ben wrote:...I will be sacreligeous and say I think the Holton 345 (and I even own one!) is slightly overrated for the following reasons:
1. Flat 3rd partials - more modern horns have better intonation
2. Attack response - I've played (albeit on slightly smaller horns) large horns with better attacks. And I'm still learning and working on the attacks on the Holton - its just like flying a brick sometimes
3. A good one is fairly pricy....
Um...
Them's fightin' words!
I said that just to amuse Wade.
The third partial on my Holton is not flat at all. The fifth partial is also in tune. That doesn't mean it isn't squirrelly.
You can't generalize about the attacks and response on Holtons. They vary all over the map. Mine is alive and resonant, and I get fewer complaints that I'm behind the beat with the Holton than with the York Master. I recommend an anti-woof mouthpiece with the Holton. Trying to go dark on a Holton will just make mud. Use a colorful mouthpiece and let the instrument provide the depth. I've also played Holtons that were mired in mud.
And pricey? Well, let's not reopen that argument. Whether those who pay the price will be happy with what they paid some months later is a more important question and I think that's where you are headed. The question is not
price, but
value. A
good Holton can compete fairly with any big tuba in its price range. The BBb versions are, at their best, a great deal. The
bad ones often sit on the market in search of a buyer, or get disassembled and recycled into other projects. Of course, all Holtons fit somehwere on the continuum between their best and worst examples, and where they sit on that continuum is subject to personal opinion.
In terms of being overrated, which to me means that most people think they are better than they really are, I agree. But the reason they are overrated is because the good ones are so good. The reputation is based on the things said by the people who own the good ones (myself included), and those things often don't apply to the bowsers.
Like all 6/4 tubas, Holtons are squirrelly, even the good ones. And they are not forgiving of insufficient air, though the good ones provide a marvelous payback for the air you do provide. They represent one of the few opportunities for Bb tuba players to have an orchestra-grade Yorkish BAT.
I've played many big tubas, including many comparisons side-by-side with the Holton. I have preferred my battered old BBb Holton to many a high-end CC grand orchestral instrument with a five-figure price tag. But not always. One recent example is the Baer-model CC that Mr. Fedderly had just purchased for his own use. That instrument had it all, and without the squirrelliness associated with 6/4 instruments. It was unequivocally better than the Holton, not that it does me any good.
Rick "who would NEVER recommend a Holton without a thorough play-test and some trusted advice" Denney
You took the bait! 
