Re: Re: Re: looking for used CC tuba in Michigan


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by a tuba dad on March 04, 2002 at 19:29:45:

In Reply to: Re: Re: looking for used CC tuba in Michigan posted by MikesDad on March 04, 2002 at 18:17:09:

How much to "budget" for this major purchase (and investment) is a real dilemma, I know.

Four years ago, when I committed to buying a horn for my then 9th grade son, I entered into the process with an open mind and a closed budget of $3k - $4k or so. I sought the advice of a nearby college tuba professor, and he advised to buy as much tuba as we could afford, and he tactfully suggested that the $3k - $4k range of tubas would not carry my son through college (and maybe not even through high school). He strongly recommended his personal preference, the Hirsbrunner, and we must have looked at and played 30 different tubas before concluding that the Hirsbrunner was the best all around horn out there, albeit the most expensive, too. So obviously I had to adjust my thinking and my budget upward, and I swallowed hard and bought it.

And as I said before, I never regretted the decision and shudder to think how a lesser purchase might have limited my son. That tuba opened up his world and he really blossomed and developed in ways that I don't think would have been possible with a St Pete, for instance, or with any other $3k horn. And as I like to point out to people who always questioned my purchase of such an expensive horn, my son won a scholarship that has paid for the horn several times over.

You can find used Hirsbrunners in the $10k range, maybe even lower. It is not necessary to buy new as I did. But tweak your budget until it hurts is my recommendation.

Good luck to your son.


Follow Ups: