Posted by Three words: contact Josh Norris on September 14, 2001 at 07:45:30:
In Reply to: Horn for an Education Major posted by Greg S. on September 13, 2001 at 23:50:30:
The Miraphone 186-5U CC is a very versitile tuba, will hold its value very well, and has a good reputation.
Josh Norris has a post about a page down below yours. His fairly new 186 is presently available on ebay for $3500 "guaranteed purchase" if you act quickly.
This is an excellent price on this tuba. At this price I would be virtually certain that you would probably make a profit whenever you decided to sell it, should you later decide you need something "better". It's a win-win situation if ever I saw one. If my present Eb tuba (listed for sale below also) had already sold and if I had decided to go with CC instead of BBb, I would snap up this tuba so fast I'd probably injure myself.
One question: if you're *sure* you're going to be an education major, doesn't this mean you'll be associated with (most likely) band students who will be playing BBb tubas? Is there any advantage to staying with BBb in this regard -- from a teaching perspective? There are successful pro orchestral tubists using BBb. Were I a band director, I might tend to prefer using the same tuba for my personal horn as my students would typically be using, for a variety of reasons that come to mind. [You'll have to ponder this and develop your own "best case" strategy.]
Good luck,
Steve Inman
Kokomo, IN