What's the worst tuba you've ever played?

[SplatterTone]

I am a proud player of a tenor tuba. Lesser men call them euphoniums.

I don't know what the official difference is between the two, but I would say calling the VMI 3171 a tenor tuba might be legitimate. Play 1234 C no sweat -- hardly any back pressure. Hold down 4th valve and play a pedal FF. I haven't worked the euph (or tenor tuba) chops to the required extent to play the thing as well as it should be played. It's like blowing into a bottomless pit. Right now, my euph embouchure (such as it is) benefits from having at least a little back pressure.

[windshieldbug]

I must assume someone actually played this!

[TubaRay]

I don't believe I have ever seen a tuba so impressively damaged.

[Tubaing]

This is the worst tuba I ever played. Made by Verne. It is an Eb, the valves were very loose most likely needed to be rebuilt, the bell had cracks and patches on it. It was painted brown, many terriblely soldered joints, the youngest it could be is from the 1930s, Valve caps had fairly bad threads. It played like it had the water key open. At least it didn't have many dents.

[Tabor]

A relatively new four upright valve amati. It was quite a challenge.

[iiipopes]

A Buescher large (larger than .750) bore but standard bell sized fiberglass souzy that was somewhere between 30 and 40 years old, and never properly maintained. Nothing above first space Ab would intonate. Nothing. Period. It wouldn't resonate. Megaphone would be a better description. Why bother with valves? It was so bad, you could hold all three valves together half way down, and just buzz the pitch you wanted. No center, no tone, stuffy as hell, but you had your pitch. Now, from first space Ab down, you could almost stay in the same room with it.

[james]

This is a pretty funny post so I'll join in for worst tubas I've ever played. Some of them are surprisingly from makers I usually like:

-a 3 valve Holton(maybe Conn?) Bb a student had last year...YIKES. There were patches on the bell and holes scattered throughout the instrument. My playing was messed up the rest of the day after playing it for 5 minutes.

-a circa. late 80's-early 90's Miraphone 186-4 valve CC (I usually like these horns, in 5 valve, but this 4 valve one....holy PITCH and slots was very squirrely)

-the worst horn I ever OWNED, and I hesitate to say it because of some small success I had using it; a prototype Miraphone 1290 5 valve piston CC. Pitch was a little crazy and the response wasn't great either. I loaned it to someone who after a week gladly gave it back and said "I don't know how you sound so good on that instrument. I now have more respect for your playing ability!" This was a typical response I received from those who played the instrument after hearing me play it.
(however, this was only an easy choice because I have been blessed to own some GREAT instruments)

[MartyNeilan]

YOU WON'T BELEIVE THIS BUT THERE WERE MORE THEN 200 WITNESSES

A guy showed up at the Sacramento merry tuba christmas ten years ago with non other then a.....HURSHBURNER HB50 that whouldn't play!!!

In front of everyone he blatted through it even when asked to demenstrate it to the crowd. He never played it very loud or soft, so after the show, I introduced myself and asked him for a test toot.

I'm not lying, that HB50 was the worst horn I've ever played. I couldn't even make it sould good at ppp let alone at a normal volume and what's worse is; he ( the 2nd ownner) said "I had it worked on it was leaking
arround the bow to bell ferral it's better then it was when I got it if you can believe that!"

I am wondering if the pistons were in the wrong casings. I have heard similar stories before with 30 second fixes.

FWIW, the worst tuba I have ever owned was probably a B&M very similar to Dale's, BUT a factory CC instead of a Rusk cut CC. The factory BBb's were very good instruments, and if cut properly yielded should yield excellent results. This factory CC had the classic "York" sound, but despite the open notes being decent the pitch was all over the place and the response was equally uneven. Playing it on something like Bordogni was often an excerise in frustration. I replaced it eventually with (believe it or not) the 1290 that James spoke of, and the improvement was a night and day difference.

[windshieldbug]

A silver Paolo Rondoni, Verona 6/4 upright Eb rotary tuba. It has the most glorious sound (which I later found in my Meinl-Weston 6/4 F), but the intonation is not just bad, and not just real bad, but REALLY, REALLY BAD! I got it from my teacher, who also had got it for it's glorious sound from the widow of a Sons of Italy tuba player.

This horn is the exception; you do not pick an axe SOLELY FOR SOUND!

