Posted by Tom Mason on February 04, 2004 at 21:47:02:
In Reply to: Opinion on a horn please posted by jm on February 04, 2004 at 19:50:32:
Living in Arkansas myself, and having the years of experience in wanting to try horns before purchasing, you are in a tough situation. If you make all-state, you might have the luxury of trying a few horns at Hot Springs.
However, if you are serious about buying a tuba, and your parents are behind you on this, there are a couple of solutions.
Taking a weekend or going over the summer to a larger city and trying out some horns. I know the places like bw/ww, Mid-South and Brook Mays are a little distant, but trying the horn out is better than buying blindly.
Depending on where you are, and the mind set of the music store representative wioth whom your school deals, you might accidently be able to get the rep.ing a horn or two to try in school. This is rare for large expensive instruments, but it is possible.
Good luck Saturday if it doesn't snow us out. If you want to ask more questions personally and off-line, I will be judging jazz basses and guitars Friday, and building security Saturday.
Tom (had to go to mid-west to try horns) Mason