Posted by Klaus on October 04, 2002 at 22:02:39:
In Reply to: Desperately looking for affordable Tuba posted by Rob Edmiston on October 04, 2002 at 21:01:04:
Hi Rob
I solved part of the problem years ago, and that was not the arthritis.
Advising people to buy, what works for one self, is not always good advise.
So I will point towards an instrument, that I have played in real life on a band loan, but which I would not want to own because, I found it limiting in my strive for a really huge sound.
But as you have abandoned the BBb in the pursue of something more playable, the Yamaha YEB 321 might very well be a good choice for you. It has 4 non-compensating valves and is fairly well in tune with itself. Probably much better than the older US made York's and others, that can be found rather often on a certain auction site.
Depending on what will suit you best relevant mouthpieces would be the Conn Hellebergs 7 and 7B, and the Denis Wick models 4L, 3L, or 2L. Be sure to get the DW's in silver plate, as they are much more durable than are the gold plated versions.
Your price bracket points towards a second hand instrument, which can be very OK. But there is a catch with all Yamaha top piston models of the 2xx and 3xx series. For their first years up to the early eighties they were provided with an iron screw to adjust the valve guides. That caused rust, that in turn made the nickel plating flare up and come of in flakes, leaving ugly pits in the piston surface. Never ever buy such an instrument second hand. It will only give you problems, as the valves will stick with no notice.
As a retired teacher and now collector I am a fairly experienced buyer, but even I have from time to time been cheated, when dealing over the net. Also by "big name" brass retailer, that claimed, "that they did not know", when I complained.
The #1 situation would be, if you could bring a fairly competent tuba player, whom you trusted, so that you could hear him play, and he could hear you play the instrument(-s) in question.
If you opt for one of the smaller of the mouthpieces among the ones, that I suggested, then you must calculate to have to shift to one of the larger ones, when you redevelop your playing technique.
As the heretic, that I also am, I might give you an alternative suggestion to an Eb:
A Brazilian maker, Weril, copies other makers models, mostly Yamaha. Their production level is not that of Yamaha, yet they issue low brasses with a very favourable ratio of price to quality.
I have not tested any of their tubas, but I liked their euphonium very much, when I gave it a ride a few years ago. The Weril tubas all are fairly small. So their 4 valve BBb might be just the right thing for your purpose. You could keep you old reading and fingering abilities, and yet avoid the hazards of the "Conn 20J", that gave you your jaw arthritis in the first place.
A person, that could give you fair information about the Werils would be
"Joseph Sellmansberger"
of MidSouth Music in Memphis, Tennessee. He sells them, but he is a high profile contributor to this board, so he can not afford to cheat a newcomer. I have never exchanged goods nor $$$ with Joe, only bad tricks at a verbal level (also at this board). We have never met, as there are several more or less wide, but all very water filled, ditches between our homes.
Klaus (and: Yes! I am not American)