Tuba Testing

[sailn2ba]

It would be very useful to me, and to other non-professionals, I think, to have a list of places in the US that stock a variety of horns that a person could test play. If such a list exists, perhaps someone could point me to it.
It would also be useful to have some guidelines as to what to do/look for when test-playing. I know that one should know what you're looking for in a horn, take a tuner with you, take a better player than yourself to listen if you can, etc?.
There're also the issues of getting accustomed to a bigger/smaller bore or to a different key tuba, (I thought that a CC would be close enough to my BBb that I wouldn't notice the difference, but I had discomfort setting pitches.) I've also heard that different horns work better with different mouthpieces. I understand that some dealers will allow you 30 days or so try a horn if you take care of transportation (and, of course, take care of the horn). . . But what if you order a slow-selling model, like a 5-valve?

[Rick Denney]

It would be very useful to me, and to other non-professionals, I think, to have a list of places in the US that stock a variety of horns that a person could test play. If such a list exists, perhaps someone could point me to it.
It would also be useful to have some guidelines as to what to do/look for when test-playing. I know that one should know what you're looking for in a horn, take a tuner with you, take a better player than yourself to listen if you can, etc?.
There're also the issues of getting accustomed to a bigger/smaller bore or to a different key tuba, (I thought that a CC would be close enough to my BBb that I wouldn't notice the difference, but I had discomfort setting pitches.) I've also heard that different horns work better with different mouthpieces. I understand that some dealers will allow you 30 days or so try a horn if you take care of transportation (and, of course, take care of the horn). . . But what if you order a slow-selling model, like a 5-valve?

That list is available just by clicking the "shops" button at the top of your screen.

As I review my own purchases, here are some anecdotes that may help form some answers to your questions. There is no deterministic, 100% reliable means of choosing an instrument. The choice is so personal that sometimes you end up making a leap of faith. The good news is that it's not a marriage, and thus you don't have to feel guilty if you later need a divorce.

When I was fresh returnee to playing the tuba, after 8 years of absence, I used what I had. It was terrible. But it worked. When it came time (mid-80's) to buy something that would make it possible for me not to feel like I was being held back (notice how I acknowledge that this was perception and not necessarily truth), I drooled over pictures of Miraphone 186's in the magazines. I even called some dealers, including this fellow in Memphis (gee, I wonder who that could be?) who always had a picture of a Miraphone 188 on his ad in the TUBA Journal. He gave me a price well beyond my means, though I gave it serious consideration. I grew up as a tuba player in the time when there was Miraphone and then everything else. Such was the influence Roger Bobo had on his generation. So, I called Custom Music and talked with Jeff Funderburk, who recommended a Sanders to me after hearing my description of my playing. Truth to tell, I could be playing that instrument today and still be a happy tuba player. But I did not test the instrument beforehand. Why? Because I didn't have sufficient experience 1.) to know what sound I wanted, 2.) to know what a tuba needed to provide to make that sound, or 3.) to have the ears necessary to recognize that sound. About that time, I attended the ITEC conference when it was held at the University of Texas (1986), and played many instruments. I sounded like me on all of them, and had no basis for making a choice. At that time, I just needed to buy a competent tuba and start playing it.

Later, I bought a Musica F tuba (four valves) because it was cheap. It served its purpose which was to give me an opportunity to learn F tuba fingerings. Then, I bought a Yamaha 621, because I could make reasonable sounds on it down in the low register where the quintet music I was playing then ventured quite frequently (unlike the B&S alternative given my abilities at the time), and I could afford it. My test was simple and directed to the needs at hand: Could I play it below the staff and not sound like a constipated pig. The Sanders and the Musica became trade fodder for a well-used Miraphone 186. The Miraphone and the Yamaha worked for me, and I still have them. The Sanders and the Musica had run their course with me, and I traded them for something better, with little if any loss of value.

Now, when I play tubas under serious consideration, I have a more refined purpose, and playing many of them side-by-side has real value. But for that first instrument, following the standard advice of playing everything and letting the instrument pick me would have provided little useful guidance, and I was better off letting Jeff Funderburk pick one of the cheapie Cerveny stencils they sold at the time.

