Responses will be limited: Compare/contrast rotary PT6 & MRP

[MackBrass]

The MRP is leaps better than the PT6.

Weight; MRP is much lighter, or at least the one I had was. The heft of the PT6, rotary and piston, were something i never liked.

Intonation: The F, F# and G at the top of the staff were so sharp on the PT6 compared to how in tune the rest of the horn is. The MRP's notes at the top of the staff are in tune now.

Sound: MRP has more core, more Alex like, just bigger.

Low Register: Again the MRP seems to be more responsive, probably because your not moving around so much metal as you do with the PT6.

Size: You could probaly say that its a smaller 6/4, not as big as the york and york copies but more like the MW Baer as they use the same bell.

The only changes, from what i noticed, to make the MRP was changing the bottom bow and bell and use of lighter guage brass.

Hope this helps Joe, from a former owner of a MRP and several PT6 tubas.

[bort]

Joe, send an email to Matt Gaunt, he uses an MRP and has previously used the PT6. You know how many tubas he has been through... so if he likes the MRP, it must be pretty good.

Or, Bob Tucci might chime in. I've talked to him before about it, and he said pretty much all that Tom said, and more. Perhaps even so far as to say that the MRP is the best CC tuba they've made yet.

Matt Walters is also a fan of the MRP above many other options. Seems like every time I talk to him, he asks if I'm really to buy an MRP yet. If i had the money, I would.

Steve Campbell (Minnesota Orchestra) was a longtime PT6 rotary player, and in recent years has switched to the MRP. Love the sound of the MRP... I went to a performance the other day, and literally sat in the last row balcony ... and it still sounded great and clear as day. Huge sound!

Sort of a non answer, hope this helps

[Porky]

Bort I’m pretty sure Matt sold his.

[Scubatuba]

The PT6 has a 19" bell and measures 40" long. The MRPCC has an 18.9" bell and is 41.7" long. The MRP is actually the PT6 body with the Fafner (BBb) bell and bottom bow. For those that may suggest it is lighter than the PT6, I would think the addition of the Meinl Weston bell and bottom bow would make it heavier. By design, the Meinl Weston horns are built heavier thank the B&S horns. The MRPCC is considered a 5/4+ size. It plays easier than you think also.

[MackBrass]

For those that may suggest it is lighter than the PT6, I would think the addition of the Meinl Weston bell and bottom bow would make it heavier. By design, the Meinl Weston horns are built heavier thank the B&S horns.

At the time I purchased mine, not long after they first came out, I owned a PT6 as well and the weight difference was very obvious. I should have weighed it but at the time I never felt the need.

Maybe some of those who currently own them can add to the thread the actual weights of their tuba? This actually sounds like a good thread by itself.

[itai]

Idk if I qualify to reply here by bloke’s standards...but here are a few small observations!

If you compare a PT6 manufactured from same era as the MrP (2013?-present) I can almost guarantee that you will not notice a different in weight. Generally, I find that the MrP sounds and plays closer to a “6/4” tuba, while the PT6 still retains more of the certain “B&S-rotary” sound characteristics.

I can see how the MrP feels more in tune to some, and has a more forgiving (accessible) low register. It’s interesting how a few wider tapers change the playing characteristics. My assumption is, that a good player that doesn’t play either regularly, will sound pretty close on both while testing / comparing (that’s if the PT6/3098 is just as new).

Both tubas are amongst my favorites in the current market, and I respectfully disagree with statements like X is leaps better than Y, especially because both are very closely related, and both are still available to buy new for some reason..?!

One last thing, because the MrP is wider, the leadpipe has less of an angle. Again, depends on the player’s preference. Insert thumbs up emoji here-

[joh_tuba]

Admittedly, not addressing your question directly but hopefully adding something useful to the conversation. :/

A few observations(stating the obvious):
1) As alluded to by others, B&S manufacturing techniques have changed quite a bit in the last twenty years. I don't know when the shift occurred but in the 90s tubas still had sheet brass bows and all the plumbing exiting the rotary valve section was one full pipe with multiple complicated bends. Over time, there were also many variations in mouthpipe taper and receiver size on the PT horns.

2)Corollary: folks that are staying with their old PT6, likely have a 'good one' that works well for their situation *and* have invested enough time that even when something better comes along it doesn't actually seem enough better to invest the time developing the same level of familiarity.

3) Accomplished players are just as easily swayed by marketing(sometimes more) as the rest of us. Switching from a PT6R to an MRP might not mean it's actually better.

4) Looking at what pops up used may not be an accurate barometer of which horn people will find more desirable long term. Any time a new model is announced a lot of college aged kids buy it and within a few years dump them on the market. That's almost certainly what we are seeing now.