Posted by Agreement on March 19, 2004 at 11:55:41:
In Reply to: school tubas: top-action vs front-action posted by bloke on March 19, 2004 at 11:41:25:
I've also noticed more flattened bottom bows on top action horns--I suspect this is because a player can (if something can be done by a kid, it will) hold the horn with only the thumb on one hand. Simple enough to drop on the floor. A front-action horn is usually held with two hands.
Around here, Miraphone 186's are a popular school instrument and totally unsuitable for school use. Most have wrinkled bells and some can't be worked on any longer because the brass has been buffed after unwrinkling so many times that there's not enough left to maintain structural integrity. IMOHO, something like a MW 25 would be a much better choice, if a rotary valved horn was wanted.
The other day, a student was dismayed to find his favorite 186 was out on a field trip (to the BD's credit, all the horns travel in hard cases). What was left for him was a big Boosey Imperial 3+1. He went on and on about how he hated that horn--I played it and found it to be a very nice horn indeed. Big, heavy, built like a tank with a very decent sound. The BD's dream horn.
But out here, Miraphone 186's are still the "hot" horn...
FWIW, the middle schools get Yamaha 3/4 horns (YBB-105?). I wish Yamaha would bring back the 103 front-action horn. Joe's observation certainly bears out here--the 104/105 horns are far more damaged than the few 103's we have. Yet the students pick the 105's because it looks like the one pictured in their band books...