Re: Play-testing, what's it mean for you?


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Posted by Dave on July 05, 1999 at 10:56:18:

In Reply to: Play-testing, what's it mean for you? posted by Dale Phelps on July 05, 1999 at 10:31:04:

Some great things to think about, Dale.

What has been important to me when purchasing the two horns I have purchased is the input of others. I've bought a MW2155 and a Holton CC and both times, during the trial period, I got a hold of everyone I could whose opinions I respected (including some non-tubist, great musician types), told them to meet me at a local watering hole for a nice dinner and a few cool refreshing beverages and to bring all the tubas and mouthpieces they owned. After I bought them dinner, we would go to a hall I reserved in advance and all have a chance to play everyone's horns with varying mouthpieces, keeping an eye on the horn in question with everyone having a chance to play it against theirs and others. Granted, this method has its faults, but as many people you can gather the better. They had a chance to hear me play the horn in question to see what they thought. I would do this after about a week on the horn myself to get acclamated to it. I found their input invaluable, if not positively confirming some notions I had already developed. In the case of both purchases, my colleauges were unanimous in their support of the particular horn in question. There are so many things that cloud your judgement when you're about to make a large purchase (insert used-car-salesman joke here) that it pays to have well-grounded opinions and ears to help you out.

A trial period, to me, is invaluable. Maybe not quantitatively, but psychologically, which, in my opinion, is equally important (if you FEEL sexy, you ARE sexy!).

Dave


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