Wessex doesn't seem to ever restock their American shank to Euroshank adapters any more. Let me if you have one you're not using or wanting. Thanks. You can PM, or e-mail me at barrygrrr@yahoo.com

I like to get an idea of what a tuba is going to sound like in front of an audience, and not just in some low ceiling back room. I appreciate it when they use a concert hall or recital hall, or something closer to that. I saw one video - pretty good player - that was recorded in a small practice ...

Hi, I'm looking for unbiased input on the new Wessex "Elgar" open wrap, compensating Eb tuba. I can't tell much from the Wessex videos because their players always sound so blatty in the low register, regardless of which tuba they're trying out. I'm guessing that has as much or more to do with the ...

Yes, I have both pipes. Right now the smaller one is attached.

Just testing the water to see if anybody wants to trade their B&S piston PT-6, PT-7 or piston "Neptune" for my rotary Neptune. What few dents that are on there are very small. These is some wear to the gold lacquer. The rotors move fairly fast. I have a T-bar pull on the main slide; a bar and thumb ...

Chris Olka sounds unbelievable on his 825, on his Youtube demo video. Check it out!

Warehouse space going further towards Point Richmond might be less expensive. But with the cost of gasoline, maybe looking in southeast S.F. might make some sense. Just a thought. Good luck. I'm sure glad I have your wonderful bag for my Neptune.

Barry Guerrero

I'll add my unsolicited zwei Groschen. I'm guessing the reason that "Siegfried" hasn't caught on in Europe while "Fafner" has, is greatly for practical reasons. A lot of players over there 'do' opera, and opera pits are notoriously crowded. Also, European players tend to travel between cities a lot ...

Without first knowing your horn, to answer your question while using the broadest possible brush stroke, I like the regular Stofer Geib (the bored out Stofer "Air Corp" Geib didn't agree with my Neptune). It seems to have a good balance of various elements. But since your tuba is smaller than mine ...

USPS has one more letter.

The title says it all. I would prefer e-mail: barrygrrr@yahoo.com. I'm also on FB Messenger under my name: Barry Guerrero.

With the B-flats and A-flats in there, this excerpts lays really well on Eb tuba. It was a cinch.

The low F is really good on the 983, if pull out either the third valve slide (which is the most 'outboard' one), or the first valve slide (which is more 'inboard'). Nobody buys an Eb tuba for a really great low E natural . . . do they?

I can testify that Bloke's equipment is really good, and that Joe will work with you to get a good combination going for any particular tuba, cimbasso, etc. I could easily be using my Blokepieces on a daily basis too. I've just been enjoying the Helleberg type rims lately.

Bort, if you think the Martin might be worth doing a 'Frankentuba' job on - putting a larger valve set on in the process - you might contact Carl Kleinsteuber in Denton, TX. He's done just that and sounds fabulous on his 'Franken-eeefer'. I also know a tuba player/instrument repair guy, here in ...

The idea of the Air Corp was/is to alleviate the sensation of 'back up' when trying to blow loud on the regular Stofer Geib. I tried one on my B&S Neptune and soon sold it off, as I liked my tone better on the regular Stofer Geib. However - against what everyone says you should do with rotors - I've ...

... But when it came to the repeated jump between the fourth line F and the high F# above, I found it to be much easier to nail on the 188. It was a prototype 188, so it wasn't THAT amazing. While the high F# popped out on it, it wasn't good for the repetitious chant that the two tubas play, just ...

Looking at Miraphone's own mouthpiece chart, it looks to me that the TU11 or TU13 could work well. I own a TU13 (Winston Morris), but it might be more bowl shaped than you'd care for. Shallow funnels don't work well for me, but the TU11 might be what you're looking for. I cant testify that Bloke ...

Since we're all kicking 'real life issues' about, I'll chime in. I HAD to sell my Besson 983 because I had to have cash at that particular moment for a 'medical emergency' reason. I had to take a medical 'leave of absence' from work. ANYWAY, the 983 was simply THE BEST 'out of the box' tuba I've ...

I play outdoors a lot, so I take a ton of stuff. I use a tall (deep) bicycle rider's backpack, plus I have a round camera lens bag that I put down the throat of my tuba bell. That has the small stuff in it. Hope this helps.