Re: Yamaha Sousaphones


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Posted by Steve Dedman on May 23, 2003 at 22:13:10:

In Reply to: Yamaha Sousaphones posted by Zach on May 22, 2003 at 13:39:01:

Zach,

Here is what i have experienced from the last couple of years teaching tubas at a high school with a hodge-podge of brands:

My personal favorite for high schools is the King 2341. Advantages - it's one of the lighter horns out there, it has a great sound unless you're trying to blow the hats off of the crowd (which it can do, but the sound can easily break). The workmanship is pretty good, but more importantly, they're designed to be, well, not abused, but you don't have to treat them like a Ming vase, either. Disadvanteges - Like I said, they can be overblown fairly easily if you have a good set of pipes. Also, unless they've finally done something about it, the neck screw almost always wears out within a month, leaving the neck to flop around. This is one place where the design helps; the neck receiver is well-braced, so if you have to hold onto the neck you don't run as much of a risk of breaking it. Unlike the...

Yamahas. IMO, they are too heavy for their construction. They are not braced well enough to prevent certain key points from failing due to metal fatigue associated with the constant movement of marching. Of the 6 Yammies owned by the school, 3 have had to have new neck receivers put on them. When the neck screw wears out (they do that on the Yamahas, too...just not as fast) you have to grab onto the neck to play it. Since the Yamahas only have one solder point and no brace at all, the receiver is toast within a couple of weeks. The other 3 Yamahas were new this year. Also of concern is the joint between the bottom bow and the back bow. 2 of the 3 older Yamahas have experienced a failure here, too. I'm not really sure why, but they separated. I really don't like the Yamahas. The sound is good, but you wind up paying in repairs.

The 20K's are the best souzas around. Advantage- best sound, period. Abram's tank construction specs. These babies are built to last. Disadvantages-you better be able to pull your weight-literally. They're heavier than the Yamas, but are built with that in mind. The one 20K owned by the school is at least 15 years old, and is one of the better horns they have. But you don't want a small person (read: underclassman) trying to lug that thing around, especially if you go on a bowl trip and follow those ridiculously long parade routes. I certainly don't want to carry one more than a half hour or so, and I sure don't want to walk 3 miles with one. That's a good way to make sure at least one of your incoming tuba players is an outgoing tuba player after this season.

Summary: I'd go with the Kings. The cost is a true savings when you realize that they don't have to go in the shop twice a year. MOST Soph/Jr kids are going to have to really try to overblow one. Out of the 12 players at the aforementioned high school, there were only two that I could say for sure could do it.

My 2¢

SD


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