Capital/Army Tuba Conference

[bisontuba]

Hi-

Soooo... For those of you attending, which instruments that YOU tried did you like/dislike.......

Regards-
Mark

[bisontuba]

Hi-
I see some nice pics and familiar faces on Barthsbrassblog.com website album for the Conference.......
Mark

[oldbandnerd]

I'm pretty sure I played almost every euphonium there. Willson 2900 is still my No.1 pick ..... after my Boosey&Haweks Imperial . I played a couple of new ones that I had never tried before.
1)Gemeinhardt ... yeah I said it ..... Gemeinhardt . Like the flute maker. Who knew ?
* They had a compensated 3+1 there. I found it stuffy with a thin sound but other wise well built with very fast valves. My
friend who was with me said he liked the sound of it. I am willing to give the benifit of a doubt here because it so so loud
in the room and my one good ear was totally overwhelmed. I may not have been hearing myself well
* They also had a student model non-compensated 3+1 that was ergonomically designed for a smaller player. It was hard fo
me to hold and reach the the 3 main valves and the buttom for the 4th was under the knuckle closest to the hand and not
the tip of my finger. I liked the sound of this one better and it wasn't hard to play.
2)Eastman 3+1 compensated. I found it stuffy too play but liked the way it sounded. It was very well built and felt solid.
I came back to play this one 3 times. The last time it didn't seem stuffy at all and was easy to play. I don't really know
why this is so but I enjoyed playing it.
3)Adams - Dillon had a model of this on dispalyand I am not sure if it was new or used. After all I had read about this company and
how they hand craft all their brass by hand I was surprised at how underwhelmed I was with it with. I was expecting
more.
4) Lee Stoffer had a Kanstul model that based on the old Besson designs. I played a version of this last year and another version of
this year. It had a really good sound and was very very and easy blowing from top to bottom. For anyone looking for a no
frills but excellent playing horn this might be what you looking. I don't know what it's price is but I recall Lee telling me it
was competitively priced

Everything elses was the ususal Sterling,Yamaha,Besson etc. I can't speak to any of the intonation issuses becuase I would need a quite room and a tuner and time with each horn to really be able to make that sort of evaulation. I'm just good...

I had great time this year. It was good to meet bloke and snorlax in person. Both are real good guys and southern gentlemen. I saw Ray Grimm (tubaray) and Rick Denny only in passing while leaving the concert hall . Sorry I didn't get to chat more with you guys.

[ken k]

miraphone 187 BBb was my favorite with the 191 a close second. I was checking out BBbs. I also played a used Yamaha Eb at Baltimore Brass which I liked and a Besson 980- Eb At Dillons which was very nice too. I did not have my Boosey & Hawkes on hand to compare however.

M&M had a stand and the big BBb 191 clone was very nice as was the Eb Besson clone, The 191 clone costs $4100 and the Eb costs $2400. they also had a cute little four valved rotary BBb for $1600. All three for the price of a Miraphone!! Granted they were not as nice as the miraphone but they were close.

k

[pgym]

Is that the Gemeinhardt I-808/P. Weingrill EU-2 compensator?

[bisontuba]

Hi-
I 'believe' it is the Gemeinhardt compensator....
Mark

[oldbandnerd]

Yes. That was the Gemeinhardt compensator. Interesting thing about that horn was it's "Inney/Outty" ( as the sales rep called it) tuning gizzmo. It was a spring loaded tuning slide that you could move up or down easily tuning the horn flat or sharp as needed . I thought it was really clever.
LJV ... it was good running into you at the workshop also . It's good to keep in contact with another low brass player who also live where I do. I know of so few here in Richmond. Was it really neceassary to post my picture here? I was trying to stay incognito ... . Now you're just scaring away all the women and children from here with my ugly mug.

[bort]

For those looking for the photo link...

https://picasaweb.google.com/1095046074 ... erence2012

I think it should be subtitled "Where do I put my left hand while playing this thing?"

[ASTuba]

Hands down, the best F tuba there, IMO, was the Gemeinhardt. Richard Barth has done some incredible things, and I really think he's taking tubas into a realm that they haven't been in a long time. I'm really impressed by the new concepts, the sound quality, and the ease of playing. Not to mention that these are affordable instruments. Every time I saw someone that I knew at TUSABTEW, the first thing I said was, "Have you played the Gemeinhardt's?"

There were lots of great CC tubas: the Gemeinhardt was great, there was an older 186 (I believe) at Baltimore Brass that was a keeper, not to mention the Tuono and the new 3450 3/4 CC. The Dillon 1185 was a great player as well, and I thought a bit better than the rest. The response and sound quality were fantastic and Matt deserves a lot of kudos for the work he did on that tuba.

