How many tubas should one own?

[ad4m]

I think it depends on what country one is in and what kind of music one plays. If you play in a British brass band on 'Eb bass' and that is all the playing you do then you will not need a CC or F or BBb or whatever. If you do not play in an Opera orchestra a Cimbasso also isn't a necessity surely, and even then Covent garden in London use a contra bass trombone instead of a Cimbasso so no need for a Cimbasso for the tubist there. So in my humble opinion an army of Tubas is a waste of money unless you have an orchestral job or play in bands that require them. However I cannot talk as I own as well as my standard EEb a CC and an Ophicleide....

[bort]

I am lucky to still married as they are difficult to hide. My wife says as long as they are tubas and not other women I am safe

You can't just hide them among the hundreds of tubas you sell through your company?

[windshieldbug]

If you have a permanent job playing only one style of music, than just one will do. (maybe another as an emergency spare)

If you're a free lancer that may get any gig, then you'll always need that ophecleide at least, plus as many tubas as the house/car/storage facility will hold...

[bearphonium]

I am an amateur playing in four different groups; two concert bands, one marching band, and one tuba ensemble. I have:

A Conn 19i 4 valve euphonium
A 3/4 Yorkmaster BBb tuba, bell front, 3 valve
A 3/4 VMI 201 BBb tuba, upright, 4 valve
A 1962 King BBb brass sousaphone

I play the VMI for the non-marching gigs and the sousaphone for marching gigs. I play the euphonium for fun, and have fond hopes of turning the Yorkmaster into a 4 valve horn.

[cambrook]

As Malcolm Forbes allegedly said: "He who dies with the most toys wins"

The line between want and need is a vey blurry and flexible one.... I started my career with one CC tuba, (a Piggy) - and I played everything on it. I now find that life is much easier when using the right tool for the job...

Everyone's situation is different, if I was freelancing I couldn't afford the number of instruments I currently have (or have access to). I'm very fortunate that my orchestra provides some instruments, so I have in my "arsenal":

MW 6450/2 CC
York EEb (in restoration)
MW 2250 F
Rudy Meinl 4/4 F (on the way from Germany as I write this....)
MW 182
Haag F cimbasso

While I can play all the notes on pretty much any tuba, it's much easier to play Berlioz etc on the little 182 than it was on the piggy. Maybe one day I can add a RM Bayreuth BBb to the list?

[opus37]

A local radio personality has devised something called a cylinder index. In his case, he is counting the number of cylinders in all the internal combustion engines you own. I think this question is a corollary. I suggest you count up the number of cylinders, piston or rotary, on your instruments and report that. The higher the number the more status you have. (Trombone slides along with instruments that would not be classified as low brass do not count). My cylinder index is 14.

[EdFirth]

Conn 36J-King Monster Rotary-Martin Mammoth-old style King- New Style King-all Bb's with both bells(except the new style King and four valves(except the Martin-Conn 4 valve ftont Banger-2 King 3 valve bangers in Eb- and a King 4 valve baritone. Way too many for someone on the verge of retirement.But I have played them All for money over the years.Oh Yeah, and a plywwod bass fiddle.Ed

[1895King]

I have 10 tubas plus 2 euphoniums, 1 valve and 2 slide trombones, 2 Eb cornets, 2 Bb cornets, a cornopean, 3 alto horns, a rope tension snare drum, and a rope tension bass drum; enough to do a 19th century military band if I'd get off my duff.
Tubas:
ca. 1903 King BBb
1891 Conn Eb
1908 Holton Eb
1926 Conn Monster Eb
1927 American Standard Eb
1905 King Eb
1908 York Eb
York Eb Sousaphone
Buescher Eb Helicon
Pelitti Eb Helicon

[Mark]

Enough to reach the ground.

[TubaRay]

Before I read all of the thread, I was going to say, "As many as possible."

[iiipopes]

At least one.

[Wyvern]

Depends on your playing, budget and enthusiasm!

I would say;

6/4 contrabass tuba (CC or BBb)
4/4 contrabass tuba (CC or BBb)
EEb tuba
F tuba
BBb compensated (for brass banding)
sousaphone
travel tuba
cimbasso
ophicleide
euphonium
Kaiser baritone
bass trombone (if you are into slides)

[eupher61]

To the specific question "SHOULD"...as many as are needed. If you play only in a community band, one should do it.
If you play in different groups, different sized, maybe 2.
If you play as a free-lancer playing gigs that require different sounds and qualities, maybe 2 or 3.

It just so happens that one guy in NYC does everything from orchestra to dixie to rock/metal/alternative on a 186 CC.

Quantity is not essential. Quality of instrument and ESPECIALLY of player is what matters.

it's like the question to Lincoln--how long should a man's legs be? the answer is up to you.

and NOW, 5 minutes later, I see Mark's response.

[Greg Lecewicz]

Part of my collection...

[windshieldbug]

How many tubas should one own?

One does not OWN tubas.
The question is, rather "How many tubas should own you?"

[Skaman]

mo tubas mo problems?

1 willson 3050cc
1 king 2340
1 caravelle-willson bflat
1 warwick corvette fretless
1 custom p bass
1 ibanez btb
1 conn selmer bach boy scouts of america bugel

[OldHorn]

Is there a limit?

[bort]

Tuba "collecting" doesn't make sense to me. I'm not saying it's bad for other people to do it, but a house full of tubas isn't really one of my goals in life. I actually can't believe I just wrote that, but it's true!

I think you "should" own 2 tubas -- 1 big contrabass and 1 midsize bass. When the Rudy 4/4 CC gets here, that will meet all of my needs for now, but I'll eventually want an F tuba again. A Rudy F would be pretty sweet, but they are pretty rare so I'm not holding my breath for it!

[Mark]

So this seems to be more of a bragging thread than a series of answers to a question.

A large contrabass
A small or medium contrabass
A bass

If you are a tuba player then that is all you will ever NEED. Anything more than that is purely a form of mental masturbation. This is just as silly as the feeling that we *need* a 5th valve. That is utterly ridiculous, too. A 5th valve is a very handy convenience. That is why they were options for so many years until some rather slick marketing made us believe otherwise. Until the 1980s the marketers could not even tell what the default interval of a 5th valve should be, so they started including multiple slides. After they had a good idea which ones got used and which ones did not get used they only included the one. Same with leadpipes at that time, if you will recall.

I think this is accurate with the possible addition of a cimbasso if you are doing a lot of studio work for films, television and video games.

[iiipopes]

For those who play in community bands, a good 4/4 BBb for indoors and a good souzy or recording bell for outdoors do very well together. My 186 fulfilled that job for several years with both detachable bells until I decided I wanted a different tone and response than the really dark St Pete upright detachable bell on my 186 (only the very top portion was used, so the "throat" at the tenon was still large for the rest of the tuba, and did not have the advantage of the full taper of that bell). I also wanted different intonation characteristics out of a forward or recording bell, so I'm changing the bell stack with the tenon to a conventional upright bell with a slightly smaller throat and quicker flare (Besson 17", about half-way tonally between the old 16 1/2" "stovepipe" and the modern 17 3/4" "vanilla" bell), and I got the Reynolds 'glass souzy.