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I have quite a good 2-tuba set up.

My Holton BB-345... I hadn't played it for a few weeks... I'd been playing on the government- owned PBK... kinda been feeling like I lost my tuba mojo... then I played my Holton at a gig and it was like magic.
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My Besson 983 is also excellent. I feel more at home on an F tuba, but this thing plays so good that I need to keep it.

And my Schiller compensating euphonium... I love how it plays. One nice thing is that it has such a low resale value that I'm not tempted to "flip it". I tried a bunch of other euphoniums at the Army conference and did not find anything I found to play drastically better to me

tubaing wrote: ↑Fri Apr 26, 2024 8:51 pm I have quite a good 2-tuba set up.

My Holton BB-345... I hadn't played it for a few weeks... I'd been playing on the government- owned PBK... kinda been feeling like I lost my tuba mojo... then I played my Holton at a gig and it was like magic.
.
My Besson 983 is also excellent. I feel more at home on an F tuba, but this thing plays so good that I need to keep it.

And my Schiller compensating euphonium... I love how it plays. One nice thing is that it has such a low resale value that I'm not tempted to "flip it". I tried a bunch of other euphoniums at the Army conference and did not find anything I found to play drastically better to me

I recall that you have been playing a gubmunt 5450. Is the fact that you are now an all-B-flat person due to you having moved and what's available, have you just decided to do the B-flat thing, or is it a combination of the two?

I have a big CC that I really like.
I have 4/4 CC coming that I HOPE will be my last one.
I LIKE my F, but I am becoming less enamored of it, it BARKS when I try to push it. Don't really know what to try next.
I have a small F that I use OCCASIONALLY.
No more Euphs for me. I have 2 double bells that I am trying to sell (not in my possession).
I have a $1,000 Wessex bass trombone that suits my VERY occasional needs.
I will be using the G tuba on Mahler 1 solo next month.
The Gronitz CC/DD is a really good candidate for a lot of stuff, but it is not QUITE right, just yet. Maybe I'll sell it off, if someone is interested (I'll make a great deal on this).

I know, I know TMI!
But YOU asked!!

Happy Saturday, Y'all!!

Oh yeah, I JUST bought a bass!!!! (can't play it yet)

I am happy with the horns that I have and do not envision purchasing anything else in the near future. The most expensive horn I have is the King 2341 and it is a pleasure to play. Each of the other horns comes with a story that is important to me:
King "Symphony" Recording Bass- Purchased for me in the summer of 1974 from a music teacher named Keemer Wetzel in Utica, New York. Our family summered near Kingston, Ontario and a family friend (also a music teacher in Ohio) knew of this horn and picked it up. I had never seen a recording bell tuba before and was not really sure what to make of it. Such a terrific tuba to own and play for 50 years!
King 2341-Entered the brass band world 5 years ago and purchased this horn from Baltimore Brass. It is the most expensive of all of the four and is a terrific horn for an amateur player such as myself.
Yamaha 321-A Facebook Marketplace rescue. This horn was on our local Facebook page for 15 months. It is the exact model of the very first tuba that I played in elementary school and I knew it had been abused just by looking at it. I waited until the price was reasonable and then purchased it. The body looked like someone took a baseball bat or a hockey stick to it, however the slides and the valves were in really good shape. An ultrasonic bath and several repairs later, it is the horn that is always out of the case and ready to practice without any fuss.
Holton "Mammoth" This horn has been a project in many ways. It was damaged nearly two years ago and Lee Stofer worked his magic on it, rebuilding a horrendous leadpipe and repairing a bottom bow. I am now getting comfortable with it and will play it in its first concert in about six weeks.
These horns will never be mistaken as top of the line, however they provide me with plenty of joy.

bloke wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 7:54 am

tubaing wrote: ↑Fri Apr 26, 2024 8:51 pm I have quite a good 2-tuba set up.

My Holton BB-345... I hadn't played it for a few weeks... I'd been playing on the government- owned PBK... kinda been feeling like I lost my tuba mojo... then I played my Holton at a gig and it was like magic.
.
My Besson 983 is also excellent. I feel more at home on an F tuba, but this thing plays so good that I need to keep it.

And my Schiller compensating euphonium... I love how it plays. One nice thing is that it has such a low resale value that I'm not tempted to "flip it". I tried a bunch of other euphoniums at the Army conference and did not find anything I found to play drastically better to me

I recall that you have been playing a gubmunt 5450. Is the fact that you are now an all-B-flat person due to you having moved and what's available, have you just decided to do the B-flat thing, or is it a combination of the two?

My choices at the new unit were:

King 2341 BBb
Gronitz PKB BBb
MW 2165 CC

Sticking with BBb is helpful because a lot of things have a tendency of switching to memorized and/or sousaphone (West German Miraphone 4 valve BBb) and I very well may just use my Holton for the vast majority of performances.

I would be happy to play on my Holton for drill/rehearsals, but we are on the 2nd floor and have no elevator, so since I'm already carrying my euphonium (the government euph needs some work) and backpack up the stairs, taking the Holton in the hard case is a lot.

