5 Valve BBb or 5 Valve CC?

[Bob Kolada]

WHAT was it? FWIW, those Schillbrunners are quite nice, easy playing horns.
Did you not check out the links and eBay horns from my first post? Those Weltklang/VMI Bb's rock- I find them clearer and easier to play than 186's.

For a big contrabass I pick Bb all night and all day. Big Bb's give me -whatever it is- that big C's cannot. I'm a bass tuba guy; when I play a contrabass I want a big, badass horn with THE sound. Let me quote myself -

One of my favorite quotes on here-

It seems silly to me to shun a horn for it's "BBb ness" when what you are trying to achieve is a bigger more BBb-like sound.

For me that's a Miraphone 191 or 1291 Bb. I don't particularly like the Fafners, don't think the giant Miraphone is quite it, haven't played big Rudys,... None of THAT really helps you except you should keep your eyes open for an affordable 191/try IN PERSON 1291 copies. The 191 is a friggin beast to the extent that it really should be paired up with an easy playing bass tuba for best results.

[Levaix]

I'd like to thank everyone for the replies.
Yes,goodgigs, I'll be open to any new horns that may come along, and there is a community band in my area, which I'm in. Also, I live near the University Of Illinois, which has a great school of music. Ive talked with their tuba professor, Mark Moore several times and I know several members of the Marching Illini.
Now that I have been advised to wait before rushing in to a bad purchase, a new question arrises: what BBb/CC horns so you recommend?

Since you're near U of I, you should see if one of the sousas will bring you along to the next Midwest Clinic in December. Or even better, see if you can tag along to the next ITEC with someone. In terms of horns, tried-and-true for CC is the B&S PT-6, and MW Fafner for BBb. If you're looking for a big orchestral horn it's hard to go wrong with one of these, but it's still best to try a boat-load of horns with a pro or semi-pro tubist.

[Aardvark892]

You're lucky enough to be young enough to not have built difficult habits around a B flat horn, and I believe now would be a great time to start learning another key.

Eventually, if you're serious about being a professional player, you'll need to learn all of the different Tuba keys. However, all that said, if you've been learning on a B flat, stick with it. It'll do you no good to switch now before you've built a solid foundation on the key you're already playing. Stick-to-it-iveness will see you through.

At least, that's my two cents.

[SousaWarrior9]

Sadly, I never figured out what brand/model the BBb was. but I finally got his contact info, so I'll continue asking him questions about the horn, even if he is unlikely to sell it.

So far, I've seen a lot of suggestions for the 186 and the JinBao is a 186 clone. But then again, it just seems too good of a price to be a top quality horn.

The reason I was asking this question in the fitst place is because I don't want to become dependent on 3 valve BBb fingerings. I switched to the tuba back in 6th grade from the horn and it took me quite a while to switch from F to BBb (not to mention the change in mouthpiece size) Anyway, the point is it takes me awhile to learn new sets of fingerings, so if I really want to be a serious tuba player, the sooner I learn CC fingering, the better I'll be by the time I get to college (I probably won't have enough money 'till my Junior year in high school, anyway.)

I'm also not a big fan of the 'temporary horn' idea because if I don't have that much money to start with, and I buy a mediocre horn, and then I'm not able to sell it later on, I'm screwed. In my mind (and I could be wrong) its best just to save up until you have enough to buy a top-of-the-line horn, which is why I'm not set on buying the JinBao.

[Mark]

Since DP has not said it, I will: You need to get a professional tuba player to give you lessons and you need to talk with them about what tuba you should purchase.

Unfortunately, much of the advice you get from people on TubeNet is worth exactly what you paid for it.