Posted by Klaus on July 13, 2002 at 08:19:09:
For the occasional tuba/teacher/bandmaster tourist there might be an irresistible souvenir to be found in a small country like mine:
I. K. Gottfried, the oldest Danish brass/wind house with a history of over 2 centuries sells a demo of the YBB631 compensating 3+1 BBb tuba.
The price for Danes and other EU citizens is DKr. 25.000.
That implies that the price for citizens of the rest of the world is DKr. 20.000, as they can have the 25% VAT (sales tax) refunded, when leaving the EU.
DKr. 20.000 closely equals $2660 at the current exchange rate. Even the addition of shipping costs and of US import duties will keep this price in a very competitive range.
This instrument is in lacquer. It comes with a case, albeit from the equivalent Besson model.
To see the announcement go to
http://www.gottfried.dk/
Click Tilbud in the right column.
Click Messingblæsere.
Click Tubaer.
Click Yamaha BBb-tuba, komp., lak. at the center of the page.
To see Yahama's presentation of this model go to:
http://www.yamaha.com/cgi-win/webcgi.exe/Specs/?gAHB00009YBB-631S
I am not at all financially involved in this deal. However it is no secret, that I am connected to the Gottfried house by strong ties of personal friendship. When the 2nd centennial was celebrated in 1996, I wrote the text for a booklet. An English translation (not by me) can be found through the link below. The "Technology" button leads to a section, where I try to place the company in "The musical and technological world through two hundred years".
When I hunted for a BBb bass, I tested the instrument in question. The reason, that I did not take this instrument, was my well know preferences for very heavy equipment. I ended up with the considerably larger York Master and Conn 40K.
Klaus
PS: The illustration shows the silverplated version presented at the Yamaha site.