YamaYork at Dillon Music

[matt g]

I think the Yamaha YCB-826S comes in at around 22lbs. Quite light for a 6/4 tuba.

[bloke]

I think the Yamaha YCB-826S comes in at around 22lbs. Quite light for a 6/4 tuba.

My big Miraphone rotary B-flat weighs roughly the same.
It's difficult/ill-advised to try to remove weight from slide tubing, circuit tubing, and mechanisms (though my 21.2mm bore rotors are considerably smaller than Miraphone rotors - of the same bore size - made a half century ago), so the only real way to reduce weight by a few pounds is the make the bell and bows significantly thinner...
...Such is the case with my big Miraphone rotary B-flat...
I have to be extreme careful, which is why I always use the (large/considerably heavier than the tuba itself) Jakob Winter case.

Most tubas seem to be roughly .6mm thick (bows, bells). The lightweight huge ones seem to mostly be .5mm thick, which defines a very delicate/fragile instrument...and it had better not collect any lime inside the bows, as - after a few years - spider cracks could begin appearing !

.5mm is about the thickness of "regular" .6mm thick tubas which have been "overhauled" and "had the crap buffed out of them".
(It's pretty easy to buff away 4/1000ths of material by buffing out the remainders of dents which weren't completely removed in the previous step of an "overhaul" - sure: along with deep cuts and scratches.)

I'm thinking that some of the York knockoffs (and I know some don't like me referring to them as "knockoffs") are thin, because the CSO York tuba is quite lightweight itself.

The thing about the the CSO York tuba is this:
Look at the picture of Mr. Donatelli holding it, and early photos of Mr. Jacobs holding it.

In the distant past, it sported a SATIN SILVER finish.


SIDEBAR:
ALSO, NOTICE THE VERY TRUNCATED MOUTHPIPE BELL-WRAP AND THE 45-DEGREE ANGLE AT WHICH IT'S BEING HELD...AND IT'S NOT EVEN QUITE UP TO HIS MOUTH.
I'VE READ WHERE PEOPLE CLAIMED THAT MR. DONATELLI WAS TOO FAT TO PLAY IT...TAKE A LOOK: HE WAS SHORT AND STOUT, BUT NO SLOB. I FEEL CERTAIN THAT - SIMPLY - HE GREATLY DISLIKED HAVING TO HOLD AN INSTRUMENT AT THAT UNCOMFORTABLE ANGLE...BESIDES THE AWKWARD PLAYING ANGLE (WHICH HAS BEEN COPIED BY SO MANY OTHERS) IT HAD NOT YET HAD THE CRAP BUFFED OUT OF IT, SO IT WAS PROBABLY TWO OR THREE POUNDS HEAVIER, TO BOOT. TODAY, WE SAY "ERGONOMICS".


Today, it sports a BRIGHT silver finish.





In order to completely buff a satin silver finish to bright silver (ask ANY overhaul shop...) someone had to have "buffed the crap out of it".
...so the knockoffs (attempting to copy the material thickness) aren't copying the original instrument, are they?
Rather...they are copying an old 6/4 American-style "grand" tuba (yet a one-off - factory built in C) which has had the crap buffed out of it - resembling the thickness of old eastern European "kaiser" - as well as normal-sized - tubas (as my Miraphone is - other than its bell - pattered after)...
I'm pretty sure that the old European makers made tubas and other instruments that thin, because...
- it was easier to fabricate/bend them (not having access to tools available today), and
- as a fringe-or-intended benefit, they were less burdensome to carry - when marching with them.

huge thin tubas:
' nothing wrong with them, but they absolutely require special care, and I would/will NEVER carry mine around in a padded sack.

[Three Valves]

For a minute, I thought he had three legs!

[bort2.0]

I'm bad at this stuff... Gene is on the right. But who's on the left? And who is the surprised guy (who actually looks like a math professor I had in college long ago, but obviously it's not him)

[arpthark]

I'm bad at this stuff... Gene is on the right. But who's on the left? And who is the surprised guy (who actually looks like a math professor I had in college long ago, but obviously it's not him)

Norm Pearson, but no idea who your math prof doppelgänger is.

