Posted by Steve C on August 27, 2000 at 18:54:54:
In Reply to: St. petersburg vs Yamaha posted by Marty Lipton on August 24, 2000 at 22:37:57:
Like everyone has been saying, you should try a St. Pete side by side to your Yamaha 641. But here's my opinion
I used the St. Pete for 3 years (virtually learned to play on it) The valves started to die after the 1st year. By the 3rd year the horn liked to keep 3rd, and 4th from coming back up. I've heard these are good horns if you get new valves instead of the ones it has. The intonation was great. But (at least on my horn) The 4th valve gave a lot of resistance and sounded stuffy.
Now, the Yamaha I borrowed for an audition yesterday. The sound was magnificent. Full, rich, and powerful. I felt it could handle more volume than the St. Pete (which made my Forte sound crystal clear for the 1st time on that solo I used at the audition ;). And it had a much stronger low end, I played low E, Eb and D and it was there, where the St. Pete lost me at low G. However, its intonation was not as good as the St. Pete. I was fighting it play in tune with itself. That was my ONLY problem, other than the lead pipe being to low! I hate being tall. Its like tubas are made for short people.
But if I had to choose between the 2, I would probably take the Yamaha. Its was more responsive for me, and the low end is a must for any tuba
Steve