New user needs advice

[doublea082]

Hey everyone. I'm a total novice when it comes to buying and selling tubas, and I would like some information and wisdom from you all before I tread further.

I'm a 6'5", 33 year old community band tuba player who occasionally solos at church. I had a Conn 5J gifted to me back in 2005 by another church I had played for (a kingly gift, I know). Without the advantage of hearing or watching me play, I can tell you for certain that my #1 struggle with this horn is 'don't go splat' at forte/fortissimo levels in the middle and lower range. My #2 struggle is that it looks a little small on me, especially when I'm sitting next to my partner in crime at rehearsal, who is my size but plays a full 5/4 horn.

So I'm looking to potentially sell the horn and pick up a new one. I have no idea how old the 5J is but I'd guess no more than 20-25 years. The lacquer is still in good shape, there are some dings and scratches but no major dents, the sound is still pretty good but at least one tuning slide is stuck shut. I have no idea what the ceiling-to-floor pricing should be for my horn, and I also would like to know if you think it would be worth it to get the horn overhauled (cleaned, get those slides moving again) before selling or whether I should sell it as-is and let the next owner fix it.

So.... thoughts?

[arpthark]

Hey everyone. I'm a total novice when it comes to buying and selling tubas, and I would like some information and wisdom from you all before I tread further.

I'm a 6'5", 33 year old community band tuba player who occasionally solos at church. I had a Conn 5J gifted to me back in 2005 by another church I had played for (a kingly gift, I know). Without the advantage of hearing or watching me play, I can tell you for certain that my #1 struggle with this horn is 'don't go splat' at forte/fortissimo levels in the middle and lower range. My #2 struggle is that it looks a little small on me, especially when I'm sitting next to my partner in crime at rehearsal, who is my size but plays a full 5/4 horn.

So I'm looking to potentially sell the horn and pick up a new one. I have no idea how old the 5J is but I'd guess no more than 20-25 years. The lacquer is still in good shape, there are some dings and scratches but no major dents, the sound is still pretty good but at least one tuning slide is stuck shut. I have no idea what the ceiling-to-floor pricing should be for my horn, and I also would like to know if you think it would be worth it to get the horn overhauled (cleaned, get those slides moving again) before selling or whether I should sell it as-is and let the next owner fix it.

So.... thoughts?

It would be really helpful if you could post some pictures. Getting the slides moving again would be a fairly inexpensive fix unless there's something drastically mechanically wrong with your tuba. A cleaning could run you anywhere from $150-300+ depending on what your local shops charge.

These posters priced their 5Js in the $3,000 range:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=60452" target="_blank
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=69481" target="_blank

so that could be a baseline for you, depending on the instrument's condition.

[doublea082]

I will take some pictures and post them through Dropbox when I go home for lunch today.

[roweenie]

Without the advantage of hearing or watching me play, I can tell you for certain that my #1 struggle with this horn is 'don't go splat' at forte/fortissimo levels in the middle and lower range.

This can sometimes be remedied by a different choice of mouthpiece, and some practice. Smaller horns can "break up" at higher volume, but you might want to experiment a little before you "write the horn off".

My #2 struggle is that it looks a little small on me, especially when I'm sitting next to my partner in crime at rehearsal, who is my size but plays a full 5/4 horn.

Why should this matter, unless it's physically uncomfortable to play?

[doublea082]

Dropbox link for pics https://www.dropbox.com/sh/d4i0vk91yk99 ... FJDla?dl=0

[doublea082]

This can sometimes be remedied by a different choice of mouthpiece, and some practice. Smaller horns can "break up" at higher volume, but you might want to experiment a little before you "write the horn off".

I have the same problem with different mouthpieces. I primarily use a big Perantucci. I'm pretty sure it has more to do with the bore size than the mouthpiece.

Why should this matter, unless it's physically uncomfortable to play?

It is physically uncomfortable, much the same as if I were wearing a suit jacket that was too small. The horn doesn't really fit me due to both bore size and overall width. My partner in crime is a professional tuba player who agrees it's not an ideal size instrument for me. The bore size just isn't large enough to adequately support my sound or the large ensemble I'm playing in. Thanks for your post, I appreciate it.

[swillafew]

I have never played a 5J, but your investment is zero as I understand it. You can keep it as a backup and get a horn of your choosing. There are sponsors here who keep horns for sale and any of them would be a good place to shop for a fair price.

If you like your friend's horn, offer to buy it, or get one just like it. If the issues are not present on the other horn, problem solved. If you hear the same issues, find a person who makes a sound you like and see what they have to say about your playing.

[doublea082]

I'm 6 foot 8, and the 5J works for me, but I have to clock it a little bit to the left to get the leadpipe high enough

I also have a smaller Eb tuba, and it looks like a euphonium on me, but I deal with it. I suggest maybe a towel to raise the height of the 5j

Cool. I hadn't thought of using a towel. My torso is what makes up most of my height, not my legs, so I'm constantly trying to find the sweet spot to get the horn to come to me. It's not simple and I'm never satisfied with any position I play enough to not consider occasionally trying something different.

[doublea082]

I have never played a 5J, but your investment is zero as I understand it. You can keep it as a backup and get a horn of your choosing. There are sponsors here who keep horns for sale and any of them would be a good place to shop for a fair price.

Yeah, I wish I could do that but my working capital outside outside of selling my tuba first would not be enough to get a second horn. I've got enough cash to overhaul my current horn but not enough to buy another one. :/

[roweenie]

roll up the towel, maybe throw some duct taoe around it, and store it in the bell when you aren't using it

Long before the days of "tuba rests", Don Butterfield would instruct us to tape together old paperback books, to make a "block" that would sit on your chair, to rest the horn on.

I remember he had several of these "blocks" all over the place....

[doublea082]

I totally should have mentioned earlier that because this horn combines BOTH small(er) bore AND somewhat larger (18") bell flare, splatting seems to be an issue with my junky Yamaha 24AW, Helleberg and Perantucci PT-84 mouthpieces. It's not too much of a problem as long as I keep the splat risk in mind as I play... but it does stink when I want to wail away on long tones at FF like, in one example, Carmen Dragon's America the Beautiful (ending chorus) without crapping the attack.

[Tubajug]

Buying tubas is fun!"

Agreed!

[Art Hovey]

There is a big Cerveny on this website (scroll down to it) that might be right for you.
I would like it a lot if I were taller.

http://galvanizedjazz.com/tuba/4sale/TubasForSale.html" target="_blank

[doublea082]

I play tubas with all sorts of different mouthpipe heights, etc., by changing...

- how far apart my thighs are when I rest any particular tuba on them,
- the left-right angle of the instrument (which also raises/lowers the receiver), and
- how much I lean forward (as the more I lean forward, the more I "burn up" upper body length).

bloke "Do as you please. There are certainly many tubas from which to choose. Buying tubas is fun!"

I do this, too, except for the leaning forward part. Any time I use the lean to fix the height it craps up my embouchure, especially in the upper range. Actually, that's really the main reason I want a different horn, so that I won't have to do so much work to get the mouthpiece square to my mouth. I'm going to try the duct tape towel method and see how well it works. I used a lumbar pillow yesterday but it ended up just *barely* too high. Blowing uphill is apparently just as awful as blowing downhill.