Posted by Charlie Krause on September 10, 2001 at 23:17:19:
In Reply to: Re: 5valve BBb Are they worth the money posted by E. Nigma on September 10, 2001 at 19:36:48:
Thank you Joe S for that comment.
I have played on all the BBb 5 valve tubas available except for the Meinl 25.
Miraphone S186
Miraphone 191 in yellow and gold which I own
VMI or F Schmidt 3302, which i own as well
Willson 3100
All of the above tubas played better in the 5 valve versions in my opinion and after listening to others play and their comments after.
Better and richer sound. More solid in the upper and lower registers.
The Willson 3100 was the most improved but had a slightly stuffier lower register compared to the 4 valve I played in Italy.
If they were looking to buy a 4 or 5 and had the money, the 5 valve always sold in the BBb tubas that were tried out. Not one person bought the 4 over the 5 if they could afford it.
This is from my 6 years in selling tubas going on 7.