Posted by Dave Seip on December 02, 1999 at 21:49:45:
In Reply to: Re: Re: yamaha 321 posted by Jason Baker on December 01, 1999 at 15:47:01:
Most of the people that "bag" on Yamahas have played them, which is why they criticize them. I have played a YBB-321 for all of my high school career, and I can't say I've played one that has really been a good horn. The biggest problem seems to be maintenance. If you give a horn to one specific person that knows how to take care of it, it will stay in pretty good condition, but in a band situation where several people play the same horn and either don't know or could care less about taking care of it, it will deteriorate rapidly, especially in terms of the more basic problems such as valve caps seizing and slides getting stuck. Also, contrary to what some people have said, I don't find Yamahas to be very consistent in their manufacture. Every Yamaha tuba and euphonium we have has rather large differences in tuning, much larger than the differences than those between bands that I have seen playing other brands, like Meinl Weston or even St. Petersburgs. My school recently purchased a new 321, and it was a real lemon. Even with the slides pushed all the way in, it was almost a quarter step flat.
My point? I don't think Yamahas can stand up to the rigors of every day normal use as well as they ought to.