Re: St. Petersburg tubas


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Posted by Lew on November 13, 2002 at 11:44:26:

In Reply to: St. Petersburg tubas posted by Dan Schultz on November 13, 2002 at 10:52:47:

If you have been particiapting in this BBS and/or the Yahoo Groups tuba/euph discussion group for any period of time you would see that St. Petersburg have been the topic of many discussions. Most of the discussion has centered around the BBbs. You can read the archives and form your own opinion, but I believe that there are enough good tubas in the same price range as the St. Pete that are better made, play better, and have better intonation tendencies that a St. Pete should be at the bottom of anyone's list. The ones I have seen and played have been poorly constructed out of what appears to be lower quality materials and they just don't play well.

I haven't tried their Eb tuba, but I see no reason to believe that it would be any better. If you are looking for an good, inexpensive Eb tuba I would suggest the Cerveny 641, or the 651, which is essentially the same horn with a slightly larger bell. I find Cervenys better made than St. Petes and to have better intonation. The 641 is a bargain for less than $2500 new. The only downside is that you can only get them with 4 valves. You might be able to special order a 5th valve, but expect to pay a lot more and to have a long wait. A Willson, Besson, Meinl-Weston, or Yamaha eefer would cost at least double the price. Only you can decide if it is worth the difference.

The Brasswind in South Bend is within a day's drive of you and is likely to have the largest selection of tubas to try in your area. I think that the Tuba Exchange is still the only dealer of St. Petes in the US.


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