Posted by Tom Mason on December 04, 2001 at 16:28:38:
In Reply to: Buying tubas for High School posted by Amy on December 03, 2001 at 19:08:01:
My program has 2 jupiter 582's, a king 2341 (new), a yamaha 321, a 105, and a conn 5j. The jupiters and the 2341 are high school horns, the 105 and the 5j are junior high horns, with the 321 moving back and forth as needed. Some of these were inherited, so I would not have made the same purchases today. Here is my concept if I were replacing all today.
I would either get 4 king 2341's or 4 jupiter 582's for my high school players, depending upon the money situation. For junior high, I would add 2 weril copies of the yamaha 621. The conn 5j's would also work.
I love brass sousaphones. Conns and Kings in particular. The closest thing to a brass sousaphone,IMO, is the conn 14K fiberglass gor good tone. Again, money is the question. If I had a choice, I would buy good condition used brass sousaphones if I couldn't afford new ones.
A lot of professional tuba players will jump on this post because I didn't mention their favorite rotary valve instrument. Too bad. If I had students who I could depend on 100% of the time to take care of their horns, I might mention mirafones. Not when I can buy 3 kings or jupiters for the price of 2 mirafones or other big rotor horns. Not all of us are made of money.
Tom Mason.