Posted by mjg on December 19, 2003 at 16:24:26:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Engineered tuba revisited posted by C(G) on December 19, 2003 at 15:14:56:
Well put Chuck.
I always laugh when people ask why I continue to buy Volkswagen. They tell me it is junk, etc.. Then I compare the mechanics and sheer drivability to any other car of smae age. I can also compare the interiors and their durability as well. Most of the time my little VW's come out ahead.
I thought VW's were cool until my father picked up a used BMW. I got to visit him and drive it this fall. For a car manufactured in 1986, that thing drives like a dream.
I'll continue to purchase USA made trucks, mainly because Germany doesn't import any pickups and the Japanese versions are too small.
As far as materials go, I figure the reason man worked with wood and bronze millenia ago was mainly because it was fairly sturdy and easy to use.
Fast forward to now: We still build homes out of wood because it is cheap, renewable, and easy to use. In addition, it does the job just as well as most other materials in tha application.
Brass is relatively cheap, easy to use, and based on empirical study, it probably does just as good of a job as anything.
The only alternative I could see is using injection molded plastics and epoxys to make tubas. Mouthpieces seem to work ok, so maybe we could start building plastic tubas in exception to the valveset and leadpipe. Kinda like sousaphones. Problem is, the molds for something that size would be $,$$$,$$$.
mjg