going to Germany for tubas

[KarlMarx]

http://www.hornboerse.de/cgi-bin/shop/l ... 11281&ls=e

Carolus Recommendarius

[chhite]

Manufacturers will not sell to individuals. They have contractural agreements with their retailers. This is pretty universal.

Sorry, that's not entirely correct. Many folks have traveled to Europe, visited a factory, hand-picked their horn, and paid the manufacturer. There will be an invoice that has the manufacturer's bank information and you take the money and the invoice to the bank and pay. As for the VAT, there's a bit more paperwork to get out of that, unless you're a DOD civilian or military stationed here and then it's easy. As Gary mentioned, there will be duties to pay once you enter the US with your new horn. Check the US Customs web site for current rates.

[tubeast]

The manufacturers definitely do sell right off the working bench and are happy to let you test play as long as you need to.
I recommend choosing Munich as a "base camp" for your search. From there, at least four major tuba places are accessible with a max. 2 hour drive in between: (Meinl-Weston / Melton, Perantucci (VMI), Rudy Meinl, and Miraphone)
Check out their websites for directions. (The Perantucci website was posted earlier in this thread).If you arrive in Munich early in the morning it´s possible to visit all four of them in one day.
Make sure you drop them a line as to when you want to come and what models you´re interested in, ´cause they don´t always have all of them in stock.
Occasionally they have used (3-4 years) horns, too, which would make it a true bargain. I got both my good horns that way (Sponsor-contracted tubists get their latest models every once in a while and turn their "old" horns in. You can expect them to be GREAT individual horns).
Have fun and enjoy German beer in the process.

Hans

[corbasse]

Is there any sort of VAT tax that would have to be paid there, and if so, would it be refunded at Customs?

Prices on the site are with 16% VAT included. You can get it back when you leave the EU, with some paperwork Next question is, is that +/- $1000 refund enough for a plane ticket, hotel, US import etc...

I know in the 80's/90's it was worth the effort to fly to NY on a cheap ticket and buy a US made (french)horn there. However, this counted on pretending to come back with a used instrument.
(Not a problem since most customs officers wouldn't know the difference between a kazoo and a Hirsbrunner)

[MaryAnn]

Of course I don't need a top-echelon instrument, but I always try first to support my local music stores (usually not possible with buying instruments, but for other stuf it usually is) and next to support the American retailers, whom I want to keep in business. I suppose if I were overseas anyway and ran into an instrument I couldn't live without, I'd buy it.

MA