Along the lines of tubas that can play in both Bb and C, I have found that the rotary Neptune plays well (and in tune) in Bb as long as you can accept that playing C in the staff works much better using the 5th valve alone. It can be converted back and forth from C to Bb in a couple of minutes. It ...

If the 2-3 Eb is way too flat, have you tried it with 1-5 with the 5th slide pulled out? Better than cutting slides if you can avoid it.

You mention that you haven't had to Alex out of your house. Before you let it go, you may want to do yourself a favor and play the horn in the largest space you can find. In my experience the 163s sound like crap in small spaces because they were designed to project in a concert venue. Their tone ...

http://brassark.com/sale/ A little over a year ago when moving to Texas, I had decide which horns to take. I feared that my Gronitz PCK, my most expensive and best condition tuba, could be damaged during the move so I hand delivered it to Noah's Brass Ark in Los Angeles. This tuba was made during ...

I wouldn't be surprised if I have more instruments than anybody here; not really a collector, I've just scored a lot of pretty good deals over the years, and in some cases bought a few instruments brand new because I really liked them. There are several instrument families that I maintain enough ...