Posted by DaveC on July 24, 2001 at 16:53:17:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Eb recommendations posted by Seeker on July 24, 2001 at 13:16:10:
I bought my Willson used. DEG distributes them in the US, and any music store that sells DEG products can get you one.
The "intonation quirks" on the MW were nothing that I couldn't overcome with practice and the occasional slide pull. The 1&2 C (2nd space) was sharp, as was the note an octave lower, and the 4th line F was flat. I pulled slides for the sharp notes and lipped up the low notes and everything else fell into line pretty well. As a caveat -- I was playing this horn mostly in a band with 4 tubas -- one BBb, one CC (with the 5th valve depressed to play in BBb), a Yamaha YFB861, and the MW2141 Eb. Not the best situation to gauge intonation quirks.
Show me one tuba that doesn't require some "tweaking" in order to get everything to line up the way you want it to. I'm not downplaying any problems with this instrument, but I do feel like this horn gets a bad rap. I was perfectly happy with my MW and I would still be playing it today, intonation "quirks" and all, if I hadn't had the deal of a lifetime fall into my lap (for the Willson). Don't let someone else's opinion based on a 10-minute tryout sway your opinion. If you get a chance to try these horns, they are the best bang for the $4000 buck.