Posted by Arthur on February 23, 2000 at 00:28:56:
In Reply to: Re: anyone experienced "Weril" Tubas? posted by Joe S. on February 20, 2000 at 10:32:20:
I am one of the guys who bought a BBb Weril from Joe S. I have had it for about a month and have been quite impressed with the instrument. After a little mucking around with different mouthpieces (I ended up with a Conn-Helleberg 7B) I have found that the intonation is very good and suprisingly consistant. I purchased the horn specifically for use in quintets/brass choirs and to have something relativly compact to lug around with me when needed.
The sound is about what you would expect from a 3/4 horn i.e. very nice in a quintet pretty tiny in a large group. I have found the valves to be exceptionally good and very fast (not that my playing is much of a test for most valves). About the only gripes I have are that because of the relativly small bore after the valve cluster and the shallow first loop I end up gargling a lot more than I do with my Miraphone. This results in relativly frequent use of the dreaded spit spin which, it should be noted, is pretty easy with the small horn. I also freqently snag my sweater on the main spit valve which is not what I would call a crisis.
The overall fit and finish are not up to the same standards as some of the much more expensive tubas out there. There are a few imperfections in the laquer and a couple of small solder blobs in unobtrusive places but these are quite MINOR imperfections and none of them seem to have any impact on the sound quality. I would describe the overall quality as good in any event and exceptional when the price is considered.
In short, I am very happy with the horn and I was very happy to do business with Joe. If anyone has more specific questions feel free to email me privatly. If anyone happens to be in the Boston area and wants to take a toot on mine the are more than welcome to email me and perhaps we can set something up.