F Tuba with the BEST intonation?

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Steginkt
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Re: F Tuba with the BEST intonation?

Post by Steginkt »

I played a Willson F in college with amazing intonation. The partials were all in tune with each other, and the A at the top of the staff was just a hair low. That being said, I didnt care much for the sound, the ergonomics, or the response
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Re: F Tuba with the BEST intonation?

Post by Bob Kolada »

I played a Miraphone 1281 for a year or so for everything. Once I got the horn dialed in I rarely moved slides for anything except low notes. Open C's were fine. It did not have a great low register though; low C was fine but below that was kind of meh.
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Re: F Tuba with the BEST intonation?

Post by tubacorbin »

Every 2250 I've ever played, including the 2250-TL "french touch" I used to own, all had really easy "point and shoot" intonation. I own a Packer F now, and intonation is equally as easy as the 2250.
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Re: F Tuba with the BEST intonation?

Post by DouglasJB »

Aside from A and Bb at the bottom of the Staff, my Kanstul 80 is extremely in tune.
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Re: F Tuba with the BEST intonation?

Post by joshealejo »

The B&S Alessandro Fossi is very in tune! The low register is no problem with the 6 valves and the 2nd valve kicker is always a hero when needed (but that is not always). I use a Loud LM 15 with It and sonetimes the LM9, but I always go back to the LM15.
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Re: F Tuba with the BEST intonation?

Post by ckalaher1 »

My 5+1 GB Miraphone Elektra has exceptional intonation. I use a PT64 in it to give me a little bit more resistance to the blow. Great tuba. I use it for everything that I possibly can.
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Re: F Tuba with the BEST intonation?

Post by JasonEuphonium »

The answer, of course, is my F tuba, and no one else's.
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Re: F Tuba with the BEST intonation?

Post by besson900 »

All new rotary 5 ventiles(5099 & 3099) B&S tuba s have great intonation.B&S company is producing them for a such a long time that they fixed this problem in them

2nd one is MW 2250, I had a problem while playing this model just on A which I had to play by pressing 3 valve(normally 12 combination)

That's just mine opinion I used to play Canadian Brass MB-64 mouthpiece
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Re: F Tuba with the BEST intonation?

Post by pjv »

I just purchased a MW 4260 (tradition). It's real game changer for me. Superb intonation, easy player in ALL registers, even sound from top to bottom, and a sweat sound as well. I also like how it sits/balances. The mouthpipe is at a perfect height for my body and it seems like my mpc is placed just a little bit farther beyond the bell than many tubas. This is a good thing because I like to have my mpc at a slight angle pointed downward and this give me more room to do this comfortably. My B&S Symphonie (for example) is just a bit too close to the bell. What happens (with me) is I then have to jut my neck a bit forward to get a comfortable playing angle. With the MW I don't have this. (I don't think I explained this clearly.) Anyway it comes down to a tad extra room. And if you're big bellied you'll like this horn.
Lastly it's very well designed. 5th and 6th are placed after the 4th valve and all the valve slides (with the exception of the 4th) are placed so that all the condensation runs into the main slide. At the end of the day the only tuba turning I do is a half turn to empty the water out of the fourth. Living in a cold and often humid country I'm in love with this set-up.

Also check out the Miraphone Elektra. They all have great intonation though many I tested had a low 8th harmonic which is a nasty register to have to muscle tune. Fortunately some didn't have this quirk. Worth trying. GREAT valves.

I was also very impressed with the intonation of the Berg. Worth trying and definitely worth keeping an eye on what Wessex is up to.
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Re: F Tuba with the BEST intonation?

Post by swillafew »

I had an old one with flexible pitch that was great for being able to bend it. My latest one is a MW 2182 that requires one alternate fingering, and it otherwise easy to tune. On others, just using a few alternates tuned them well.
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Re: F Tuba with the BEST intonation?

Post by MackBrass »

I have never pulled a slide or used any alternate fingerings for any pre perantucci f tuba i have owned. These older tubas from the late 60's to late 70's are hand made and have a truly graduated bore where every valve or tuning slide is different in size. The body is slightly smaller than the modern day PT15 but still packs the same punch. Currently i have 2 5v regular brass and a rare 6v gold brass. From what i understand the 6v GB was overhauled in poland and could pass as NOS.

Today there are several piston f tubas that have great low registers and my Gronitz F is one, but none have the sound that comes close to these older PT8's, at least this is my opinion. My Gronitz is about the closest piston f tuba that has the german rotary sound i go for. Although the gronitz has an amazing low register i never play it because i keep leaning toward the B&S PT8.

If anyone is interested in the gronitz let me know.

One thing that younger players need to think about when choosing an f tuba, think of the pitch and sound. Although the lower register can take some time getting used to on rotary f tubas, its well worth the work you put into it. After a while, you will be playing them like a piston horn.

As to piston f tubas, every model i have played i have had to manipulate tuning slides. This is someonthing i am not really willing to do on f tuba. If you watch, most pros that play rotar f tubas, they dont touch a slide.
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Re: F Tuba with the BEST intonation?

Post by Alex C »

The F tuba with the best intonation is the Yamaha YFB-821. The YFB-621 is its equal but small tubas are not loved these days.

The greatest aspect of the 821 it that it seems to be consistent across the production run. One 821 plays about as well as every other 821. I tried one with a lousy low register, only later to find out that it had been run over and repaired. A college of mine said it was as close to a "point and shoot" F tuba as he could imagine.

Someone complained that they didn't like the sound of yamaha tubas. My friend said, "You know what I like best about the sound? When I pick it up and play it the conductor never says, 'Tuba, what's going on back there.' " He now plays a Euro horn, who knows why.
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Re: F Tuba with the BEST intonation?

Post by Alex C »

bloke wrote:Mine has enough combination of buttons to mash so that (for any pitch) something will work great (even some alternates for "it's very cold in here"). Some tuba players, though, probably don't like thinking about mashing six levers (plus a rarely-used #5 slide trigger) - and some of those levers - in illogical-to-tuba-most-players ways, though it's still infinitely less complicated than an oboe, bassoon, or (even) a piano.
A friend studied with a tuba player (Don Akron? is that a name from the past?) who played an Alexander F. He said you could watch Don(?)warm up on scales and you could not tell what scale was being played by the fingerings being used. He also said the sound and intonation was great My brain wouldn't let me use "false fingerings" so much.
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Intonation

Post by E. Green »

Harvey Phillips once remarked: "There is no such thing as an out of tune tuba.".
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