[Tubaing]

This is a pretty funny post so I'll join in for worst tubas I've ever played. Some of them are surprisingly from makers I usually like:

-a 3 valve Holton(maybe Conn?) Bb a student had last year...YIKES. There were patches on the bell and holes scattered throughout the instrument. My playing was messed up the rest of the day after playing it for 5 minutes.

Is this what you're speaking of?

[james]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!! Just seeing a picture of it made my skin crawl! Now, you did have another decent 3 valve Bb that you got in the same deal, if I remember corretly. That wasn't a bad instrument. This one, on the other hand, made babies cry and old ladies faint.

[Tubaing]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!! Just seeing a picture of it made my skin crawl! Now, you did have another decent 3 valve Bb that you got in the same deal, if I remember corretly. That wasn't a bad instrument. This one, on the other hand, made babies cry and old ladies faint.

Yep... Decent? 'bout 10 cracks in bell, no lacquer, leadpipe held on with twist ties, bell brace allways breaking. Yep pretty good horn. I have VIDEO Footage of you playing the above pictured horn. Both of these are Conn 15J.
FYI the baby sreaming, lady fainting tuba did not have any patches on the bell. Only about 20 cracks in the bell and a 3-4 inch crack directly after the valve block (although it was covered with scotch tape)

[BriceT]

F. Schmidt BBb tuba.....horrible intonation, range, and feel

[The Big Ben]

The good thing about this instrument is that the first and third valve worked well.

Leaving, of course, the middle finger for other more important gestures...

[Tubaing]

The good thing about this instrument is that the first and third valve worked well.

Leaving, of course, the middle finger for other more important gestures...

Absolutly

[TubaRay]

Any thing mataid by my middle school

What language is this? Being the old guy that I am, I am unable to translate.

[Cameron Gates]

a 3 valve Holton(maybe Conn?) Bb a student had last year...YIKES. There were patches on the bell and holes scattered throughout the instrument. My playing was messed up the rest of the day after playing it for 5 minutes.

James, I think I might agree with you on this one. They were Cousnon (sp) BBb tubas that were rebadged "holton".

I have worked on at least 40,000 of them (fairfax county owns a ton of them) and each one of them could NOT suck enough.

The problem with these horns is that the valve casings are very thick and durable. This makes these horns seem "usable" (to stupid clarinet-playing band directors) FAR after they should have been thrown the heck out. The 3rd valve tubing could be twisted and torn off the valve with little or no damage to the valve action. I HATE THESE INSTRUMENTS.

Also, the tuning slide in the leadpipe thing scared me.

I really do think that if all of the crap horns mentioned in this thread were played by everyone on this site, this brand and style - be it Holton or Cousnon - would win the contest by a mile.

Cameron Gates

Always putting in a halfassed repair effort on Holtoncousnon tuba-shaped instruments.

[TubaRay]

The King 1140 also plays like crap when it is all torn up...and (miraculously ) plays well after it is repaired.

Imagine that!

[The Big Ben]

The King 1140 also plays like crap when it is all torn up...and (miraculously ) plays well after it is repaired.

Imagine that!

Agreed! The King 1140 I had was pretty poor before it had its dents pulled and leaks fixed but made a nice sound and could be played in tune afterwards.

From what I have heard about the big Holtons, one should automatically figure in the cost of a refurbishment by a premier horn jockey into the purchase price.

[Rick Denney]

From what I have heard about the big Holtons, one should automatically figure in the cost of a refurbishment by a premier horn jockey into the purchase price.

"Refurbishment"? Naw. My Holton played as well before its recent repair work, or nearly enough so that I can't tell the difference before and after the several months of repair time.

But it sure works better. Now, I can adjust slides usefully and the first slide gives me the adjustment range I need to touch up a couple of funky notes.

And it looks better, without also looking like it's been messed with a lot. It still looks like an old Holton, which is is. I just doesn't look so much like an old Holton that was abused in schools and then semi-bent back into shape with a dent magnet.

I played it for four years before the repair, and even that repair would be hardly sufficient to qualify as "refurbishment".

But there are Holtons and then there are Holtons. The rebadged "Holton" Coeueueuueusnons described by Mr. Gates are not tubas at all. Any price paid beyond the scrap value of the brass is too much. I've never played a Couesnon that didn't sound a bass trombone with the water key removed.

Rick "whose initial 'refurb' of the Holton consisted only of aligning the first slide so that it would move, replacing the valve buttons with something appropriate for a tuba, and giving it a good bath" Denney