I had a chance to stop by Elkhart and give these horns a spin. Keep in mind I am not a pro nor do I claim any expertise above and beyond my own personal experience.
I tried out the F, the 4/4 CC, and the 6/4 CC. Richard was kind enough to host me for a while in the loading dock next to his workbench. The CC I can say was easily competitive with any other 4/4 CC I have tried in the past few years in terms of being a great universal instrument. I can see that horn being appropriate for just about any playing situation you can think of. I enjoyed the responsiveness of the horn especially in the mid and low register. I did have to play some games with mouthpieces to find one that I thought really connected to it. It took some getting used to in terms of holding the instrument in my lap. All you have to do is look at Richard's blog to see the many many ways people try to hold the horn. After about 10 minutes I found it to be comfortable and easily forgot about it. The high range was less limiting than other horns of a similar ilk in my opinion. I played a couple of different 4/4 horns before I found one that fit me best. One of them just would not speak well on an Ab at the top of the staff. The other was fine. Go in with a tuner. Try as I might I could not get the low register to get blatty or cracked. It just got warmer and more "electric" the more I pushed it. This is what led me to think this would be a good all-around orchestra horn also for most players. Of all the horns that I played, the 4/4 CC was the standout. Finish and construction I thought were very nice and tight. Felt very solid in my hands. No "cheapness" to it.
I tried the F next. Played three of them side by side. Very different than what I am used to on my F. If you live in fear of the low register or "dreaded low C" then maybe you should try one of these out. Very friendly to the CC or BBb player. No issues with high register. Had no problems with the Symphonie Fantastique run up to the Bb. Valves never got in my way on the fast stuff. Easy to do the technical stuff. Richard suggested I not try the horn with a stereotypical F tuba mouthpiece and just use my regular mouthpiece. This proved to be good advice. I would love to use one of these in a brass quintet or most of the symphonic F tuba rep. The tradeoff? Maybe my time was limited on the horn but in my head this F sounds like a CC and does not emulate the soloistic sound I can get from my miraphone 181. Take from that what you will. It all depends on what you are looking to do with an F horn. That said, this F has a better scale and tuning than most other Fs I have played, including the pricey German horns. It's nice to play it without having to worry about the usual things that cross your mind while playing an F. The thing that bothered me most about the F was the fact that one of the valve slides sticks out a bit in the back of the horn. If you play with the horn near your stomach then this will likely bug you also when you inhale deeply. YMMV
Spent a few minutes with a 6/4 CC that Richard pulled out of the box just a few minutes before. I had a lot of trouble with the horn owing to the fact that the leadpipe felt very high, and that it did not yet have a thumbring. I am 5'10" for reference. My DEG stand would not go low enough to make it comfortable for me either with the chair I was using. If I bought one I would probably ask Richard to move the leadpipe for me. Also, this particular horn was consistently flat. Richard suspected this and I confirmed it for him. He had it up on his workbench a few minutes later and set about shortening up the MTS. There is a level of comfort there knowing that the guy selling you the horn can also do all the modifications you might need on the spot. Personally I am going to wait a few more generations on this horn before I revisit. Sticking with my Neptune for now.
As for the 5th valve, I personally never use the 5th valve without the 4th so I had no issues with the dependent setup. Also I will admit the rubber band thing was weird at first. My thumb kept hitting the main valve block as I was playing, but looking it I realized there are a number of advantages to this setup. First, the trigger post can be moved around on the plate so you can position it in such a way that is best suited to your hand. Second, the trigger post can be configured to roll under your thumb or sit fixed, another personal choice. Last the rubber bands allow you to choose the amount of tension and kickback you want the valve to have. And of course you can replace the bands yourself with whatever you choose. I see bass trombone players rigging up their triggers with rubber bands all the time so it is not like this a new or untested concept. It may not be for everyone, but don't dismiss it without examining the benefits.
Last, I used to own a Chinese copy. Very decent horn truth be told, but I can say that the relationship between the clones and Richard's horns extends only the shipping label on the box. Very different animals altogether. Different concept. Different product. I think anyone who is trying to lump these horns in with the clones should actually sit down with one for a while and see for themselves. In the end this is true for any tuba from any factory anyway. If you go in to try these horns make sure you ask Richard to check the valves as they probably could use some oil. Also be prepared to try a few horns and compare. But as I said before you should be doing this with any horn you try anyway.
I came away from my visit with a very positive outlook on Richard's horns especially that 4/4 CC. I think he is on to something good and very much worth considering if you are in the market.
