaken for one by the audience.

You are, of course, welcome to ignore my advice, and the advice that others are providing to this effect. But I've been searching for the same Eb tuba that you are seeking -- for 10 years, because most of my playing is with a quintet yet with occasional larger groups -- and I would LOVE to have a single tuba for these situations. I have yet to find an Eb tuba that produces good results in providing a foundation for a larger ensemble, and I have concluded that it does not exist. I want to be sure that my audience (and ensemble colleagues) hear the right sounds from the tuba chair -- at least to the extent that I can create them, unhindered by choosing the wrong instrument for the job. I'm not trying to be argumentative. If I didn't care at all about the results you will get, I wouldn't have taken the time to type this reply.

With a big Eb tuba, and with you playing it, the audience will hear a very loud, very full BASS TUBA sound. But even if you produce the very best bass tuba sound ever heard, they will not hear a contrabass tuba in the ensemble. It's the horn, not the player, that will limit the results.

Cheers,

DonShirer · Post by **DonShirer** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 5:57 pm

Well, I'm now a member of the 2141 club, as well. And I agree with Steve and Blake that it is not a contra. BUT I am quite pleased with it for the very purposes Steve lists: quintet, solos and furnishing the higher notes in band literature. (Sorry you missed another one, Bob.)

Wyvern · Post by **Wyvern** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 7:13 pm

I do agree with Steve's statement about an Eb not really substituting in sound for a contrabass tuba.

Unfortunately many tuba players in the UK think just like Bob and so did I at one time. It is only with real life experience playing a good CC that one appreciates the difference it makes to providing a solid foundation to the ensemble.

Blake Dowling · Post by **Blake Dowling** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 8:17 pm

No harm no foul Bob.

And I love the 62. it gives me a full sound without being to large. plus its comfortable as hell.