Posted by Chuck on September 22, 1999 at 15:11:25:
In Reply to: Re: YAMAHA TUBAS or A SHARP STICK IN THE EYE posted by Tim Cary on September 22, 1999 at 14:01:39:
I will chime in on Yamahas if I may. I own a YBB641. It is simply the best BBb tuba I have ever played, even against the VMI. But, lets face it, I GOT LUCKY!!!!!! And the sad truth about it is that I saw the horn in a music shop, played it for 5 minutes and bought it. I agree that they are wildly inconsitent horns. I had Mark Nelson play it and listen to it a while back and he was amazed at how "UN-Yamaha-ish"it was. It barks low, sings high, has very good pitch, and hasn't fallen apart yet(I am absolute HELL on horns). It is my main instrument. Don't cringe folks, The VMI is a STUPENDOUS instrument, but I got MEGA-LUCKY and the horn was within walking distance of my pad. The moral of my rambling is......You never know how a horn plays by someone telling you, try them for yourself. Never in a million years would I have thought I would be playing a 641. Go Figure.