Which Horn?

[chevy68chv]

Tony is probably more than 600 miles from San Diego. But, you might want to wait and talk to the professors at whatever school you decide to go to. If you do happen to make it up to the bay area Tony Clements would be a great place to start, I bought my miraphone fron him and there was absolutely no hassle. I'd also reccomend contacting Dick Ackright at Best Music Repair (or is it A&G music now?) in Oakland. He sometimes has great deals on horns that are being sold on consignment.

[USStuba04]

check your messages

[Getzeng50s]

Ive got a Getzen G50 for sale in the for sale section. its a CC tubathat converts into a BBb Great horn!any questions, letme know. its $5,500

[tubaman5150]

HB2

[ArnoldGottlieb]

Hold on a bit. If you're choices are limited to those 3 I'm sure you'll get a pretty even split among your answers. Most people on this board love their own horns for their own reasons which are sometimes musical. If you have 7800 hundred dollars to spend, you can get nearly any tuba although some of the higher end models may need to be used. So, what do you want the horn to do? what situations do you want to play it in? what job do you hope to get? Take these answers and more to your teacher and to a reputable shop. Tony Clements has a great reputation, I bought my last tuba and would buy my next one from Dave Fedderley at Baltimore Brass so you're on the right track with those two. I also (as do most people on this board) recommend Dillon's. While jumping in and getting a tuba sounds exciting, some time and research is probably the best thing for you. There are a lot of great horns for sale, and you should try to play a bunch.
So, to sum up.
1. Ask your teacher/future teacher
2. Play many horns
3. Do some research on shops, there are some people love and some people don't love as much and there are reasons.....
4. Don't take what anybody on this board say's too seriously

[tubacdk]

of the three horns you have listed, the HB-2, in my experience, is the best playing horn and probably the most versatile. But I expect you could get a suitable used horn for less money that would fit your present needs as well as the HB-2 would. something like this
http://63.126.125.94/cgi-bin/classified ... =retrieval
or this
http://63.126.125.94/cgi-bin/classified ... =retrieval

I would definitely not get the PT-3. They're good playing horns, but it'll limit you more than the other options.

[Barney]

Hi all, I'm kind of new here and looking to buy a professional model tuba. My resources are somewhat limited as far as spending, but I think I will be able to pull together enough money for a decent enough horn. I'm really looking into three different ones:

1. A new Meinl-Weston 2145 going for $6000 from Baltimore Brass.

2. A used Hirsbrunner HB2 going for $7800 from Baltimore Brass.

3. A new Perantucci PT3 going for $7500 from music123.com (which I'd never heard of before today).

I'm actually familiar with the particular HB-2 you mention, and it is an exceptional tuba. Of the three choices you give, that one would be my choice.

I'm only answering the question as presented, not disagreeing with the people who recommend making a trip and trying horns.... I would add Steve Ferguson in LA as a possible source of tubas closer to you (although he appears to be completely out of stock at the moment).

http://www.hornguys.com/hornsinstock.htm#tuba

[jon112780]

The HB-2 has been sold.

[iiipopes]

Also talk to Matt at Dillon Music. He is a tuba player and an excellent repairman/customizer, so he will be able to better match you up to a tuba that meets your needs. Once he even told me not to buy a particular tuba they had in the store that interested me because he said it wouldn't fit with what I was going to be doing. Now that's customer service.

More stuff to chew on: Dillon Music right now has a PT-6, the 5/4 size, which is a wonderful tuba. If it is still for sale, on this forum there is a PT-4, the 4/4 size for sale as well.

Also, check into the Conn 52J, 54J, 56J series - there is one for $5000 at a store here where I live.

Occasionally a good Yamaha 8 series comes up.

Finally, Rudy Meinls have a great reputation as well. There have been several pass through this forum.

Don't limit yourself to preconceptions, and play every horn, good or bad, you can get your hands on before you finally decide so you can see what does and sometimes just as importantly, what does not work for you.

Sometimes a new horn requires a different mouthpiece as well, but that is a different issue for a different day.