Quad valve sousaphone

[Hank74]

I've been wanting to ask if anyone has had the opportunity to try out the quad valve Jupiter sousaphone. I saw this on the WWBW site and it looks great. But how does it play and how does it sound?

Hank74

[ThomasP]

Terrible

[Gorilla Tuba]

I gave the Jupiter quad valve a look. It played ok, not good, just ok. But wasn't how it played kept me from buying them for my marching band.

I had inherited Jupiter convertible tubas at a former place of employment. Again, they didn't sound too bad. However, I literally had a bell fall off of one. On another the braces were soldered poorly and it was constantly in the shop because something was falling off. They were horrible.

I guarantee you that Jupiter is getting better. In fact, I have purchased a few marching baritones and am pleased with them (after only one year). Despite their likely improvements, I really don'y think they are a value considering they need to many repairs. Further, most repairman seem to hate working on them.

A 4th valve seems like a good idea, but in the case of Jupiter, it just isn't worth it for use in a school environment. For a personal instrument, where greater care will be given to the horn, it may be a valid option. Similarly, their concert tubas may be a good instrument for a lot of individual players, but a poor choice for a school setting.