shopping for portable high tuba (Eb/F) practical intonation

[justinhaynes]

I am interested your thoughts and recommendations - a set of options that i might keep in mind as I look for The Right Horn for a specific application. I play recreationally and no part of my career is music. I currently play a BBb Miraphone 186 from the early 90s which I have had for 20+ years. I normally stand and play with our humble folk/country/gypsy/politically-incorrect Austin based band.

I play a BBb Miraphone 186 from the early 90s which I got it as an almost new horn having been used as a floor model in 1990. I have a loud usable low register and I enjoy using it. I regularly pull out low EEb, DDs (234), and sometimes DDb, CCs (1234 with every slide pulled out). The BBB is unusable on this horn though the false tone (23) speaks well, and I don't care because it's on the threshold of being able to discern pitch for most people anyway.

I have been borrowing a nice Eb Alexander and I really enjoy the facility a higher horn affords. It is more agile regardless of where on the horn I play, and for our style of music the extra edge and 'honk' that is possible in the low register is actually desirable at times. Also having that range from EEb down to BBBb as a continuous series of pedal notes is really nice. But as you all know, moving the break between pedal register and the rest of the horn up can be a real problem for low passages.

I'd really like to make the transition to an Eb or F tuba. My ideal horn would be:

- A helicon.
- Fat almost bass trombone/cimbasso-like tones in the lower register and the typical sweeter sound of the mid to high range we get on these higher tubas.
- with at least 4 valves.
- A way of playing a usable note one semitone above the pedal. (FF#/GGb on F / EE on Eb)

What would you recommend as a best option for accomplishing all these? Buy something like this and either a) add a 5th valve or b) install some kind of easy lever to pull a slide quickly?:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nice-old-rotary ... 1175416427" target="_blank

I eagerly await your thoughts! I have seen so much good input on these forums. There is so much information in fact that I may have missed a previous answer to this question. If so please feel free to paste the link. I've tried to read every post that said something about Eb/F tuba intonation and and even found that to pull up more posts than I could sort through in an hour or two.

I realize my set of options may sound unrealistic, but understand that I want to buy long. If I end up with a horn that works for me, that horn will not likely never be for sale unless its my estate sale.

[opus37]

Finding Helicon with 4 valves in Eb is going to be difficult. If you are a big guy, you may not like how they fit you. The helicon sound is good, but the standard concert horn sounds better. Frankly, I think you should seriously look at the Kanstul 66T Fulerzoo has for sale. It has great sound with good intonation across the range. If you want to stand with it, the Neotech strap system works well for me with this horn. By the way, the price he has on it is quite reasonable.

[Donn]

If you happen to find yourself in Seattle, you could drop by and look at I dare say a better Eb helicon, stencil of the Amati/Cerveny. This is about as big as I think is really practical for Eb, has a good low end and a nice clear upper range. So, I guess not really such a precise match for your requirements, as the low end isn't bass trombone like at all. And intonation isn't its main attraction - I think it's manageable, but it isn't `point and blow.' I don't know what an Alexander Eb would be like, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that you've been playing a much better tuba than anything you're going to find in the Eb helicon category.

Helicons are cool, but they're big - a common tuba or sousaphone of the same nominal size makes a much smaller package that's easier to fit into a case or box if it's going somewhere. A good Eb sousaphone is a lot easier to find, and easier to deal with.

[Bob Kolada]

It's a very consistent sounding horn (so no low register edge), but the St Pete Eb is a really nice playing horn with a great low range. It also plays very "freely" to me, more like a piston horn.

[Ulli]

the Jinbao knock-off of the B&S "PT-10" F.

Really PT-10? Never seen...

Heureka!

[imperialbari]

Conn 26K Eb sousaphone.

It has an Ab as an open false note allowing for full chromatics down to the pedal with the right fingerings.

Klaus

[bisontuba]

Hi-
I have suggested this to importers and it would--IMHO-be a big seller. Since there is a JinBao JBCB-420---a Yamaha CC 621 clone---use the same tooling, add a 5th valve and clone the Yamaha 621 F tuba. If it is done right and priced right, the little Yamaha 621 F offers the 'most bang for the buck,' and a fine clone would clean up in sales....
Mark

[groovlow]

My favorite tuba is a 1941 Pan Am 3 valve. Love the tone, easy pitch and awesome fake notes to the pedals. I just saw one on ebay, slightly larger conn stencile. An Eb sousa is nice also.
joe

[justinhaynes]

groovlow, I got the opportunity to play one of those 3 valve WWII era Eb tubas also. If I had heard someone playing it in the bel canto range, I'd have thought it was a BBb or CC. Gorgeous.

[cjk]

Mirafone 184 BBb.
One of the Miraphone rotary Eb tubas.
Meinl-Weston 182 (i have one for sale!)

[Rick Denney]

"Helicon" and "practical intonation" is the combination I'm doubting, except for very rare exceptions.

Rick "unless 'practical' is not synonymous with 'good'" Denney

[eupho]

Check out the Eb models at Wessex-tubas.com