Portable Chair for Tuba Playing

[Steve Marcus]

Considering:

- comfort
- ability to adjust height
- durability
- compactness when folded for carrying and transporting
- light weight for easier carrying

Is a drum throne the best suggestion for a portable height-adjustable chair on which to sit while playing a tuba that rests on a tuba stand?

Is there a more convenient type of chair that would do the job properly or better? (A drum throne's cushioned seat would need to be protected from ripping, etc.)

There are several drum thrones offered by the big mail order houses for $29.99. Any reason to avoid them?

[scottw]

Considering:

- comfort
- ability to adjust height
- durability
- compactness when folded for carrying and transporting
- light weight for easier carrying
Is a drum throne the best suggestion for a portable height-adjustable chair on which to sit while playing a tuba that rests on a tuba stand?

A buddy has a setup that works well with him[ he doesn't use/need a playing stand]. He has a drum throne that's had the seat modified with an extension in the front for the bottom of the horn to rest. It is upholstered in a rugged naugahyde and big enough to be comfortable yet compact for transport. It happens the height of his 186 is perfect while sitting on the extension, but YMMV. [Maybe some adjustment up or down might be made when customizing the seat?] This is horn-specific and,in my opinion, not as good as a BB stand which can adjust to any chair.

[tubatooter1940]

I bought a nice triangular seat, well-padded drum throne made of stainless steel with height adjustment. My tuba has it's own stand. I'm not balancing it or taking any of the weight. I have a light weight tuba stand for indoor gigs and a heavy Tubatamer for outside in the wind.
I paid $60 for my drum throne (on sale) and the comfort is worth it.

[Steve Marcus]

a BB stand which can adjust to any chair.

I use a BBC tuba stand. But when a venue supplies an awful folding chair that sags backwards in the the middle, even the lowest position of the BBC stand is not comfortable with a 6/4 horn. Thus the inquiry about bringing one's own drum throne to eliminate that variable, as Alan Baer preached.

[peter birch]

I guess it depends on your transport arrangements, but I quite like sitting on a piano stool, or a keyboard bench to play.

[scottw]

a BB stand which can adjust to any chair.

I use a BBC tuba stand. But when a venue supplies an awful folding chair that sags backwards in the the middle, even the lowest position of the BBC stand is not comfortable with a 6/4 horn. Thus the inquiry about bringing one's own drum throne to eliminate that variable, as Alan Baer preached.

A bad chair can be a problem with any stand, BB included. I have 2 approaches to that problem:
1-I am a good scrounger, finding, then commandeering, a better chair [Did that yesterday]
2-I carry 4 plywood squares in my truck for this very purpose, especially on lawn jobs where the ground is soft and the chair sinks while the stand doesn't. Each is about 8" square and 5/8ths thick--works well.
I would be very reluctant to carry a drum throne and a playing stand as tubatooter suggests: it is just too much stuff to carry without feeling like the drummer!

[kathott]

Okay to the drum throne concept - but for the tuba, not you.
This is what I have done:

I looked for a drum throne with a small circular metal base plate (where the padded seat section bolts to the vertical corkscrew). A small base plate translates into a small area for the tuba to sit upon. Most drum thrones use an "X" shaped base plate which is too large an area to fit comfortably between you legs. I found a good quality Pearl circular base plate with four holes, close together.
Then I cut a very thick piece of plywood into a circle, about six inches in diameter, possibly less, I just eyeballed it. To this I glued several layers of cork, in the same circular shape. So, the tuba sits on a small circular plane of cork, glued to a firm wood base, bolted to the base plate.

I play a Rudolf Meinl 5/4 CC in an orchestra. After testing the latest/greatest, oldest/smoldest for a few years (including a couple of the the current Rolls Royce models), it has exactly the sound I want. However, it is not an easy instrument to hold for my particular body frame.
I looked at many tuba stands. this solution has been the best for me so far, because I can fine tune the height with a simple turn of the corkscrew base. I take the chair that I am given, and make the height adjustment with the tuba, not the player.

[David Richoux]

I used a drum throne for about 10 years - worked OK until one of the leg mounting brackets decided to give up - not a catastrophic failure, just a slow yield to breaking point. This was a high quality throne, US made.

Now I use whatever chair is available, exclusively.

[Wyvern]

I used a folding wooden chair fitted with Tubassist for the last 5 years and it works well. I will post picture when I can

[scottw]

BTW, Yamaha makes a tuba playing stand based on a drum throne. I've only seen it in Japan. I don't *think* it's available in North America.

This looks like K&M's style of leg-base. Very cumbersome, the high legs get in your way something awful.Give me the BB with the almost flat legs!

[Allen]

I use a drummer's throne when playing outdoors or when the furnished seating isn't good. I got the Roc-N-Soc Nitro model (with a gas cylinder). It is extremely comfortable and very rugged. It adjusts easily. Using it outdoors, so far the feet appear to be big enough not to sink into the soil, but I like the suggestion of using plywood squares for soft soil.

I don't use a tuba stand (my personal taste). However, this throne is big and heavy enough that I only take it with me when I think the seating will be bad. Also, I tried the backrest that they sell for this throne and didn't like it, so it has a permanent home in my closet. Anyway, backless seating promotes good posture!

Allen

[Mark]

I keep one of these in the back of my car for those elementary schools gigs where they give you an elementary school folding chair or a brass quintet gig where they ignored my requirements sheet and give me a chair with arms.

[swillafew]

Get a good drum throne, but then forget the part about it being light. The Quick Lock bench bench should about half the weight of a proper drum throne. A large person would get a benefit from the bench seat.

I have the Yamaha DS840; I like a screw height adjustment. It weighs about as much as small tuba.

[Rick Denney]

The folding piano bench has the advantage of being able to support a tuba in addition to the player, if the tuba is the right size to make it work. Just sit across the bench with a foot on either side, and the length of the bench will provide padded space for the horn.

Rick "who has been provided an unacceptable chair too rarely to be worth carrying one" Denney