I was impressed by some of the qualities of the Kanstul tubas, but, in my opinion, they still need some work. The ergonomics of the instruments aren't great, as they tend to want to lean away from the player. There was no good way to reach the slides on the CC grand, as the top bow was too tall. However, they do have good response, and decent sound. The larger F has some intonation tendencies that weren't great, but I understand that was a prototype.

All in all, a good year in the exhibits, even if I do have "Justin Bieber hair"

[bbocaner]

I'm just a euphonium player considering buying a tuba for doubling and fun, so my opinions aren't so well informed yet, but I did try a bunch of instruments and was severely smitten by the Meinl Weston 3450 at Baltimore Brass's display!

[Doug Elliott]

Is it just me, or was the exhibit "elephant room" louder than usual? Maybe I'm just getting more sensitive to low frequencies. It sounded like a whole fleet of garbage trucks loading at the same time. No offense intended...

[bisontuba]

Comments from anyone who played the Gmeinhardt CC? Sizewise, what instruments would you compare it with?

Hi-
Don Harry has it for 2 days for Eastman & then I'll have it for 2 weeks--I'll give my thoughts on it-I know Don likes it very much.
Mark

[bud]

The mw 3450 at baltimore brass was very easy to play. It was smooth, had fast response, and no stuffiness. It had a large dynamic range for its size. It is my new favorite small cc tuba.

It was Mr Fedderly's personal tuba since there are not any currently available. On the bell it said 3450W. Anybody know what the W stands for?

[oldbandnerd]

Musta been an impostor! I wasn't there...

You are correct LJV ! I have mistaken you for LCH3. So sorry.

[chhite]

I'lll probably be flamed for this but I don't care. Here goes; the MW3450 was a good plug 'n play horn, had a comfortable design, and is worthy of consideration for a small to midsize horn. What I didn't like is that it was (for me) just a "little Thor." I am not able to coax out many tone colors from the Thor and this is the same for me, just smaller. If that's what you're looking for, it's a great horn, but not for me.

I will say that more time outside of the elephant room and a wide selection of mouthpieces might give me a different opinion.

[LCH3]

Musta been an impostor! I wasn't there...

You are correct LJV ! I have mistaken you for LCH3. So sorry.

Yep, that was me who talked with Old Band Nerd.

[Bill Troiano]

I had a great time at the conference. Plus, I flew my son, Chris, in from UNT. Some of you might have heard his arrangement of "Fanfare for the Common Man" performed by the service band Euphonium Choir, conducted by Brian Bowman. Plus,it's always great to see so many people that I only get to see at this conference each year.

I only played the CC tubas. When doing a comparison or evaluating them, I can't go from CC to F without my brain short circuiting. I did plan to play the F's on Sat., but I never got around to it (too much BS'ing with everyone.) And, if I'm going to attend an event like this, I want to hear as many of the performances as I can. Of the CC's, my favorites, in order - MW3450. I thought it played bigger than it's size. It did have a .748 bore, graduating through the 4th and 5th valves. I would say it's comparable, soundwise, to a 5XJ or 4/4 Gnagey. It was very comfortable for me to hold and it didn't have the large valve set. The Dillon 6/4 was a great sounding tuba (from what I could tell in that room) and very responsive. The Miraphone 1293 was a nice horn too, although the valves might be too large for my taste. The Gemeinhart CC played very well too, although I don't think I liked the dependent 5th valve idea, especially because it eliminates the 523 combination. I couldn't tell that the system made the horn respond better. Maybe, it does. It played well and size wise, I would think it's similar to a Besson 995. I always enjoy playing the PT 20P also. I didn't care for the 4/4 Kanstul last year, but maybe they've made improvements. I did like it much better this year. I still find it little awkward to hold, for me, due to the height of the top bow.

The Dogfish Head beer at the Dogfish Head Ale House was outstanding too!!

[Rick Denney]

Hands down, the best F tuba there, IMO, was the Gemeinhardt.

It was nice--a completely competent F tuba. The Miraphone Belcanto was nicer for me. But, doggone it, the B&S-style F tuba still has a sweetness many of those others lack. After playing and enjoying the Belcanto and the Gemeinhardt, I went over and tried the JBL Classic B&S. Just gorgeous.

I was less happy with the Kanstul, which seemed to me rather stuffy in the low register.

Also, I think the Gemeinhardt needs more bracing. You can wiggle the valve body and bind the first valve. I won't say who discovered this fact, but I witnessed it.

But there are lots of imminently playable F tubas on the market these days--something to match every taste.

Of the C tubas I played, the Dillon 6/4 was the best, and it was the best going away. It was a fabulous big tuba and I can see why demand exceeds capacity. The 3450 was very nice, too, though for me it was more difficult in the upper register than a tuba that size seemed like it should have been, as a balance for how much better it was in the low register for a tuba that size. In that regard, it reminds me of my Yamaha 621 F tuba.

Rick "who spent lots of time jabbering with Bloke, partly to escape the elephants" Denney