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Hi all,

I have been curious about these models, and honestly haven't had the chance to head out and do much "trying out" lately. An internet search didn't pull up a lot of info, any thoughts on how they compare?

Thank you!

I played them both, and have over the years

I feel the Mr P has less core and focus than the PT6, a bit foggier and less clear, more like a giant BBb. The PT6 I feel is a solid horn with more depth than most 6/4 tubas and gives evenness to the core

The PT6 is intriguing...I'd have to become accustomed to it, but can tell they are good tubas.
The MRP is (to me) not quite as intriguing...I'm reminded of a next-size-up Miraphone 188...still: good

my opinions, though, are not worth spit. I've gone over to the dark size (after nearly a half-century of playing C instruments), a couple of years ago (B-flat).

I’ve owned both. And both are excellent.

The MRP makes such a great sound. Think “6/4, but not quite” it offers slightly more clarity than, say, a York copy. The Pt6 is no slouch, though, and I always love listening to people play their (rotor) Pt6’s.

Intonation on both is outstanding.

Response on both is outstanding.

I think, were I to pick one, all things equal, I’d probably pick the MRP because it will get more money when you sell it.

I sold them because their mouthpipes were too low for me and I didn’t want to screw up the finish. I’m not a tuba stand lover.

I was pretty much out of "the game" when the MR-P came out, but owned a 6. I read somewhere that the PT-6 is the most successful tuba in the USA as far as auditions won. I loved mine and sold it too soon and too short-sightedly.

Intonation on mine was really quite good, but the horn would benefit from a second valve slide kicker to help with the 2-3 combo discrepancy (Eb tends high, Ab tends low).

It was Jon Voth's old horn which I then sold to Doug Black. If anybody knows where it is these days, lemme know. I have the serial somewhere.

I laid eyes on (and tooted on) a PT6 that Dave Kirk had just bought from Chester (on Dave's way up here to have me to some repairs and alterations on a few instruments).

It was the best one (as well as the handsomest) I'd ever played and seen.

If Dave isn't using it as least sometimes, I'd be surprised.

Thank you for the replies everyone. That mostly confirms what I was kind of thinking.

This video is kind of neat / relevant. Getting to hear both by a few different players play both back to back was interesting (especially with the translated captions turned on).

I think MRP is a way better thing than the Mel Culbertson thing where they pasted a 6/4 bugle onto a pt6, but I'm not sure that MRP is enough different from pt6. Maybe it's not meant to be and it's just meant to be hopefully better

Not all that long ago, I spent c. 10 minutes with an MRP.
I wasn't as impressed as I was with Dave's (at that time) newly-acquired (ie. Chester's) PT6...

...but I'm comparing two experiences which were years apart...(not particularly reliable...not at all).

Also - when I played Chester's just-sold-to-Dave PT6, I was still a C tuba player.

After picking up the MRP (much more recently) playing it, putting it back down, and then playing my (larger/longer) Miraphone 98, I was much more comfortable (sound/intonation/response) with the 98...but (well...) I'm now ACCUSTOMED to the Miraphone 98 (so again: a crappy comparison).

I'm remembering that there were things that were not easy (for me) to execute on the MRP (which I can execute with more ease with the 98)...but - again - "being accustomed to..."

CK's tuba...I actually was more impressed with it than I was with the MRP...(LOL...but not enough to return to C, nor to buy one, and older versions of CK's - that I've repaired - were ...well..."different").

I've allowed my own "lip-trill prowess" fade (sure: lack of practice) - over the last few years (having built it up to a "very good" ability level previously), but - well - I encountered difficulty doing that with the MRP (vs. my larger/longer 98), and - yes/no? - did I hear the best of those Japanese players also encounter a bit of the same issue?


warning! B-flat tuba biased non sequitur comment:
Shorter instruments are always (in many respects) going to be easier to play...ex: Most great euphoniums are easier to play (my other thread) than most tubas...but something that C players (I suspect?) tend to overlook is that (these days) so much MORE writing/arranging (as composers/arrangers can just touch buttons on their MIDI devices to achieve this) in the low/double-low range (as well as - in that range_) loud and - sometimes - fast. A very large percentage of the written double-low-written pitches are F, E, E-flat, and D (with the highest of these four being the most commonly written). Comparing an excellent C tuba to an excellent B-flat tuba, those pitches (to me, anyway) are more accessible (and with a more characteristic/matching-the-rest-of-the-instrument type of resonance) with an excellent B-flat instrument vs. those same pitches played on a C instrument...and sure, there are some negative trade-offs (ref: the very first sentence in this paragraph), but - when playing orchestral music in the European tradition, Europeans' traditional instruments are B-flat. American trombonists continue to play B-flat trombones, and (ok...whatever...enough on this...)

The piston version of the PT6 always sounds tubbier (more "covered"...fewer audible high-frequency harmonics...whatever) vs. the rotary version (ok: "to me").

I wonder (regardless of whether the resonance were generally more appealing or less appealing) how many more of those MRP things they would have sold, had the model been (per typical) rigged up with one of those CSO-York-like pistons valvesets.

bloke wrote: ↑Sun Dec 29, 2024 2:45 pm
I'm remembering that there were things that were not easy (for me) to execute on the MRP (which I can execute with more ease with the 98)...but - again - "being accustomed to..."

...

I've allowed my own "lip-trill prowess" fade (sure: lack of practice) - over the last few years (having built it up to a "very good" ability level previously), but - well - I encountered difficulty doing that with the MRP (vs. my larger/longer 98), and - yes/no? - did I hear the best of those Japanese players also encounter a bit of the same issue?

I noted the same thing when I first watched the video.

bloke wrote: ↑Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:19 pm The piston version of the PT6 always sounds tubbier (more "covered"...fewer audible high-frequency harmonics...whatever) vs. the rotary version (ok: "to me").

I wonder (regardless of whether the resonance were generally more appealing or less appealing) how many more of those MRP things they would have sold, had the model been (per typical) rigged up with one of those CSO-York-like pistons valvesets.

That is currently in the works. There have been prototypes of a piston version at a couple conferences recently. I think the first gen versions might be recently or soon to be out.

I have had similar experiences with the piston version of the PT6.

Someone should round up Jeff Anderson, ask him to pull his PT6 back out (if he's not already done so), play it for a week or so, and then hand him and MRP to A/B with his PT6.

He's one of the planet's (albeit neither a boaster nor a showboat) finest players.

A piston MRP does exist, now. I thought it was just okay. The rotor version was better. I believe there are a few out in the wild, too.

Sousaswag wrote: ↑Sun Dec 29, 2024 10:13 pm A piston MRP does exist, now. I thought it was just okay. The rotor version was better. I believe there are a few out in the wild, too.

I haven't tried it yet, but from what I've been told and read that seems to be the general consensus.