Posted by T. J. Ricer on February 11, 2001 at 23:46:20:
In Reply to: PT-22 and "investing" in new tubas posted by tubatheorist on February 11, 2001 at 08:37:47:
If I am not mistaken I am the only person out there who currently owns a PT-22. I love the horn, it plays great. I searched for almost three years for the right bass tuba. I think the only bass tuba out there that could be better is the Walter Nirschl and I tried to buy that horn from Custom for over a year with no luck. Word on the street is that there was only one Nirschl Eb ever made and they ended up selling it for something obscene like over nine thousand dollars. (On the other hand, that horn played like a dream, so I guess it earned the price tag). But this is just what I have heard about it, may not be the actual case. Anyway. . . The PT-22 (mine is a PT22-SP) plays great. The intonation isn't perfect, but is the best of any Eb (save maybe the Nirschl) I have ever played and far superior to that of ANY F tuba I have run across (but my F tuba experience is, admittedly, limited). I have never really liked the 983 (just an opinion, plenty of people love them and I'm sure that plenty of those people can toast me on my PT) I like the 981/982 Besson's better. . . Anyway, I'm really not coming to a point, so I guess that I should end. . . As for the horn buying thing, I don't think I can make a really good statement about that. . . do what you feel is best and what you can afford and, of course, time in the practice room is great. . .
T. J. "I've had my PT-22 for about a month now and think it's great" Ricer