Posted by Gary Swart on February 11, 1999 at 01:37:40:
In Reply to: Musica Tubas posted by Paul on February 08, 1999 at 16:42:39:
Boy, have I got a story for you! Several years ago I wanted to get a tuba that was smaller that my Yamaha 321 to play in small ensembles (Dixie, jazz) I also play in a community band. I had in mind the student model Yamaha 103 (then) I contacted Vince at Tuba Exchange. He told me about a super buy he have on a tuba that was about the same size as the YBB103, but was 4 valves and played with a big sound. Story was that this was a specially built horn intended to be priced less than a Conn (model unknown) It seemed that this horn played better than the Conn, so it was not going to be placed in the retail shops where it would hurt the sale of the Conn. Vince Convinced me (no pun) and I bought it for $1500. It is marked "MUSICA" Styer, Austia. I assumed that that was the name and location of the manufacturer. In 1996, I traveled in Austria and made a special side trip to Styer. People looked at me rather puzzled when I inquired as to where the instrument factory was located. I thought it was just the language barrier. Wrong. I located the rather large build, went in, and saw many instruments. Many different brands of instruments. They very nice people there finally found a secretary that spoke English, well almost. Her English was better than my German, but that doesn't say much. The only thing I learned for sure there was that the instruments were not made there. Apparently this was a wholesale distributor. A few days later I was in Vienna and I found a music instrument store. The English there was less than in Steyer, but I learned that Musica was from the Czech Republic. There were several lovely 4 rotary valve Musicas on the top shelf, but at mega thousand AS, I declined to tempt myself by playing one. The saga continues. I wanted to get a hard case for my Musica. One day I was lusting through Brasswind catalog, when my eye spotted MY HORN. Only problem, it was called "Amati". A little research and I discovered Amati is made by Cerveny in a small CZ town. I called Charlie, took measurements, and bought the hard case for the Amati 321. Guess what. It fit perfectly.
Now, I don't know if your Musica was made by Amati or not. Musica seems to be a housebrand name an can be embossed on horns from several companies. Much like Kenmore appliances from Sears. This tale may give you something to work on. You might be able to get more accurate information from Vince. I'd be interested to know what you find out. BTW, this is a top action. Physically it is fairly small, but BW rates it as 4/4. However the companion front action is a 3/4 even though it has the same lenght, width, bell diameter, and bore. Go figure. I like this horn alot, it has a great low register for such size. Not concert hall filling with a .640 bore of course, but plays in tune and is very satisfactory for those small ensembles and community band.