You could try an inexpensive ($20-$30) electret condenser mike. I investigated this a while ago because I have a very deep bass singing voice in addition to playing tuba. These mikes have an almost flat response down to 20 Hz, which is about the limit of a young normal person's hearing. This is the ...

Thanks for all your replies, which are helpful. I got sent an arrangement of Shall We Gather at the River by the church pianist, who would like to help arrange this group. It was in MuseScore and I joined that to print it out. Apparently there are about 100 pages of various brass quartet and quintet ...

I've been talking with a trumpet player about forming a quartet or quintet to play for recreation and a few times a year at church services. IDK who I will be able to scare up besides the 1st trumpet...there is a euphonium player who is a church memeber, if he wants to play with us, but IDK yet. So ...

bort2.0 wrote royjohn wrote: ↑Mon Jun 27, 2022 11:30 pm royjohn, tuba newbie at 75 I agree with everything you said, but I can't get past how cool this last line is. :tuba: Thanks for the compliment, Brett, but I have to say that last line would really be even cooler if I could play worth a damn! I w ...

Based on bloke's recommendation and my research on what it did, I ordered a used TM-60 with the contact mike for $30 total off ebay in May and I've been using it since then. It works about like bloke said it would, and my range being only about down the bottom piano A right now, it is great for my ...

It seems like what Brett may need is at least two CC tubas. He is liking the Rudy 5/4 that he has, but maybe an added horn, like the 188 he keeps talking about, would help. Then you have two options, hopefully both of which you love playing...

Hi eupho, Thanks for the kind words. I am by no means in great shape, but, as I detailed, I don't find the 410 all that difficult to maneuver up onto my lap from by my left side. It is on my list of things to do to get a bit stronger, too. If it is merely hauling a 410 around in its hard case and ...

I am sorry to hear that BB is closing, but I guess it is a case of somewhat diminishing profit and a desire of the owner to retire. I am alarmed by the post that mentions all the great sellers and repairers who are close to retirement and have no successors. What I would say is that, in my ...

I think Wade covered the playing aspects of the horn well. Yes, the valves are not completely noiseless...mine would be a bit better if I had gotten the new bumpers in slightly better. Wade reworked the slides on his, which I now own, and they are pretty good now, particularly the 1st, which you ...

Interesting that we're getting different weights...the doctor's scale with weights (it's a Health-o-Meter) like in the doc's office should be pretty accurate once it is zero'ed out, which I do with the calibrating bar which has it's own small weight. There's even a sight level to get the bar ...

I'll try not to completely hijack bloke's thread, but maybe my experience is relevant for someone. Glad you are recovering well, bloke and just don't do too much [literal] heavy lifting for a while. I had bilateral inguinal hernia surgery at the age of 15 and I'm 75 tomorrow and that surgery has ...

I just weighed my 410, formerly owned by the elephant, and it weighs 21.4 lbs. I have a well calibrated doctor's scale with the sliding weights and weighed myself and then me and the tuba...assuming I got the sliding weights all into the right notches, that should be a pretty accurate weight. This ...

Jeffrey Herman is America's premier silver restoration expert. He does not recommend Tarn-X...I suppose because it removes too much silver. He has a list of recommended low abrasive silver polishes at his website ( https://www.hermansilver.com/care.htm ) and I would recommend using one of those. He ...

I don't know why this is an issue for anyone else but me, but since the question was asked, my rotors were about 30 minutes to 90 minutes off on an hour hand, or about 15 to 45 degrees off. I thought that that was enough to make it an issue. I am glad to hear that it isn't too critical (which I ...

My, my,,, it seems a little tempest in a teapot is brewing. Here's my take...after several months of playing this 410 I bought from the elephant, I went to lube the rotor shafts and noticed that when I took off the back plates that some of the valves were off their witness marks. I bought some 3/16 ...

I have a slightly different take on this than others. First I would say that you have to do most of your practice in the "cash register" that is probably from about low C (two ledger lines below the bass clef) and about an octave and a half over that. Below that you practice 20% of the time and in ...

Hi Jperry, Thanks for the recommendation of the 3/16" rubber...that's what I'd seen recommended before and that's basically what I bought, and while it fit the notches fine, it just wasn't long enough to match up the witness marks on the valves...IDK if that has something to do with the ...

I bought some 3/16", red silicone O-rings, 70 durometer, for replacement bumpers for my Mackbrass 410 CC, but I find they are too thin. Apparently what is in the horn was stock that was cut down from something larger to fit. Does anybody have a source for the proper stock for this? Meanwhile I have ...

Yeah, too bad no tuba shindigs right now...maybe covid is going to calm down enough by the spring that things will return to a semblance of normal and there will again be "tuba shindigs." IDK about any hand-wringing...there's none here at la mia piccola casa . I'm really pretty happy with the 410 ...

Thanks, all, for the many good recommendations. Here's what I get out of this so far: 1. 188 might be a better upgrade than a 186, but not gonna happen for $4000, maybe $5000. 2. Some folks think an older small bell 186 is better than a newer, larger bell 186 and might be a good upgrade. 3. A M-W 30 ...