I might trade in the Gronitz for a King (a little more zippy, lighter, and has harness loops).

King 4/4 tubas - as with your Holton - offer good tuning, as well.

------------------------------

almost a non sequitur:

Even though I'm - pretty much - "old", I'm now totally B-flat acclimated (ok: "in my opinion"), and - though the likelihood of playing most of them ever again is low - I've totally retaught myself all of the major "contrabass tuba" excerpts - playing B-flat. I do NOT believe that I'm going deaf...YET I DO believe (senile?) that I'm playing most all of them better than ever... (Maybe, I'm playing them "smarter"...??)

I am very happy with the 2 tubas ( mira 188 and B&S symphonie) I have.
They fit all my playing needs: ensemble, Wind band and orchestra. The only thing that is unreachable for me is Brass band because I don't have a Besson or similar.

There is however one kind of tuba I would like to own but is impossible because of the space (our music room isn't the biggest room in the house and with a piano, the bassoon of my wife and my two tuba's) and that would be a true Kaiser tuba.
Something of a weltklang 104 or a Cerveny 601.

Easy answer: No.

I once played a handmade 6450 that was sublime. Been chasing that ghost ever since, but my 836 is REALLY good and will only leave my hands either because I died or found another 6450/2 that is also sublime.

I *might* have my small CC with my Getzen - I'll know for sure in about 6 weeks. Only knock on it really is the weight because the metal is THICK - but it's point and shoot. It's a musical Easy button. For what I will use it for it might be too much horn but it is a GREAT compliment to my 836.

I have an F tuba or two I'd like to delve into because there are times when I'd like something even lighter or more accessible than the Getzen in the middle and upper registers. I borrowed a YFB-822 once for a couple weeks and really liked it, and there's a Miraphone piston F (Petrushka?) that I really liked as well (in an elephant room setting). I'll never need a cimbasso and can borrow one if needed. Wouldn't mind owning a large-bore euphonium someday.

There's a 188 I'm in line for that I'm buying when it comes available, which might be never.

I have noticed that those Getzen C tubas are thick gauge brass - coincidentally like King tubas from the same era, and also coincidentally that King valves and caps fit into their casings perfectly, but okay... their parts were made in Europe. Whatever.
I have played a few of them, and think they're pretty darn good.

I own a decent playing BBb that I got from Dillon that I'm happy with, but I was wanting a lightweight sousaphone and as of today I have one... a 1960's Reynolds model player I just now got home with.

I made the road trip up to Lee Stofer who had just gone through it doing those magical little things he does. He offered it as a player or as a "go through it all full refurb" and I took it as a player.

I also picked up a Stofer-Geib mouthpiece, and a completely refurbed and refinished Conn 1... and a silver as-is Conn Mellophonium because why not?

We spent some time together (my wife had a nice time with Lee's wife touring the homestead) and he showed me his whole operation. Quite impressive.

I know that a 60-year-old player-condition fiberglass sousaphone is probably fairly low on most people's wanted list, but it was high on mine. Now I can play outdoors/street/fests without worry of denting up my "good" horn, and still have a good sound.

Here's a shot of the Reynolds I took after loading it in the vehicle:

I'd love to stumble across a 1990s pebble finish King fiberglass sousaphone for cheap.
It wouldn't quite sound as good maybe as the old 30 lb King brass one that I have, but it would sound about 99.9% as good and it would weigh about 35% less.

C J wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 2:33 pm I am very happy with the 2 tubas ( mira 188 and B&S symphonie) I have.
They fit all my playing needs: ensemble, Wind band and orchestra. The only thing that is unreachable for me is Brass band because I don't have a Besson or similar....

They may be stricter about the right instruments where you are, but I'm doing quite well using a B&S Symphonie for Eb bass parts. By "quite well," I mean (1) I'm having fun and have no trouble using an F tuba for Eb parts, and (2) it sounds good enough that I don't think I'm holding the band back by using the wrong instrument, yet. A couple of the guys on Bb bass are using C tubas, too, so we might just be too American.

kingrob76 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 5:11 pm ...
There's a 188 I'm in line for that I'm buying when it comes available, which might be never.

Didn't you have a really nice 188 a couple years ago?

TriStateFans wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 8:17 pm I know that a 60-year-old player-condition fiberglass sousaphone is probably fairly low on most people's wanted list

You might be surprised, especially after people have had a good look at what "player condition" meant there. From a few feet away, it looks pretty sweet. Throw in the cool mouthpieces and the mellophonium, and that sounds like a mighty good day.

Conn mellophonium? Might enjoy reading The Stan Kenton Mellophoniums.

