Re: What BBb Piston Tuba to Buy?


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Posted by Klaus on January 12, 2002 at 08:58:39:

In Reply to: What BBb Piston Tuba to Buy? posted by Chris Peffley on January 12, 2002 at 06:39:09:

It might sound oddly coming from a European:

When it comes to BBb tubas I have met nothing closer to my ideals than older US style 4 piston instruments with bores in the .730 to .750 range.

I do not see them quite as often now, as when I found mine a couple of years or so back. But they are there, even your patience might feel a bit stretched.

You can choose different strategies. Places like Oberloh and Wichita Band Instrument Co. will sell you restored instruments. Or you might find a project instrument.

If you are a real brass band-it, you might find a good specimen of the Besson 994 satisfying. I tried such one. Easy to play and beautiful sound. Only I found it too restricted in weight and expansiveness of exactly the sound.

My too older US BBb’s give me the feel, that I never have to play really loud. They will fill the hall with foundation anyway. They are great in the bottom of a brass band.

These older US BBb’s are not the most elegant toe-tip dancers with the large PT-50, that I use for playing them. I can play the same Arban triple and double tonguing exercises, that I play on smaller brasses. But that takes some physical power to provide the breath control necessary for that. If I had to do a lot of stand-up street work, they might literarily kill me.

Klaus


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