Posted by Lew on December 04, 2001 at 17:34:21:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Buying tubas for High School posted by Rick Denney on December 04, 2001 at 14:31:03:
A very good elaboration. I should have mentioned the same thing considering I was 6' tall and 185 lbs in 7th grade. Even so, I don't think that the Yamaha 103 would have been too small for me. Even as a big kid, a small horn would have been easier to carry around and learn on. The only issue with size seems to be leadpipe height, and I have found the Yamahas to be a comfortable height, even at my current size.
The current BBb Conn models are the 12J, 3 valve, and 5J, 4 valve. Both are between 3/4 and 4/4 sized (7/8?) and reasonable choices. The other UMI horn that would be a good choice, especially since the Yamaha 103 is no longer made, is the King model 1135. I haven't heard anyone talking about them, but they are a small, 3 valve, front action horn. The one I tried played well, although it has a very small bell and bore. I don't like the top action 1140, that many schools use for their convertable marching tubas as well as the 1135.
I agree about the Jupiter 582, King 2314, and VMI 2103, but the M-W 25 is very close in price to these horns. I have seen them selling for about $3700 lately, which is within a couple of hundred dollars of the other horns mentioned. The "S" model Miraphones seems to sell for a few hundred more than that, and I don't think that they would be worth the extra money for a school.