Which BBb tuba?

[Rick Denney]

The 'Weltklang' BBb at Dillon Music might be
what you have in mind.

I played that tuba during a quick visit to Dillon yesterday (I had a meeting at the NJ Turnpike control center and it's less than a mile away). It's a great horn, like all the old tall-bell B&S-made rotary Bb tubas. It's about as close as you'll get to an Alex that actually plays in tune and is cheap. That tuba should NOT be sitting there. Someone should have bought it by now.

Rick "thinking that was the Bb sleeper in the Dillon inventory" Denney

[WakinAZ]

or maybe this other B&S : viewtopic.php?f=4&t=30046 for a grand (!) less.

Eric "who came very close to buying one of these horns, but felt they might come up a little short for his style of large ensemble playing, but who would consider one in a medium/small ensemble" L.

[eupher61]

rough gigs? sheesh, Dale, get over it. ANY gig can be a rough gig. Again, why set yourself up for disappointment or less-than-great performance with a less-than-great instrument?

The worst dent I ever put into a horn was in a practice room. A guy who was subbing in a community orchestra for me, a few weeks ago, tripped going offstage, and bent the leadpipe of his...well, I'm not sure what it is, but it's a 4/4 CC, silver plated, great condition except for this massively dented leadpipe and bell.

I can understand not wanting to take your 'orchestra' horn, but don't take a clunker either. The Piggy is your best deal, esp if the price dropped. (although, a BBb is technically not in the "Piggy" catagory, but that's a technicality.)

[iiipopes]

Hey! The price just lowered on the BBb in the "For Sale" section -- go for it!

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=30046" target="_blank

[eupher61]

OK, now we're down to real reasons.

I wash my F every week, for the exact reasons you mention.

Warning: This is going to sound like I'm a big ol' a-hle. That could well be the case.


But, learning a piece on a specific key horn, to me, means you don't really know it, you learned it by rote and know which buttons to push where. 600 tunes isn't all that many, IMO, and if you can play them on BBb you can play them on CC, IF you know the tune and not just fingerings, as long as you're fluent on both. I've played jazz on every key tuba, aside from the French C, sometimes changing from one gig to the next on the same day. If I can't play a tune well, it's my fault for not having the changes down cold.

See...told you I'm an a-hole...

[Rick Denney]

But, learning a piece on a specific key horn, to me, means you don't really know it, you learned it by rote and know which buttons to push where.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But I was chatting with Chuck Daellenbach some years ago after a clinic, and the topic of F or C tuba for quintet came up. There are many arguments he might have brought to bear to defend his use of C, but the one he chose to use in that conversation was "I've already got all those tunes memorized on C, and don't really want to learn all new fingerings."

So, you might not be an a-hole so much as having an innate ability that not all tuba players share, even those at the highest end of the biz.

Rick "not feeling guilty for being unable to play memorized tunes in any key" Denney

[Dean E]

I might consider one of the beater fiberglass BBbs on the auction site if the horn had to endure mistreatment during transport and at the performance location. So what if you need a little duct tape, fiberglass resin, or bondo?

I recently took a BBb York (brass) sousa I have to an outside event. Ifound that the BBb York sousa (which has a small bore) is considerably easier to play than my orchestral CC, although I had not played BBb since I left high school in 1965.

[lgb&dtuba]

Hot, sweaty, peel the laquer off, drinking "bier" the whole time we play--NOT the place for my precious Piggy!

Put a leather guard on the horn where you sweat. End of that problem. Swallow the beer before you start playing. End of that problem.

13 years of that kind of playing and drinking haven't managed to destroy my tuba. Yes, it has some dents. I'm not convinced that has anything to do with the playing environments. The worst dent on my horn happened the first day I owned it, took it out of the case and promptly knocked it against our piano. Your horn can get stepped on or knocked over wherever you are.

Unless you're playing behind chicken wire you just aren't in places all that rough.

Just buy whatever you like and can afford. Find a Miraphone 186 or clone and care of it. You'll be fine.

FWIW I just had a couple of dents removed from my TE 1150S euphonium. I had the euph in one hand and other stuff in the other hand and tripped over a curbing on the way to putting the horn back in its case. Sh*t happens wherever you are.