Re: PLEASE ADVISE - NEED A TUBA


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Posted by Kenneth Sloan on March 21, 2003 at 00:13:53:

In Reply to: PLEASE ADVISE - NEED A TUBA posted by dogger on March 20, 2003 at 12:11:06:

A player in your situation can really benefit from a trip to a place that stocks a lot of tubas. Take your $3000 budget and find a way to add the cost of a trip to Dillon Music, or Baltimore Brass, or (there are more, but that's where I'd start). Bring your checkbook and plan on spending a day and walking out with a tuba. Play tubas until one chooses you.

My bet is that you'll end up with a used 4/4 4-valve BBb. Type of valves and finish are irrelevant.

I'm *real happy* with my new, new King 2341 - but your budget would need to stretch by 25% and you'd have to be lucky enough to find a good one in stock. If I were a better player and had more faith in my ability to judge equipment and my ability to deal with the flaws (all tubas have flaws- it's always a question of finding one that you can play), then I would have done it the way I recommend, above. But, I'm not there yet (6 years back after 25 years off), so I went with a more conservative plan. Next time...(probably after 7 more years of college tuition for my two sons..the King should be broken in by then)

Anyway, my point is that your self-description is of a player who can sit in a room of tubas that fit your budget and just pick one.

Just do it. Buy one, and play it. If you buy used and don't trash it, you can't possibly lose more than 15% on the buy-play-sell cycle. At your price point, there is no perfect solution, so don't waste time looking for one. Pick one, and do it.




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