Posted by Dale Phelps on June 22, 2001 at 14:14:15:
In Reply to: Professional advice??? posted by Bryan on June 21, 2001 at 15:33:34:
First off, I'd not pay a lot of attention to retailers who want to sell you a new tuba for a "special price" - reason being is to me personal, it just looks tacky here for a retailer to hawk his wares when someone asks for advice about HOW to shop. I'd also ignore Mark's discussion of what 601's "go for." One sale does not define a market, and it may be that John Surface (a BBS'er who sold the e-bay horn) simply needed that amount of money AND the market's flat that week. Again I don't think that really answered your question about HOW to go about shopping for a BAT.
HOW? First, you should ask your teacher. Keep your eyes peeled. If you are budget-oriented, good used grand orchestral tubas are only infrequently available. Great ones are rare as hen's teeth. When I shopped for my 6/4 horn, I watched the market for two years, and spent the last 6 months of that trying to convince the seller to sell me the Holton that I eventually got. During that time though there were only like 3-4 used horns that came up that I'd have been interested in. New horns of this size are often NOT very consistent from horn-to-horn, so just like the used ones, you have to play test them, sometimes a lot! This is especially hard for some players because the approach to a grand orchestral-type or large germanic rotor-type horn is often way different from your other CC tuba - sometimes the difference in approach is as different as between your 4/4 CC and your F !
Discuss this with your teacher, drop a note to the private guys who answered your question, also drop a line to the retailers who are listed on the "shops" page of the BBS,
and don't forget to have fun in the process!
--dp