TUbajohn20J wrote:Dont let the fact that it has 3 valves steer you away from buying it. I can do everything on a 20J that I can with a 4 valver. (with the right mpc. PT48 or PT 50). The 3 valvers are great horns.
There are those who can do everything with a hosephone. But the question remains: How hard do you want to have to work?
I played three-valve instruments for all but a few months of my first 16 years of tuba playing (though half of those were dormant). Yes, they worked. But what a revelation it was for me to have that extra valve, and not have to work so hard to play in tune (or force those around me to work so hard to get around my bad intonation).
You can do just fine on a three-valve tuba for big portions of the repertoire. But there will come a time when you'll need to hold a low C at piano, and doing that will require pulling the third valve slide to keep it approximately in tune, since lipping it at piano for an extended note will probably undermine its tone. And then that pulled third valve will make the 2-3 combinations flat, and it will remove the 1-3 combination from the toolbox for dealing with the unusably flat third-partial F. Finding the right compromise for all the settings will just leave too many holes. For many genres, it doesn't matter as much. Band music for which sousaphones are used are usually written in flat keys so that you are unlikely to be asked to hold a piano low C, for example. And if you are playing in a Dixieland jazz band, you can play whatever notes you want. But in quintets and wind ensembles, you'll face the issue.
One common mod for three-valve sousaphones is to make the first (and maybe third) upper crook a pullable tuning slide, and it is easily reached with the left hand. But reaching slides for pulling on a 20J is not easy. Many performers find the need to adjust slides even on four and five-valved tubas in order to really play in tune with resonant tone. The rotary and front-action piston tubas recommended in this thread make such adjustments easy. One of the big problems with the 2xJ is the ergonomics. And your bell will usually be pointed opposite the bells of other players, making section seating a problem of minimizing hazards. Been there, done that.
I think The Jackson's response to his test of the 20J showed a lot of maturity and good sense, recognizing the grand sound but realizing the short-comings that have to be overcome. Those short-comings might not be as obvious to everyone.
Rick "who has owned a 20J, but could never use it in an ensemble effectively" Denney
