Instruments at Midwest

[daktx2]

Of course a conference isn't the optimal way to test a horn, but on first impression, what horns did ya'll enjoy trying out?

BBb: The Hagen at the Miraphone booth was probably my favorite instrument of the day. It was easier to play than any C or Bb tuba I played all day. I'd love to spend some time testing it with a tuner, but on first impression intonation was really good as well. Roger Lewis was a great host as well! The Siegfried and the Wessex Prokofiev played nicely as well.

C: The Tuono at the Buffet booth was really good, with a really easy to handle low register at both soft and loud volumes. The two 8 series Eastmans also played nicely. I'd love to test them with tuners, but they were my favorite 'American' style C's. I liked the 188 at the Miraphone booth a lot too. They're not a new and sexy design, but 188's just work.

Eb: Wilson had their compact piston Eb at the booth, which I had never seen before. Intonation seemed pretty good, though I'd like to test it with a tuner in a quiet room. It had a really nice basstuba voice, very distinct from a big C/BBb, but still was easy to play in the low and high registers. I liked it a lot.

F: The JBL was just really really nice. It reminded me of the summer I spent learning F on a borrowed older B&S. It wasn't huge in the low register like the two Wilsons, but boy could it sing.

[bort]

Hagen 495, 496, or 497?

Everyone... tell Miraphone to make a CC version of the Hagen!

[daktx2]

I think it was a 497 (it was nearly the same size as the Siegfried), but I have to admit I'm not sure...

[Sousaswag]

I really loved the Miraphone 1293. That's the horn I will buy next. Everything about it was just great. It wasn't so different from the 1292 that I'd refuse one, but of the two I will choose the 1293. The Ursus at Baltimore Brass played well also, but I couldn't get comfortable with the York style mouthpipe on a 4/4 tuba. Just my opinion.

For BBb, the Siegfried was the winner for me and my very limited experience on 6/4 tubas in general, but it was so easy to play, and had a massive sound plus a 5th valve, which wins the edge over the Hagen for me.

Having never played an Eb before, my favorite was the Willson compact. It had a huge low register and really sung up high.

As for F, the Willson 3200 XS was my favorite. Like the Eb, it had a great low register but was also easy to play up high. The XL was good also, but was a huge F tuba in my opinion. B&S also had a very nice Pt-10, and Miraphone had the Petrushka, which had the easiest low C I played on F aside from the Willson.

This was my first time to the Midwest clinic, and my main goal was to find the best CC tuba for me. I found that in the 1293. I think a lot of people will wonder why I didn't choose a 6/4 CC, and I really just don't need one. I wanted an all around tuba, and the '93 was the best for me. If anyone else is looking for a great CC, check out the Miraphone. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

[phaymore]

I really only checked out the Eb's while I was at Midwest. I played the compact Willson several years ago and was amazed by it. I figure I had just built it up in my head over the years. I was glad to see they had it at the booth this year. Apparently my memory was correct because it in my opinion, it was the best Eb there. Great sound, big low register, and built like a tank. I'm sure I'll never have the money for one, but a man can dream can't he?

[bort]

I really loved the Miraphone 1293. That's the horn I will buy next. Everything about it was just great. It wasn't so different from the 1292 that I'd refuse one, but of the two I will choose the 1293. The Ursus at Baltimore Brass played well also, but I couldn't get comfortable with the York style mouthpipe on a 4/4 tuba. Just my opinion.

The last time I tried a 1293, it just didn't work for me at all, which is funny, because I owned (and really liked!) a 1291 for about 5 years. Maybe worth another look?!

And I agree with the Ursus -- easy to play and sounds great, but ergonomics were almost unusable for me. That leadpipe, plus the mile-long 5th valve lever. Maybe tuba players who are actually good (not me) will do just fine with this. Or, maybe this tuba fits AB perfectly, and the rest of us just need to deal with it the best we can.

[cbettler]

Unfortunately, I did not have time to test drive as many instruments as I would have liked. But the few I played were all pretty great:

BBb: I cannot get into the piston Fafner. The one at Midwest was the fourth I have played, and it was definitely much better than the others. I am a big fan of the rotor Fafner, but I think it loses something when the valve set is changed out (I feel exactly the same about the PT6, definitely preferring the rotor version). The Mirafone booth absolutely blew me away. I have been a fan of the Siegfried since I first played one at Midwest a couple years ago. What a tremendous sound, but so easy to play. The 497 (6/4) Hagen was an absolute monster. Just unlimited in tone production, and again, no work needed at all. I agree with the comments about it “playing like a CC.” My biggest hang-up with BBb tubas is that (especially the big ones) play tubby. Not the new Mirafones. I am ridiculously impressed by what Mirafone is doing there. The 496 (5/4) Hagen was nearly as impressive as the bigger version, but for different reasons. While the 497 had incredible presence, the 496 was all about projection. I loved how easy it was to blow, and the clarity it offered. Those are phenomenal tubas!

