Posted by Lee Stofer on February 12, 2003 at 09:17:47:
In Reply to: tubas for younger folk posted by N. Dwyer on February 11, 2003 at 19:49:11:
The last two years has been an eye-opener for me. I started tuba in college, so I never played tuba in middle school or high school. I am now teaching middle schoolers and high schoolers privately, as well as maintaining tubas for a number of middle-and high shcools in the area. Here are my observations.
I have witnessed one decent Jupiter tuba, a 4-front-piston BBb, 4/4 size. The rest of the Jupiters I've encountered have had red-rot in the valve casings and leadpipes by the time they were three years old, and are difficult to repair.
The older Kings, Olds and Conns of any denomination are golden. I'd much rather do a play-condition on a dilapidated old King, Olds or Conn, because I know that when I'm done the student and school system is going to receive real value for their money, a horn that really plays well and will last.
With newer UMI instruments, just check carefully for valve fit. I've seen some new ones with virtually no compression. with a valve rebuild, they'd be a great horn, but you should't have to do that to a new instrument.
Yamaha has some good instruments, but regular cleaning is an absolute must, unless you like sticking valves. The valves are generally so tight in these instruments that they will not tolerate less-than-optimal conditions.
Weril makes a decent, low-priced instrument that is Yamaha-like. I have not had to work on any of them yet.
One problem with 6th graders is getting a tuba that sounds like a tuba, but is small-enough for them to handle. One school where I teach has only Mirafone 186's. That would be great for the high school and is OK for the 8th graders, but the 6th graders have real problems with an instrument that size, even in a stand. To demonstrate this to the band director, I brought in a new Josef Lidl LBB 701 BBb, a 3/4 size tuba with a .742" bore and a 17" bell, and let a 6th grader use it in his lesson. The student was delighted and amazed to have a tuba that he could handle. By the way, the Lidl is a Czech tuba built to high standards, and costs a little more than the Weril, but less than a St. Pete.
The St. Petersburg BBb tuba may be a good option for private ownership, but is a poor choice for an institutional instrument.
My top picks for school instruments; Conn 5J, King 2341, Meinl-Weston 25, Lidl 701, Yamaha 103, 321, Weril, Besson. Otherwise, I think a school would be paying too much, getting too little, or both.
Lee Stofer