Posted by Cameron on July 26, 2000 at 06:58:14:
In Reply to: Yamaha revelation posted by Matt G on July 25, 2000 at 15:35:47:
I am a military musician (tuba operator) and a part-time instrument repairman (tweaker). Yamaha instruments make up 30-40% of my work at the shop. Yesterday I repaired 3 identical BBb rotor Yamahas all owned by the same school. After playing each one, I found that 2 were very nice instruments. The sound was smooth and there were no "bad" notes anywhere to be found. The other one was a little hard to get going. The burst of air it took to produce a note made me think that this particular horn would be an uphill battle. One complaint I have about all Yamaha rotor horns is the weak bracing. The feet of all these braces are just thin pieces of straight metal. The valves, however, are a pleasure to work on and operate.
The large 3 and 4 valve upright piston instruments are also nice. Since they have gone with the plastic valve guides we have had little problem keeping these instruments operating well. Also, the sound these monsters produce is wonderful.