When I bought the Holton, I knew I would buy it after playing a single low Bb when I auditioned it at Baltimore Brass. It had THE sound. I play-tested it a lot more, and compared it with all the other big tubas at the store, most of which were C tubas far beyond what I was willing to pay, and I also compared it with my current main instrument at the time, a York Master. But all that was just to let my brain get used to the fact that I was about to write a big check. My purpose for that instrument was to make the big sound, and for me that includes a lot of harmonic content. I'd played lots of big tubas that didn't provide that for me, and this one did. The low Bb was the determining note, because that's the note that most clearly demonstrated the sound I was seeking. More importantly, I had an instant emotional connection with the instrument that I believe I would have never been able to detect or understand in my younger years. That connection was based on a sound concept.

When I bought the B&S, I had a more specific purpose. I like my Yamaha F tuba, and it has been a super-productive tool for me. But I was occasionally using F in band for certain orchestral transcriptions, and the Yamaha was just too small to keep up with the large ensemble. But I also wanted an F tuba with a characteristic German F-tuba sound, as exemplified to me by several German performers, one of whom was Hans Nickel. I perceived that sound to be ethereal when necessary, gutsy and fat when needed, and a distinctive voice between a contrabass and a tenor tuba. Many of the big F's sounded like C's. And many of those that didn't couldn't get out. To test the latter feature, I asked Dr. Sloan to serve as listener, and backed him up 20 feet into the Elephant Room at the Army Conference. There is no better test of projection I can think of. He could not even hear me playing a YFB-621, which I knew well, but could easily hear me play the old B&S I ended up buying. And it had the characteristic sound that the Yamaha never did, and could penetrate any ensemble. That test included at least half a dozen instruments, including all the usual orchestral F suspects. So, I conducted specific tests when auditioning the instruments based on my specific needs when buying the instrument.

So, maybe the common thread is that we evaluate instrument based on our needs at the time. When just starting out, we need a competent general-purpose instrument that won't hold us back as we learn, but trying to be more specific than that given an as-yet unformed embouchure and sound concept is just a waste of time. As our own sound concept matures (along with our chops), we move on to instruments that provide that concept and still remain sufficiently playable. Later still, we may buy specialty instruments that are useful in specific situations where we have a very clear idea of what we need. But trying to apply those specific objectives of more mature players to the broader needs of young players might just end up causing more confusion than clarity.

In answer to your question, then, there is no one evaluation method that I would be prepared to recommend to everyone. Sometimes, we need the extra set of ears, sometimes we make a decision on an emotional reaction, and sometimes we are just as well off getting advice over the phone from a trustworthy tuba consultant at a store (or from our teacher).

By the way, I didn't tell you the methods I used for making selections that didn't work. But I paid a small price for taking those risks. I've sold or traded away maybe four or five tubas over the years, and I think I might be as much as a coupla hundred bucks down on those transactions. Buying a tuba, especially a used instrument, and excepting some new instruments at the very top of the market, is a pretty low-risk venture.

One other thing: The more you are prepared to spend, the more you should know what you want well enough to make a reasonably quick decision. If you can't decide whether that $12,000 five-valve orchestral C is the right instrument in a month, then maybe you should be shopping for a used Miraphone 188 at half the price, or sticking with what you already have.

Rick "recommending against analysis paralysis, especially for inexperienced tuba buyers" Denney

[sailn2ba]

Thanks, Rick. I can empathize with everything you said.
BUT. . Let me back off and just ask for names and locations of dealers that kepp a selection of horns in stock. BobF

[Rick Denney]

Thanks, Rick. I can empathize with everything you said.
BUT. . Let me back off and just ask for names and locations of dealers that kepp a selection of horns in stock. BobF

Go to "shops" above. Here are the shops linked there that maintain at least some stock (some more than others):

Baltimore Brass
Brasswind
Custom Music
Dillon Music
Low Brass Werks (now part of Ferguson)
Tuba Exchange

Rick "who likes the ring of shop names that include B's and D's" Denney

[Barney]

Go to "shops" above. Here are the shops linked there that maintain at least some stock (some more than others):

Baltimore Brass
Brasswind
Custom Music
Dillon Music
Low Brass Werks (now part of Ferguson)
Tuba Exchange

Rick "who likes the ring of shop names that include B's and D's" Denney

One important omission to that list (I know, it's not listed in the outdated "shops" section, but is an important tuba retailer [and a tubenet sponsor]): Tubadome