Posted by Jim on April 03, 2003 at 22:15:29:
In Reply to: Looking for opinions on Eb's posted by Adam on April 03, 2003 at 19:22:35:
I own a Willson Eb and CC. I love both of mine. I have played the Besson 983 and the top action models. I like the top action Bessons better than the 983 but both are really good. I have not played the MW2141 but I have heard that the new version is really nice. I have played the B&S PT22 and I can say that they need to do some more work on them. Stuffy low register compared to other Eb's and some intonation issues. I have found the Willson to have really good intonation but they take some getting used to. I switched to the Eb for over a year before I started playing CC again and it really helped me. The Eb is still my main horn but I love my Willson CC just as much.
There are quite a few really good Eb tubas on the market but only a few front action ones out there. I just can't get used to the 3+1 valves which limited my choices in an Eb.
Good luck