[dp]

At this point, the Yamaha isn’t really a York copy but rather “York inspired”. They’ve been tweaking the design on the 826 for over two decades now.

of course they have

I do wonder if Walter Nirschl has made any changes to his design over time?

of course he has

All of these big tubas vary a bit simply because they are big and small changes can propagate into playing differences.

of course they do

Good grief this thread is something else!! It's no wonder the woke "nonsense" crowd dismisses this old guard as irrelevant,
just lookit all the puke in this 4 page thread !! its enough to ruin a fresh bowl of popcorn!!

[bloke]

At this point, the Yamaha isn’t really a York copy but rather “York inspired”. They’ve been tweaking the design on the 826 for over two decades now.

of course they have

I do wonder if Walter Nirschl has made any changes to his design over time?

of course he has

All of these big tubas vary a bit simply because they are big and small changes can propagate into playing differences.

of course they do

Good grief this thread is something else!! It's no wonder the woke "nonsense" crowd dismisses this old guard as irrelevant,
just lookit all the puke in this 4 page thread !! its enough to ruin a fresh bowl of popcorn!!

FINALLY...
Tubah Godhh activated.



... and maybe I'll get some relief from having to come back here and re-troll a troll.

[Dents Be Gone!]

I agree, guys. This is the way to go.

[kingrob76]

I've done a side-by-side with my Eastman and a YamaYork. If I were playing in a large ensemble for a living I'd pick the Yamaha if finances allowed. If I were taking an audition I'd want the Eastman. There's a difference in the sounds they made that was clear and obvious not just when I played but when the professional who uses the Yamaha played. The Yamaha played and sounded bigger than the Eastman for both of us but there was a better clarity to the Eastman. We played them in a small chamber performance room (maybe 25 x 50) and in a big rehearsal / performance space.

All that being said, that appears to be a VERY nice Getzen that Dillon also has in their used inventory. Good price on it to, especially in that condition. Had I not just bought one I'd be all over that horn.

[Casca Grossa]

At this point, the Yamaha isn’t really a York copy but rather “York inspired”. They’ve been tweaking the design on the 826 for over two decades now.

of course they have

I do wonder if Walter Nirschl has made any changes to his design over time?

of course he has

All of these big tubas vary a bit simply because they are big and small changes can propagate into playing differences.

of course they do

Good grief this thread is something else!! It's no wonder the woke "nonsense" crowd dismisses this old guard as irrelevant,
just lookit all the puke in this 4 page thread !! its enough to ruin a fresh bowl of popcorn!!

The Tuba God is not officially activated until we get the obligatory ppppffffftttt!!!

FINALLY...
Tubah Godhh activated.



... and maybe I'll get some relief from having to come back here and re-troll a troll.

[bloke]

I'm not going into my personal observations with the Eastman X3X 6/4 vs. Yamaha because
- it's "really good for the money", which is probably highest on more tuba players lists - vs. more string players'/bassoonists' - lists. and
- of all of the China ones, it's probably the best.
- who cares what I think (?)

driving $25,000 to $45,000 vehicles:
bassoonists' instruments - $35,000 - $80,000 / 8-year waiting list for the $80,000 ones
string players' instruments - $80,000 and up / hoping that someone will be willing to sell something good...and then, there's the bow..

driving $75,000 pick-up trucks:
tuba people: grimace at the top of the four-figures price range; try to negotiate $4900 instruments down to $2900
("After all, we mostly only play donuts and depth charges...")

[bloke]

Circling back to "mouthpipe technology", the reason I don't go along with any (but one) aftermarket mouthpipe makers' claims is because the person who figured THIS out was the ONLY person who REALLY knew what they were talking about:

abc.png (5.72 KiB) Viewed 979 times

...and what REALLY convinced me?

a scientific "ours vs. theirs" chart.

[matt g]

Those steps would be discontinuities along the bore. Discontinuities introduce nonlinear effects. Nonlinear effects are bad.

[bloke]

maybe...but there's a chart.

[jtuba]

It's "Out of Stock", which one of you bought it??

[Mary Ann]

Not me.

[humBell]

What i miss?

[kingrob76]

It's "Out of Stock", which one of you bought it??

The Getzen is out of stock...

[bloke]

If a used instrument is out of stock, and then two days later it's back in stock, would it be a good idea too order it?

[jtuba]

It's "Out of Stock", which one of you bought it??

The Getzen is out of stock...

The Yamayork too