Posted by Joe Sellmansberger on April 16, 1999 at 20:17:19:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: No decent New F tubas on the market (me out-of-step? too picky?) posted by misunderstand? on April 16, 1999 at 11:17:02:
Not really a contradiction. I just bought my daughter a Laubin english horn for the price of a really decent used car. A Loree English horn that I COULD have bought her, that maybe plays 99% as good as a Laubin, costs $3000 less than the Laubin. In order to make it more comfortable for me to make NO compromises in HER music career, I am driving an $1800 car. Neither she nor I make music or do anything career-related with the car, except to effectly get our rear ends to gigs, which the $1800 car does quite safely and well for as long as we need it to. The point that I was trying to make is that "1%" is absolutely NOT negligible! That 1% difference may well get you into Juilliard, Curtis, or Oberlin instead of Nevada State, etc. (no offense intended, Nevadians).
This response is WAY off of the original subject, but I think that I DO put my money where my mouth is, unless I misunderstood your point.
Also, I would like to speak to financial limitations. If you ever have listened to talk radio, there is a rather paced-sounding but wise older guy that calls himself "Bruce Williams" on national talk radio. He does NOT do politics. Rather, he has always dealt with practical advice. People call him up and talk about the financial holes that they have dug. He says to them, "How much are you working?" They answer "40 hours a week." He says, "What about a second and a third job?" Then the callers start delivering excuses. Bruce then tells them that they ARE NOT SERIOUS about solving their problems, because they are not willing to do the obvious things to solve them.............. If a person has identified themselves as MORE than a recreational tuba player and KNOWS of a better instrument, if that tuba player does not have the money to buy that instrument, they should "bust their tail" (night jobs, whatever) and GET the money. By the way, Bruce does not except "going to school" as an excuse. In his youth, he went to college full time while working two full-time jobs. Did he spend much "quality time" with his family (He was ALSO married with kids) or see a lot of great TV shows? I would suppose not. Does he spend a lot of quality time with his family TODAY, do just about whatever he wants to, and is he a multi-millionaire? Of course! Personally, I started out at age eighteen with the same resources as everyone else: $0000. At the age of 21, I quit teaching tuba at the University of Kansas, began freelance playing much, much more (two back-to-back seven night a week club jobs, plus the local symphony orchestra and a touring jazz band), and started my own business with my wife. Between the months of May and early October, my wife and I work 100-hour work weeks every week. We have been doing this for about twenty years. We take less than two weeks vacation each year -- usually less than one week. That is why we are able to pay the tuition at Eastman for our daughter, and why we have no debts. (I also do not waste money on shiny cars, cable TV, etc.) In the United States, you have to TRY HARD to NOT find opportunities to make plenty of money. To me "can't afford" means "not willing to work hard enough to get". Yes, I was asking for referrals for band directors to buy my sousaphones that I rebuilt. I want to STAY out of debt, and start getting ready to retire YOUNG! The Eastman tuition (unexpected) is a minor stumbling block in my retirement goals, so I have stepped up my work to even more hours (by rebuilding sousaphones as a side business), so that the tuition expenses will have no effect on my plans.
I WOULD like to withdraw a comment that I made earlier about "Russian tuba" postings. Of course, this BBS is for ALL of the great tuba players in the world: student, professional, and recreational. If someone is offering a playable 4-rotor BBb full-size tuba in the same price range as the 3/4 three piston student Yamastuff, that IS worth talking about for many tuba players. Also, I stand by my comments about Yamaha's "economy of parts". (professional 3/4 CC tubas and their small F tuba just being a remake of their "school-grade" 3/4 BBb's.) I am quite sure that all of these instruments share the same bell and bottom bow, and to me, except for the extra buttons and slides, those "pro" models sound and play very much like the "school-grade" BBb 3/4's.
This is WAY too long, but one final thought in response to your posting: The way that I protect my family (and ALL families) on the road is by NOT ALLOWING my daughter to drive my $1800 car. By NOT allowing her to drive (she is 18 and HAS her license [18 is TOO YOUNG to drive!] ) I am not only being a better parent, I am being a better citizen.