Posted by Eric on December 16, 2000 at 21:29:15:
In Reply to: F tubas posted by Henry on December 16, 2000 at 01:47:07:
To play a German style F-tuba does require a certain approach. You canīt pick it up and play it like a CC or E-flat. I play F quite a bit and have owned several different F-tubas and feel that the new Mirafone 181 6v F has the best low register of any of the rotary valves Fs that I have played / owned. Overall, it is a fantastic tuba. The Yamahas or the Wilson have great low registers and are great "all purpose" tubas but in my opinion, loose the sound of the tradional German F-tuba. The Meinl Weston 45SLP is also a nice horn. It maintains more of the F-tuba sound but is still doesnīt have as tight of a sound as I like. Alot of German tubists donīt like the 45SLP because they feel that it a little too CC-tubaish which is how I feel about all of the piston valved F-tubas that I have played. For this reason, Meinl Weston is starting to make the 45SLZ which is a rotary version of the 45SLP. It seems that in the US people really like the "all purpose" type of F-tuba but I really prefer a more specialized instrument. You really need to decide what you are going to use your F-tuba for before you buy it because this will have a tremendous affect on which instument would be the best for you. We have more instruments to choose from than at any other time in history which is a great thing but it can also make things a bit confusing. Take your time and play all of the F-tubas that you can before you buy one and realize that any F-tuba needs a slightly different approach than bigger tubas. Good luck with your F-tuba journey.