Posted by Rob Perelli-Minetti on October 12, 2000 at 08:03:54:
In Reply to: Worst tuba ever made? posted by Leland on October 12, 2000 at 00:02:59:
I think it would be a toss-up between those Cousenon BBb's Cameron mentioned and almost any fiberblast sousaphone. I also hated a friend's Holton large bore helicon -- he sounds great on it, I can't stand it and am never happy with the way it sounds when I've borrowed it for gigs where I want the look. And, though my experience is limited, I have never like any of the 'second line' brass sousaphones such as American Standard (King), Pan American (Conn) or Grand Rapids (York) that I've blown.
Leland's question really made me think about how lucky I've been to have played very few really bad horns. I've played some horns in terrible condition that had good sounds despite the beatings they'd taken: notably an 1880s Besson BBb and a 1920s York BBb. Both 3 valve horns with distinctive sounds that always got complements (once the air leaks were fixed). Conn 10Js as marching band uprights in college (British style in leather pouches) -- nobody's candidate for a great tuba, but reasonably in tune, easy to play with really outstanding upper registers. Oodles of King 1250/2350 and Conn 20K sousaphones, with an odd jumbo, 24K, 38K, or 14K: not a clunker in the bunch. Conn 2XJ tubas and King 1241/2341 tubas. Mirafones in both BBb and CC, Meinl Weston Bill Bell's, Alexanders in BBb and CC. In some ways, one could hate Alexanders for their intonation problems, if it weren't for the glorious sound. I agree with someone who said they're typically better in BBb -- the one I played most extensively was a BBb that had good intonation.