)A good 6/4 b flat tuba?
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passion4tuba
- bugler
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o yes, and right now i'm playing on a mira 186, and yes it's ok and i have been complimented on the sound i have on it..but i still feel like it's not as responsive and holding me back a lil bit..(then again, the tuba hasnt been cleaned in over 20 years.. )
)BB flat Mira 186
Sidey Helleberg
U. of H Cougar Band
Sidey Helleberg
U. of H Cougar Band
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windshieldbug
- Once got the "hand" as a cue
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Clean it out, and get a "solo" style mouthpice that will cut through all that noise. See how your director likes the sound, then. MUCH cheaper, and better for solo work, no matter whose money you're spending...
Instead of talking to your plants, if you yelled at them would they still grow, but only to be troubled and insecure?
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MartyNeilan
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Re: 6/4 BBb
Perhaps we shouldn't be so quick to blame the horn.....THE TUBA wrote:A high school tuba player in SC has one of those huge Cervenys. He sounds like what sitting in front of a fire and drinking hot coco after being out in the cold feels like.
Adjunct Instructor, Trevecca Nazarene University
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Lew
- 5 valves
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Check out the Sponsors and Shops listed in the links on this site. The two you mentioned would not be my first choice of sources for buying a tuba.passion4tuba wrote:
P.S-as for these tubas that have been recommended, where could i find them? i've been on tubaexchange.com as well as ebay... links anyone?
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GC
- 5 valves
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A good Holton 345 is almost impossible to beat in that price range, if you can find one. The big Martins are great. A good Conn 24J or 25J is hard to beat for around half that, but a bad one isn't something I'd wish on anyone. I have a good one, but it was played and worked on by an expert.
JP/Sterling 377 compensating Eb; Warburton "The Grail" T.G.4, RM-9 7.8, Yamaha 66D4; for sale > 1914 Conn Monster Eb (my avatar), ca. 1905 Fillmore Bros 1/4-size Eb, Bach 42B trombone
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Rick Denney
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There have been great large BBb tubas made in the past. But finding them is an exercise in patience, and that's hard for a 10th-grader to muster up when Dad's money is burning a hole in the pocket.
It took me several years to find a BBb BAT that I'm happy to use in all situations. And to keep it in your price range, I had to accept great playing quallities but battered everything else (though, Harold, there are no cracks in mine that I've found).
So, you have a choice: Increase your budget and buy a new one or increase your patience and wait for a good one to come along. When it does, be prepared to jump on it.
The new ones include the Rudolf Meinl 5/4 and the Meinl-Weston Fafner, but I don't think you'll be very happy with the characteristics of these instruments. They will command more air and have difference playing characteristics than the typical old American-style BAT. The Cerveny 601, likewise. More like the classic BAT is the Gronitz PBK (which will require both a larger budget AND a lot of patience) or a Willson 3100 (which does not at all play itself). Of these, and based only on the reputation of the CC version, I would prefer the Gronitz if you want the American BAT sound. The Rudy Meinl and the Fafner are great instruments, but they fall into a different category--kaisertuba rather than BAT.
The old ones include a Holton BB-345, a Martin Handcraft, a Conn 24J, or a range of instruments that are less likely to appear. All of these are old, and all of them may have condition issues. The 24J is relatively cheap and plentiful in this category, but it is the least likely to be a good general-purpose tuba. Holtons are not consistent at all. The good ones are great but the bad ones are dreadful. Perhaps the bad ones can be made good with enough restoration and tweaking money, but then your budget will be blown. Martin Handcrafts are superb and seem to me more consistenly so, but they are a good bit more rare in the first place.
Old Bb Holtons have been more available in the last couple of years than they were in many years before that. I suspect I've contributed to that with what I've written about mine and what Tony wrote and showed about his as it was being overhauled by Dan Oberloh. But of those have have been available, only a few have approached the qualities I find in mine, which is a clear, open sound with lots of resonance and color. I've only seen two or three big Martins go by in the last couple of years, and only one that I recall with an upright bell. Conns go by more often, and more cheaply. I had a 20J with a forward bell, and that instrument not only had intonation problems that were manageable but not easily so, but also it could not play below about mf. The Holton can put a quiet floor under the group--the Conn could not. There are many better Conns than the 20J I owned.
Rick "who thinks it's a matter of positioning, waiting patiently, and then being ready to strike" Denney
It took me several years to find a BBb BAT that I'm happy to use in all situations. And to keep it in your price range, I had to accept great playing quallities but battered everything else (though, Harold, there are no cracks in mine that I've found).
So, you have a choice: Increase your budget and buy a new one or increase your patience and wait for a good one to come along. When it does, be prepared to jump on it.
The new ones include the Rudolf Meinl 5/4 and the Meinl-Weston Fafner, but I don't think you'll be very happy with the characteristics of these instruments. They will command more air and have difference playing characteristics than the typical old American-style BAT. The Cerveny 601, likewise. More like the classic BAT is the Gronitz PBK (which will require both a larger budget AND a lot of patience) or a Willson 3100 (which does not at all play itself). Of these, and based only on the reputation of the CC version, I would prefer the Gronitz if you want the American BAT sound. The Rudy Meinl and the Fafner are great instruments, but they fall into a different category--kaisertuba rather than BAT.
The old ones include a Holton BB-345, a Martin Handcraft, a Conn 24J, or a range of instruments that are less likely to appear. All of these are old, and all of them may have condition issues. The 24J is relatively cheap and plentiful in this category, but it is the least likely to be a good general-purpose tuba. Holtons are not consistent at all. The good ones are great but the bad ones are dreadful. Perhaps the bad ones can be made good with enough restoration and tweaking money, but then your budget will be blown. Martin Handcrafts are superb and seem to me more consistenly so, but they are a good bit more rare in the first place.
Old Bb Holtons have been more available in the last couple of years than they were in many years before that. I suspect I've contributed to that with what I've written about mine and what Tony wrote and showed about his as it was being overhauled by Dan Oberloh. But of those have have been available, only a few have approached the qualities I find in mine, which is a clear, open sound with lots of resonance and color. I've only seen two or three big Martins go by in the last couple of years, and only one that I recall with an upright bell. Conns go by more often, and more cheaply. I had a 20J with a forward bell, and that instrument not only had intonation problems that were manageable but not easily so, but also it could not play below about mf. The Holton can put a quiet floor under the group--the Conn could not. There are many better Conns than the 20J I owned.
Rick "who thinks it's a matter of positioning, waiting patiently, and then being ready to strike" Denney