Posted by AW on May 30, 2003 at 21:00:04:
In Reply to: B&S 4P posted by js on May 29, 2003 at 09:43:00:
I got a Meinl-Weston 32 CC tuba and had pitch problems with it. After carefully trying everything, I determined that the tuba was much happier tuned to A=444. Then I got lucky: Matt Walters of Dillon's explained to me that M-W normally makes tubas to the generally higher pitch standards in Europe (compared to the USA). They do sell longer tuning slides that bring their instruments to A=440, and when Matt orders instruments from M-W, he orders them with the longer tuning slides. [Of course, this attention to detail makes it more likely that I will consider Dillon's first when I go shopping.] Matt sold me the longer main tuning slide that fits my instrument. Now I'm a happy camper at A=440, and my M-W 32 tuba plays well in tune -- just one note (F below the staff) needs a bit of a slide pull if I'm playing loud or long.
Allen Walker