Posted by K on January 30, 2004 at 09:14:02:
In Reply to: V&E Tubas posted by Jay Bertolet on January 29, 2004 at 20:15:59:
I guess the wish for staying with the bassbone mouthpiece is more a matter of avoiding embouchure troubles than one of economy.
For a period I played my first brass bass, the Eb Conn 26K, through a bass trombone mouthpiece a bit smaller than a Schilke 60. The result was not comparable to the later use of much larger mouthpieces, but the set-up was well playable.
A tuba with the old Brit/Euro receiver, as suggested by another poster, would be a good idea. I would suggest one of the pre-1982 Eb models from Besson or B&H. The small 15" bell is more likely to match the intended mouthpiece, than the 19" bell will be.
If your colleague goes for a 3+1 Eb comper, he will get an instrument, which roughly covers the same working range as a large bassbone.
I have been short-changed in NC, so I would not recommend going there. And it hardly is a recommendation, that the V&E is considered a house-brand there.
A ruggedly looking old Eb 3+1 comper might even be cheaper than the V&E.
Your colleague should have no problem with having the 4th valve in the left hand. But he may run into the same problem, that I had, when I first added a 3+1 comping euph to my bassbone: I was so accustomed to thinking in tubelengths by lengthening the positions, when one or both valves were engaged, that I came out a semitone flat on the euph. I simply compensated by adding "compensating" fingerings. It took some getting accustomed to, that those little loops on the backside of the piston casings did that job for me.
Klaus