Posted by jeff on June 11, 2003 at 17:54:33:
In Reply to: what does a BBb Holton play like? posted by holton on June 06, 2003 at 23:30:38:
Steve Wick has (or had, don't know if he still has it) an extremely good Holton BBb. I played it once and found it to be one of the best tubas I've played. It wasn't that different from my Yorkbrunner in terms of the agility and security. All in all, it agreed pretty much with what Rick mentioned about his.
A funny story: Steve stopped into the main brass shop in London and saw this shiny 6/4 Holton with 4 forward facing valves. He tried it, really liked it, and decided to buy it. He had once had a 3 valve top action Holton BBb, but had sold it previously. It turns out it was the same horn! Mike Johnson had done a fantastic job of converting the tuba from top to front action, adding a valve (I think) and repairing a BULLET HOLE in the bell!
Mike, I never heard the story about the bullet hole. Does this have something to do with South Africa? (I hope I got the other facts straight - I was drunk when Steve told me the story).
Jeff