Conn 25j ?

[Lectron]

A lot of people describes this instrument as 'fun to play'

Can someone try to describe more of it's characteristics?
I understand when it comes to sound, a 25J sounds like a 25J no matter who's playing
but could it blend in a Brass band?

What I am looking for is an instrument which primary role is doing most 8va basso.
I am using mostly a st.pete 202 5V now and occasional a Miraphone 12915.
Both being preferable by far over the 'standard uniform' Besson sov.

The Holton is also an instrument I'm looking for, but I understand it's much harder to find

Thank You

[Ben]

Conn 25j's (4v) tend to be very rare, I have never owned one, but I have owned a very similar horn, the 20 recording bass (3v). These horns are very "pillowy" in the low end. My horn spoke quickly in the low register and was nimble. I did not hear it as a good match for brass band music at the time, but I do think you could make it work. I see the Conm 2X's sonically as a pillowy wall of sound, versus the Holton which is thicker, more focused but still very rich and dark. (words are a terrible medium for aural qualitative descriptors)

Be prepared for a flat 3rd partial on the 2x's, as some (not all) of these horns exhibit this feature.

Good luck. I am sure a more articulate individual will chime in.

[Steve Marcus]

My first tuba was a 25J...actually it was a 24J forward bell horn when I acquired it. I played it in concert band as an initially self-taught tubist.

When I made my first foray into the brass band world, a member of the CSO was the guest conductor for the first and last concert that I played with that ensemble. (Later, with a much improved horn and technique, I was a member of two other brass bands.) At the warm-up, he went from player to player with a tuner. When he saw the forward bell of the Conn beast, he just took his tuner and went on to the next player. I was so embarrassed that I felt like crawling into a hole.

Soon after that, I was performing a piano inventory at a high school for my job. When I entered the band room, I saw four 25Js. "I'll trade you my forward bell for the worst of your upright bells." The band director, who probably wasn't aware of how rare the 24" upright bell was becoming, agreed to the swap. "One of my students will certainly dig the forward bell," he reasoned. I trotted away with the upright bell like a cat who quietly swallowed the mouse and never looked back.

After having the 24" upright bell rolled out, I played that 25J for a few years. I even began my first formal tuba lessons with Rex Martin on that horn. Shortly after that, Rex told me that the Conn was holding back my progress. While I searched for a CC, I actually played that Conn 25J in the final Master Class that Arnold Jacobs conducted at Northwestern University in the summer of 1998. A certain well-known tubist who is himself a former Jacobs student and has his own brass retail operation snickered and kiddingly said that with the 24" upright bell and wide throat, the 25J looked like a trash can (he now good-naturedly denies that he ever said such a thing).

While I was waiting for my Nirschl CC to arrive, I brought the 25J to the International Tuba-Euphonium Workshop at University of Oklahoma with Sam Pilafian, Deanna Swoboda, Brian Bowman, and Ted Cox as faculty. By then, to carry the beast from dorm to music building, I had had an Altieri carrying bag custom made for the Conn. Imagine me at 5'3" carrying this on my back. "Is that a 6/4 tuba?" the younger students would often ask. After a private lesson with Sam, he suggested that I perform the Hindemith Sonata for the final workshop concert...on that Conn 25J. Since there was a pianist who could barely make it through the challenging third movement, I complied.

I had to sell the 25J to help pay for my Nirschl. I'm very happy with the horns that I own now including the Nirschl, of course. I don't regret that move at all. But there is a certain nostalgic place in my head and heart for my first tuba, that big 25J. If I were able to "collect" tubas, it would still be with me to enjoy its "unique" characteristics. But someone on the west coast purchased it and, if (s)he still owns it, is probably very happy with it.

[Lectron]

Thank you both very much for the information.

The sound being pillowy is not necessarily a bad thing
There are 2 other BBbs (and 2 Ebs) doing the "character" work.

An instrument this size being very nimble and agile is not something I would expect,
but it would of course be a great bonus to have something that could remotely
sound like those qualities

[Lectron]

Well, what do you know.

Lectron just got himselves a 25J (TA) with upright and recording bell

[sloan]

Don't know about these new-fangled modern 25J's and 27J's. I make do with a 36J (Williston edition)

[GC]

I owned one for three years and had a lot of fun with it. The pedal register and false tones are good, and I could play more easily with false tones from Db to B than with fourth valve combinations. You can get a lot of volume from these babies without huge effort. I used mine in brass band, and it fit well.

Ones that have tight valves and no dents in the leadpipe or valve tubing usually have pretty good intonation, but even a few minor dents in the wrong places can cause big intonation problems. A lot of folks judge these horns from specimens that have been beaten to death, and that's unfortunate.

I preferred medium to medium-large mouthpieces with the 25J. A huge mouthpiece can make the sound tubby and intonation in the high register harder to control. Unlike a lot of really large horns, the big Conns can be played reasonably softly for small ensemble work.

If I had not decided to convert exclusively to Eb, I'd still be playing it (having to carry it up two flights of stairs a couple of days a week had something to do with it, too). Even when I switched to Eb, I still stuck with the big Conns.