Posted by Steve Inman on March 24, 2001 at 16:29:41:
In Reply to: Been 21 Years - HELP! I'm Brain Dead posted by Steve Kinsel on March 24, 2001 at 15:36:56:
Steve,
I played a 4/4 Miraphone and/or Meinl Weston in high school. Went to engineering school (BSEE, Purdue, 1980). Was fortunate to find my own 4/4 Miraphone BBb after graduating, and played it from about '81 until '95, almost exclusively in a quintet.
That's when I discovered that an Eb tuba was easier to play in the upper register passages required in some quintet literature. Since my upper register wasn't strong on the BBb, I switched to a Besson 983 Eb, which has worked fairly well since.
But (I'm not necessarily recommending that you follow in my footsteps), I've since discovered that the 983 Eb (not a big Eb, not a small Eb) has a hard time pretending to be a contrabass tuba whenever I'm required to play extended passages with multiple ledger lines below the staff. Hence I'm considering buying a 4/4 BBb or CC tuba to complement my Eb.
So -- what type of playing do you think you'll end up doing? If community band, local civic theater pit orchestra, quintet, etc.; and if your upper register used to be solid on BBb, then I'd recommend you go buy a 4/4 BBb. I've recently received this exact advice from three different pro players / educators on this forum, who saw no compelling reason for me to feel that I *had* to buy a CC tuba, which is highly favored in the pro ranks here in the USA (but not in Germany, where the BBb is the orchestra pro's key of choice, in general).
Professional and serious amateur players frequently own both a contrabass (BBb or CC) and a bass (Eb or F) tuba, and use the contrabass for larger ensemble playing, and use the bass for quintet and/or solo playing.
For your situation, if you think a BBb will fit your needs, go get one! You might consider:
Miraphone S186-4U (4valve), which costs about $4K plus case plus tax at several popular tuba outlets here in the US. The Meinl Weston model 25 is a similar 4V BBb for the same price. Both of these tubas are 4/4 BBb 4 rotary valve horns. For a little more money, you could buy the Miraphone 191, which is a large bell / large bore 4/4+ rotary valve BBb, or you could buy the 5V version of the S186. For a little less money you could buy the VMI/Schmidt version of this same horn (WW&BW has this horn with the VMI label, Brookmays has it with the Schmidt label). Cerveny also has some horns in your price range, but I've heard/read comments cautioning buyers to check them out carefully with a tuner.
Dealers (in no particular order) that are often recommended here are:
Woodwind and Brasswind (north Indiana -- contact Mike Russo who posts here frequently)
Brookmays (Dallas -- contact Charlie Krause who posts here frequently)
Dillon Music (New Jersey -- contact Matt Walters who posts here frequently)
Midwest(?) Music (Memphis, TN -- contact Joe S. who posts here frequently)
and perhaps others.
Good luck with your search. Feel free to contact me off-list for further Q&A.
Best Regards,
Steve Inman
an active amateur player in Kokomo, IN