SIDEBAR (could be accused of trolling)

Risking starting up an old debate again , and once again I admitting that I've never been in a British style brass band, I just always viewed the the ones over in the UK as being much more strict and authentic than those in the United States, and I tend to respect the UK bands for that a whole bunch. I'm thinking that they probably still also have uniforms, in addition to using top action E flat and B flat basses.
I understand that tubas cost a whole lot more than any of the other instruments but - to me - it's sort of like, "Hey I have a C trumpet and a deep v-cup 1B Bach mouthpiece, so how about me playing the solo E-flat cornet part on this thing?"...or "I've got a 4-valve Conn Connstellation baritone horn here, so - since it's a little smaller than a British-style euphonium, can I cover the baritone horn parts with it?"...or "I have an old single French with an E flat slide, so how about me playing the second tenor horn part with it?"

... It's a very military-like attitude that they obviously have about their bands, and it's almost as if (and maybe they actually did in the past...??) the bands own all of the instruments (as a "chest of" viols or recorders - during the Renaissance era), and they are the correct ones and the complete set.

It's a bit like postmodern Americans getting huffy about German symphony orchestras requiring the use of B-flat tubas. Ie. *"Why do they do that?" I guess I could personally offer a bunch of reasons why ~I~ think (??) that they do, but the most important thing is that they do it, rather than "Why do they do it?" These things have to do with culture, and Americans always seem to like to question and/or ignore culture.

"Why should I buy golf clubs to play golf, when I own four different weights and lengths of baseball bats? I've actually gone out to a driving range with baseball bats and found that I could hit golf balls with them quite well..." (etc.)
________________________
*whereas Germans could just as easily ask, "Why do Americans all play B-flat tubas through age 17, and then - if they're going to continue to play them in school - rush out and buy tubas which are C length?"

bloke wrote: ↑Sun Apr 28, 2024 8:03 am

... It's a very military-like attitude that they obviously have about their bands, and it's almost as if (and maybe they actually did in the past...??) the bands own all of the instruments (as a "chest of" viols or recorders - during the Renaissance era), and they are the correct ones and the complete set.

They do, and that is common practice in at least the Netherlands, where most wind bands, fanfare's and brass bands own the instruments, and you can hire them from the band (most of the bands in the Netherlands you have to pay to play, so the band is able to pay the conductor, buy music and rent concert spaces)

In the top brass bands over here it is not uncommon that the tuba's are being bought in selected pairs, or even 4's.

Yes!

yes.

I’ve got a variety of instruments to cover a variety of things. But, I’m not adverse to new things. But it’s different I think for someone like me who is a serious amateur (even though I play for money it’s not my profession) and a pro musician. I can live with quirks and make them work so it’s not crucial to find less effort better etc where as for a pro it’s about easier less effort to be better as this is their profession & livelihood.

For a pro it’s worth the time and effort to keep searching and working for better. For me with 65-80 hour work weeks in my own profession, I just don’t have the time to put in the effort for incrementally better. If I came across it casually - I would as cost in my case isn’t a constraint - although the frugal side of me would find it hard to justify spending a small fortune on a horn that was incrementally better when what I currently own work well in the groups and music styles I currently have to support.

The show off factor of a mega dollar horn is meaningless to me (I mean my main axes were made in 1969) and while I can easily afford it -that improvement would be much better taken advantage of by a pro and those incremental improvements are far more meaningful and worth the extra money involved to them. Even more important - they can take full advantage of those improvements that horn offers. Personally, I’ve seen the show off factor of very expensive horns in amateur groups and they never seem to be owned by the best or even what I would call good amateur players. I personally like the opposite factor of horns that looked like they were battle tested. It gets the reaction of "he sounds great on “that” thing - he must be good!”

My personal adage “under sell over deliver”.

I´m pretty sure I own what I need.

- 5/4 BBb with 5 valves for concert band literature and full-size band polka-ing.
Built like a tank and harder to blow than others, but EXTREMELY grateful to some extra effort.
This one makes conductors in the audience smile, a lot.

- 2- to 3/4-ish BBb M-W 2011 FA, perfect for marching and standing occasions, as well as small polkaband ensembles.
Light, nimble and precise where the big horn would break my back or tend to behave like a post-panamax-class cargo ship in a back yard pond.

- M-W 46S F-tuba forming a perfect match soundwise with the M-W 25 BBbs my section mates play.
On the rare occasions I get to play bass tuba in band, that is.
Perfect horn to do ad-lib-work playing by ear. It has recently been retrofitted with a gold-brass bell, and since then I have yet to make the horn bark. It just refuses to blat.

- ADAMS F is the fine blade, in comparison. I do too little solo literature to really put this one to use.
Doesn´t blend too well with the band, but offers glorious sound. The larger of the two leadpipes makes this the perfect quintet horn.

re: "show-off mega-dollar horn"

- My plays-itself F tuba has been brown for quite a few years (probably about 35 of its 42 years), and - no - I didn't strip the lacquer.

- My most expensive tuba not only doesn't have pistons, but it's not built in C, so - in the United States - it's just a student tuba.

I don't think that the person who has a mega dollar (euro) horn has it to show off, but has fallen for the marketing surrounding that horn (I can sound just as good as the pro players endorsing that horn)