Posted by John Swensen on July 24, 2001 at 13:23:36:
In Reply to: st pete tubas posted by me on July 24, 2001 at 00:08:36:
The St. Pete I bought from Die Tuba cost me about $1200 when all was said and done, and I consider it a reasonable bargain at that price, for me.
I expected it to require work, and I built and installed a new linkage right away, trimmed the first valve slide to suit my intonation preferences, and played around with the valves.
On the plus side, it responds uniformly throughout its range, blows freely, and plays in tune. Just about everyone who tries the horn really likes the ease with which it plays. It is also very lightweight to hold (about like an Alex F). Other than in durability, I believe it to be a better tuba than the Yamaha YBB321.
On the negative side, the valves are horrible, even after having worked on them, the metal is so thin and soft that hard looks seem to dent it, and the soldering leaves many opportunities to practice repair work. It also requires a lot of air to play and doesn't put out nearly as much sound as larger horns (I consider it to be a small 4/4 sized horn, despite its .830 bore).
I don't play mine much, since I have a much larger CC tuba now, but I don't regret the purchase at the price I paid. It is not bad, at all, for a handy adult to play in small ensembles, but for the $3000 that Vince is asking for it, you can do much better. Selling the horns to schools, even at the $1200 Die Tuba price, is not the most ethical practice, and this may account for some of the hostility towards the horn.