YEB-321

[eeflattuba]

Our british brass band recently acquired a yamaha yeb-321 to add to our instrument inventory. As my besson 981 sovereign is in the shop for its annual ultrasonic cleaning, i have been spending alot of time with this tuba.It has been a long time since i played one of these tubas and i am just starting to become acquainted with it.I am really liking the 15 inch bell and its relatively consistent intonation.Its sound is very direct and focused,very different from my 981.It would take me alot of time to get used to the inline 4 valves;just kinda awkward after playing compensating tubas all my life.The slightly different fingerings below the low concert bb flat took a little time to figure out but they are comfortable now.What are peoples thoughts on these instruments?Is there anything i should be looking out for?I am really looking forward to taking to taking this horn to a brass quintet rehearsal on wednesday ;first LIVE practice since the middle of March.

[roweenie]

Very nice horns - I used one on my senior recital in college. Good intonation, focused sound, centered low register.

Could never get used to top action, however. Someday I'm going to get one and put a side action set on it......

[daktx2]

I own one of these and like it a lot. I agree with your assessment of the sound, the intonation and high register are really good, and small bell makes these very direct and responsive. They also project really well and have intuitive low registers, which makes them IMHO have enough oomph to play the basstuba role in an orchestra. As someone who primarily plays a biggish C tuba, this horn is a lot more useful to me than a modern 19 inch Besson, since the small bell gives it a very different sound than what I get with out of my PT5. For most quintet lit, I'd pick the Yamaha over my C in a second. However, the small bell makes this tuba not very 'bassy,' so there are times (like playing the bass line in a cover of a jazz piece) when I'd reach for my big tuba.

A common modification (which mine has) is to add an aftermarket dependent flat whole step fifth valve, which improves the low register intonation quite a lot. Yamaha made a version of these with a flat half step fifth valve, called the YEB-381. Why they chose to do a flat half instead of a flat whole is a mystery to me, but these can be modified as well. Bloke sold one a while back, and took very good photos of how he accomplished the modification.

FYI, there are a couple of older threads in the archives that have a lot more info too. Enjoy!

[Snake Charmer]

These are true workhorses. You may not find them in symphonic orchestras, but they are played around the world for decades. Not to forget: Marty Erickson and Pat Sheridan started their careers playing 321s until they had their own models developed (by Willson and Besson)...

[euphomate]

Years back when I changed over from euphonium to Eb tuba, and playing in a "British" style brass band, and a 50 piece concert band, I tried to survive the experience using the YEB 321. It lasted three weeks. The other two tubas in each group were Besson 19" belled Eb comps. I nearly got blown out of the rehearsal room, and couldn't make any impression at all. I might as well have stayed home. These horns are nice instruments, great for beginners to high school seniors. Or, enjoying a quite, easy toodle at home. They are not that light to carry around either, considering their small bells and purpose. A waste of time for any serious stuff IMHO.

[tbonesullivan]

I tried out one of these when I was on my first Tuba quest. It really does play nicely, like a big euphonium. Really nice sound. I didn't pick it up because I really wanted a compensating tuba., especially if I was going to get an Eb tuba.

[EdFirth]

I owned one about 20 years ago and only used it for high parts. Midsummer Night's Dream, Damnation of Faust,Berlioz Te Deum, and for a lighter touch on La Traviota. It was terrific but then I wasn't using it much and Bob Carpenter really wanted it so off it went. I think he sold it to Willie Clark. Steve Seward used it on his solo album which was excellent.In the meantime I've heard, thanks to YouTube, what our British brothers and sisters are doing on Eb and my concept changed. The original design was basically a Yamaha with a 3+ 1 compensating system. John Fletcher gave birth to the "one horn that does it all" concept with the bigger bell and I've heard people do it very well on those bigger belled Bessons. My horns of choice since the early 80's have been .689 bore Bb and C Kings but I don't have a strong, easy high range so this past March I bought another Yamaha Eb and couldn't be happier. I now have solid secure high notes with a great sound and wouldn't hesitate to use it in a quintet.And I'm using a PT88+ on it. For whatever it's worth. Ed

[roweenie]

I fairly fell in love with one of these at Bob Giardinelli's shop in Manhattan and would take the train up from Brooklyn to visit it every week (along with like five other great horns I loved in the Tuba Room of that great store).

It's quite likely that horn you mention is the same one I played on my senior recital. From what I recall, the guy I borrowed it from put it up for consignment there.....he offered it to me around 1985 or 86 (?) but I didn't have the dough at the time. If it's the same one, it was a fine instrument and I regret not having bought it.

I also spent many hours in that room - up on the second level of the store, up a small staircase, IIRC. Anybody who was anybody in the wind instrument world had their picture up on the wall by the elevator......

[MikeMason]

I too had a 321 e flat for a short time. I really loved it. Very similar feelings as Wade expressed. Just couldn’t master the new fingerings. I even considered having every piece I might ever need it for transposed and put in a binder. In the end, I sold and ended up with my current 621f.