Okay, I’ve spent some more time with the horn. Here are my first impressions:
It needs a cleaning. Bad. It’s going in Tuesday. The valve springs are *so* heavy that it’s hurting my hand to play for extended time periods. I’ve ordered Yamaha springs to solve that problem.
And again the valves are super loud. There’s some bell dings I want taken out as well, and we’ll discuss if I need a patch on that second slide crook or not. If it can wait, it will wait. I’m not looking to spend another $800 on this thing right now. Maybe after a few more paychecks. I’m more concerned with the loudness being taken care of.
The horn itself is pretty heavy. Not as heavy as their big horns, but it’s pretty comparable to a small CC in weight, I think.
I want my thumb ring to come in. I hate not having a thumb ring.
Playability is really quite good. No trouble down low, which is what I wanted. Low C has zero issues. Up high isn’t nearly as challenging as I thought it might be. It’s no Symphonie, but I’d rather have a horn that has a good low range than a euphonium-like high range. How often do I play up there anyway. Up until G above the staff is really good, and above that takes some work. I am fine with this.
I fall into the school of thought that I want my F tuba to be easy to play. I’m not looking to sound like a euphonium player. I have a euphonium for that. I wanted this to be my main gigging horn. As such, it needs to have a good mid and low register. I also want this to be the horn I teach with, whether it be on tuba or whatever other instrument. I am loving my new CC, but I don’t like carrying it around everywhere. Something physically smaller is good for me.
You might ask, why do I need a super nice and expensive CC tuba? Truth be told, I don’t. I don’t even really need an F tuba. As I finish my degree and become an educator, I really don’t need such nice tubas, much less two of them. However, I intend to return to school to pursue a performance master’s and I would love to do freelance and quintet work on the side. I just can’t afford that right out of undergrad and would rather teach for a while! I live in a pretty suburban area that makes this possible. Tuba is my first passion and I’m lucky to be able to have these nice instruments.
Anyway, pitch is also quite good. I wish the fourth slide was routed pointing up for that 5-2-3-4 low G. I don’t know why he designed it that way. Bottom line Bb is a little high, but first moves well and is vented. It’s not so high that I can’t lip it, either, so I may very well be lazy. The open F-C-A are all very good and closely in-tune. A works well open too! I’m using a Parker Titan that I got for a steal used with a Bloke #2 32.3mm rim that I’m really liking so far!
Future modifications?
This horn does actually have a rotax 5th valve. I wasn’t aware they were using that at this time. As bort has mentioned, it’s pretty clunky. Maybe I’ll have that cut into a normal rotor.
I’ve purchased some Yamaha springs for this tuba. They’ll either stay or go. Never used them in a front action horn, and, having switched to a rotary C, hadn’t thought about them until now. The springs in it now are what I assume to be stock, and seem to be made for the Hulk himself. Jokes aside, I think lighter springs will make a HUGE difference for me.
Re-routing the fourth slide wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world. I’m not convinced I even need to really pull that slide much, if at all, but it would certainly be nice to have that option.
As I mentioned, it might need some patches on the second and maybe third slide crooks. No holes, but it’s beginning. In due time, I’ll either have those patched or replaced altogether. I’d love to re-tube it in nickel like Elephant is doing. This will not happen for several years, in reality. The patches might happen sooner.
Lacquer is pretty patchy. I might consider stripping it off. In all the photos of lacquered Willson tubas I’ve seen, their lacquer just seems terrible! Wouldn’t it be cool to silver plate this after I do a whole bunch of extra future work to it? A buff probably wouldn’t hurt it due to how heavy it is… Again, wishful thinking. I’m in no financial position to do this anytime soon.
That’s all for now. I’m thinking of sharing about my trip to get it if anybody is interested in hearing about that and seeing some photos.
so why not make it sooner rather than later? I hate not having a thumb ring so I’m happy I bought it regardless 