CC: I started out at the Buffet booth. The Tuono was a beast—what a glorious sound! I liked it more than most of the Thors I’ve played, which have all been killer tubas. However, i found the placement of the slides difficult to manipulate, which is a dealbreaker for me. The MRP was a nice horn, very nice tone, but I feel like it is just a little too big, and still prefer the rotor PT6. It was certainly a much better tuba than the other MRP I have played, which was not at all to my liking. At Baltimore Brass I played a great PT7P. Whoever gets that horn will be very happy. Beautiful, rich tone and miles of presence. Intonation was awesome, especially for such a large tuba. I am a huge fan of the Ursus, and the one at BBC did not disappoint. I love the projection, and the low register is amazing, regardless of how many valves I push down. The low Bb was difficult to center, which really surprised me because on all the other 3225s I’ve tried the pitch-centering has been one of my favorite features. Still, the Ursus is absolutely my favorite 4/4 CC.

Sadly, my limited time expired. I really wanted to try Eastman and Wessex, but they were too crowded (a good sign!) during the brief time I was there. Sounds like I missed out on Mirafone’s CCs as well. I remember LOVING the tubas at Adams when I tried them in 2016 - did anyone play those? I really wish I had gotten to play some Fs. I couldn’t tell, was there a 2260 at Buffet.

Overall, having been stationed in Hawaii the past couple years, it was a very nice and RARE experience for me to play so many great tubas. I think we are extremely fortunate to have so many outstanding options available!

Chris Bettler

[Sousaswag]

Bort- That is surprising about the 1293. It played like a bigger 1291. If I had to complain about anything, that large 5th valve was heavy! I think it's worth another play test though.

I did make it over to Buffet, Adams, Wessex, Eastman and BMB as well. Let me preface this by saying I am NOT an experienced 6/4 piston CC player by any means, but after playing them for a while I got much more comfortable.

The winner was the Eastman. The valves were astonishingly light which was nice on such a large instrument. It had more control up high than any other 6/4 CC there, and I found the low register more easily compared to the others. Both 4/4 Eastmans were nice tubas. I liked the newer one more, but it felt a little small for what I'm looking for. The Eastman F was a nice player. I look forward to comparing it to other F's when it comes to be available.

I spent a lot of time with the Tuono over at Buffet. That was an awesome tuba. It was just set up awkwardly. What I mean is the slide layout as mentioned above. It may need some more manipulation than is accessible. Great tuba though. The MRP-C was also easy to play. Make no mistake, for such a large tuba, it played nice. My problem there was ergonomics. I'm a pretty tall guy, and I still found it uncomfortable to reach over that top bow to the first slide. I think for F tubas, I tended to gravitate towards the piston models. The MRP F played itself. Awesome tuba. They also had a special Pt-10 that I may have liked better. That tuba was an awesome player, and everybody there knew it.

The tubas at Adams were nice. Make no mistake there. But I didn't like the 6/4 $15,000 more than the Eastman or Wessex. Honestly, I probably spent the least time with it because of the price tag. The 4/4 Adams CC at the Adams booth disappointed me compared to the one at Baltimore Brass and the JP CC. It was stuffy down low and had wacky intonation. The one at Baltimore was much better. Their F was very nice as well, but I didn't like the price tag there either.

Wessex had their full line of 6/4 tubas. The Chicago York was my favorite just because it felt less direct than the Presence. Both played nice. I was very impressed with the Wyvern CC. The low range was monstrous. Very nice playing tuba. The 6/4 Prokofiev was awesome. I may have liked that better than their CC's. It had a much more accessible low register to me, probably because of my lack of 6/4 CC experience. Maybe it was a bit easier to find because it's in BBb? The Grand was huge, as many have said, and weighed a ton more than I'd want in my lap without a stand. The Kaiser was a whole different beast that I couldn't play well. Then I played the Prokofiev and didn't touch the Kaiser again. The Wessex F (Linz?) was pretty nice, but I liked what I played at Miraphone and Buffet better.

BMB had their whole lineup there, plus a new prototype 6/4 CC that blew the other one out of the water. Intonation was much better on the new prototype. Their 4/4 was alright, but didn't have anything too special about it. Same with the F. It had some wacky intonation up high, and the one at Baltimore Brass had a main slide rod on it to fix the problem. My main problem with BMB is the 5th valve. I just don't care for it. Having to physically move the rotor without any linkage was wacky. I get it, they're customizable, and I read about why they're dependent, but I didn't like them. I'd choose a 5th in the main slide with a linkage any day of the week.

[bort]

At Baltimore Brass I played a great PT7P. Whoever gets that horn will be very happy. Beautiful, rich tone and miles of presence. Intonation was awesome, especially for such a large tuba.

Interesting! I wonder where this one came from, because there aren't very many PT7's around. Your description sounds very similar to my experience with my PT7 so far!

[bort]

Neptunes (regardless of machine) do feature different pitch quirks than the 2165/2265/6450-bugle tubas.

I believe the Neptune bugle (unlike the other 6/4 bugle that were using - until the MRP appeared) consists of a PT-6 bugle with a 6/4 bottom bow and bell patched on past the upper bow.

Pretty much, yes. The Neptune was a blinged out PT6, with a Kaiser bell and bottom bow. The PT7 is the PT6, with a different Kaiser bell (smaller than neptune) and bottom bow, and without the Neptune bling.

[Diego A. Stine]

At Baltimore Brass I played a great PT7P. Whoever gets that horn will be very happy. Beautiful, rich tone and miles of presence. Intonation was awesome, especially for such a large tuba.

Interesting! I wonder where this one came from, because there aren't very many PT7's around. Your description sounds very similar to my experience with my PT7 so far!

Judging from the sneak peek I got at the Walt Johnson case that comes with it, BYU owned it at one point.