Posted by Lee Stofer on February 27, 2003 at 09:44:13:
In Reply to: college tuba posted by gallagher on February 26, 2003 at 17:47:45:
I'd suggest buying the best BBb tuba that you can afford. If you prefer a compact, 3/4 size tuba, there are people selling the Josef Lidl LBB-701 BBb new for under $3,000.00. It is a fine instrument, comparable in quality to a Mirafone. For a little more, the Meinl-Weston Model 25 is a very versatile 4/4 instrument that is of professional quality. Rudolf Meinl, Hirsbrunner, Willson and Alexander all make wonderful BBb tubas, and are priced accordingly. Contrary to what other posters have written, a first-line BBb (not the sloppy student models) is of the same quality from a given manufacturer as their CC tuba, or F, or Eb for that matter. And, I've played Rudolf Meinl, Hirsbrunner and Alex BBb's whose sound would have been indistinquishable from their CC counterpart behind the audition screen. To make a point when I was young and belligerent, I took a Conn 20K sousaphone into a blind audition situation once. Afterward, a tuba colleague was so angry that he did not speak to me for weeks, because I beat him on the audition with a Conn 20K BBb. Extreme, but point made.
Lee Stofer