Posted by Jay Bertolet on February 13, 2003 at 17:04:53:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: New Old Man's Tuba posted by JoeS on February 13, 2003 at 14:36:43:
I have wondered a lot about this myself. In fact, it is why I've never seriously considered buying some of the more high-end horns out there until I played one I really liked (Nirschl). It bears noting that I recently played another Nirschl York copy that was for sale from a very well known retailer. I didn't like that horn nearly as much as my own. My best guess is that, like any manufacturer, more expensive tubas have a similar ratio of high quality specimans to other parts of the price spectrum. As always, it comes down to playing horns until you find the one the works for you.
Our trombone section here recently bought a pair of Edwards tenor trombones. Our principal trombonist is fairly open to trying new equipment and our second trombonist has played on a Bach Strad for years. His was getting a bit beat up and he relented to purchasing a new Edwards so that he and the principal would have similar equipment. Ironically, the principal player ended up sending his back and the second trombonist kept his. Now we have a complete mishmash of horns, one Conn straight (no valve) tenor, one Edwards tenor, and one frankenstein bass trombone that is a combination of an Edwards bell, two Thayer valves, and a Conn slide.
My opinion for what it's worth...