Comments Please on B&S PT-3

[Ace]

I'd like comments both good and bad about the B&S PT-3 CC tuba with five rotary valves. Could this horn hold its own in a 65 piece orchestra? Good intonation? Good low range? Etc.

Thanks.

[james]

Bloke is dead on. The new PT-3 is an evolution of the old B&S Piggy which was a competitive introduction to the Cerveny. Having played the original when learning CC tuba, I can tell you these older models(pre-PT) are VERY nice instruments. Very vibrant and even sound with the standard rotary PT intonation things...which are few and what makes PT horns so appealing to me. The newer model has actually fixed most of the intonation quirks, at least to the one I played. The "upgraded" bigger bell and bore size made it less of a "compact" tuba and put it too close in sound and playing to the PT-4 at the time(now they have the PT-20) in my opinion. Someone was selling a pre-PT 3 for a GREAT price not too long ago but having no money, I couldn't pick it up. Would have been a great horn to compliment a PT-6. And yes, it can be heard in a 65 piece orchestra. Is it a PT-6? No. However, I could also get out with my 2145 in a large group when I had it. Same with a PT-3. However, the weight and vibrancy of sound is what makes a larger horn appealing to me in an orchestra. It tends to still "ring" at extremely loud dynamics. The PT-3 has "zippy/zingy" sound at FF. Doesn't ring as much and sound as open in loud dynamics.

[Erin]

I've owned my PT-3 for almost a year. About half a dozen other tuba players have played it recently, and all of them have commented on how good the response is.

I don't have a lot of experience with other CC tubas, but this one does everything I need it to right now.

[Lyle]

I have a pre-Parantucci PT3, 5 rty valves, 16.5in bell. & very large graduated bore. It is a great horn with solid intonation, & plays very well with a Schilke 66 mpc. Brass quintet, Wind ensemble, Dixie jazz band & solos get very nice compliments.

[joh_tuba]

I have an older PT3. It has a 16 1/2" bell, the B&S logo on the tuning slide, and the 3rd and 4th valves turn in the opposite direction from the rest of the valve section.

It's a tremendously versatile horn. If I were forced to own only one horn it would be the one. Deceptively powerful and projecting yet capable of the same light character as my PT15. It is the ULTIMATE Kraft Encounters tuba. The low range is very very very easy and clarity is never a problem. The high register is crystal clear and as effortless as any F tuba. The response is, to my way of thinking, a bit surprising. It requires as much air as any of the rest of the B&S PT line(they all use the same valve section) which is not too much but a bit more than you would think from just looking at it. It is very open and will take as much as you can give it. BUT what makes it special is that the reponse is also VERY quick. As a result, I find it very easy to play relatively quick technical passages whisper quiet. Most horns don't make this that easy without sacrificing loud dynamics with stuffiness.

When I plug a PT65 into the leadpipe I think of it as an F tuba with CC fingerings. This works great for solos and quintet type stuff. I always play any solo literature I'm working up on the PT3 first before deciding if I should play it on the PT15. Over 50% of the time I choose to perform it on the PT3. Initially I had trouble with the sound getting brittle and the Gs going sharp when I used too small a mouthpiece but that has resolved itself with time spent developing my comfort level on the horn. Plug in a PT88 and the sound is suprisingly large. Being heard in a large group is never a problem.. It's just that other horns offer a bit more 'fog' and less 'laser'. What is surprising is just how subtle that difference really is to a non-tuba playing audience. It's not nearly as big a deal as we, as tuba players, would like to think. Choosing to use a larger horn is mostly an issue of taste rather than something being better or worse. Smaller does not mean that the horn isn't as loud.. actually smaller horns are much easier to hear through a group. Listen to how Bobo used a small horn in a large orchestra. I also own a PT6 and MW2165 and tend to use them for all my large ensemble playing but there have been days when lugging the huge horns just seemed like a chore and the PT3 handled the job admirably. I've never felt that I couldn't accomplish my musical mission on the PT3. Any deficiancies have been operator error.

My opinion FWIW

[Ace]

Thanks very much to all of you who responded. The PT-3 does indeed sound like a fine tuba.