Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: EEb-Yamaha, Besson or Willson


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Posted by Jay Bertolet on February 05, 2001 at 08:51:22:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: EEb-Yamaha, Besson or Willson posted by Eve on February 05, 2001 at 00:45:00:

I'll try to answer your questions:

1) Yes, I do play a Willson 3400S.

2) Any tuba retailers are going to say nice things about the horns they are trying to sell. Some will even say they are the "best" but I'm sure you know that kind of statement is totally subjective. I would agree that the pitch on the Willson is excellent. Mine has a couple of notes I have to use alternate fingerings on but, luckily, mine is close enough to pitch that I don't have to pull slides. I don't think the 3400 is physically the largest Eb out there. I've seen some other makes (older Conn and York) that looked much larger but they didn't have 5 valves (some didn't even have 4) so I didn't even consider them for my situation. For whatever reason, the Willson can put out the biggest amount of sound of any Eb I've ever played and in my opinion, for what I do, it is the best Eb (piston or otherwise) out there.

3) The fifth is a right hand thumb operated action. It also has a very large rounded thumb ring that is actually quite comfortable. This thumb ring makes the operation of the 5th valve pretty easy for my hand.

Before I acquired the Willson, I used to own a Boosey Sovereign Eb and I loved the sound of that horn but I just couldn't get comfortable with the 3+1 setup. I much prefer all the valves to be on one hand. Before the Boosey, I owned a Yamaha YEB321S and I agree with you, it is an easy horn to play. The reason I sold it is because I couldn't get around as well in the low register on it (Yamaha was only offering a dependent 5th valve, mounted in the 4th valve slide tubing) both from an intonation standpoint as well as being a little stuffy in the low range. It has a very sweet sound, very euphonium like, and I really enjoyed playing in the middle and upper ranges on that tuba. But I felt it was more important to get a horn that could do more. Unlike you, I don't have to worry about how heavy my horn is because I don't do any standing street type gigs. I'll tell you though, the Willson 3400 doesn't feel overly heavy to me and with a strap I think it would be great for those types of gigs. You can really put out some sound on this Willson! We just finished a run of Verdi Requiem performances and I'm very curious to hear the tape. In the Dies Irae (2nd movement) there is a spot where the tuba has a D just below the bass clef staff that is kind of a mini solo. Traditionally, you really whack this downbeat note and then back off until the next measure where you repeat the process. When I decided to try the Willson on this piece (in the past, I've always used a CC tuba for this work) I looked at this section like it might not work. But the Willson really can take a large amount of volume if need be. I'll be very curious to hear if what I thought happened is what was heard in the audience.

I also wonder that the compensating system hasn't gone the way of the dinosaur. Probably because many people really like them I suppose. I've never played one compensator that I didn't have to use alternate fingerings on in the low range so I never saw the point. Why not just use 5 valves and have all the notes chromatically down and in tune? Different strokes.

My opinion for what it's worth...


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