Posted by Doug Whitten on April 04, 2003 at 17:21:17:
In Reply to: band director needs help posted by Ari Contzius on April 04, 2003 at 13:26:27:
For High school there are many good models to choose from: King 2341, Mirafone 186 or 187, and many many more (if I were buting I'd probably buy the Kings).
Middle school and elementary school pose problems. Ideally, you would get 4 valve horns from the get go... but there is a real issue with abuse. The hardiest horns are upright valved tubas because the valves don't get bent when the horn is knocked over (and it will be). The problem is that there are not a lot of good upright valved tubas that have four valves and are small enought to be managed. The Yamaha 321 (I think) is a little large for many middle schoolers to handle. Maybe a 3 valver isn't so bad for middle school use. I recommend the Holton and King upright 3 valved tubas for the younguns.
The other responders recommendations for Conn 5Js for middle school are good suggestions from a sound standpoint. Indeed , they may be ideal because the are small enough to be held easily and still sound like a full sized tuba. My only cation would be that the front action valves are very suseptible to damage at the hands of a 12 year old.