Posted by Matt A on June 10, 2000 at 12:46:54:
In Reply to: St. Petersburg tuba posted by William on June 09, 2000 at 20:50:19:
What can I say about St. Petersburgs? Hmmm...
Well, my old high school band director bought three of them at the begining of this past school year, and I was there when he picked them up. Already, after shipping them, there was a huge dent in the lead pipe. They were shipped in huge airline-friendly cases, whithin which they were in a gig bag-material liner whose zippers made indentations on each of the three tubas. The cases where in boxes with that stirofoam popcorn packaging stuff. When we got to the school, I oiled each valve thouroughly and worked them through, and they were still quite stiff after two hours. They sounded great, and aside from the dents, looked beautiful. (these were the 3/4 size BBbs) Withing a week of careful high school freshman use, the bottom of one tuba partially collapsed and there were many small dents on each of the tubas, though the sound still sounded great!
As the weeks passed, the dents collected, though everyone was careful with them.
By the end of the year these tubas looked like they were eight years old, not eight months old, though the sound still sounded almost as good as it did when they first arrived and the valves were just as stiff and the laquer was worn away at most of the places where the hand touches the instrument while playing.
Would I buy a st. pete for myself? no!
Would I recommend a st. pete for a school with a small budget, NO!
Would I recommend a st. pete for an individual with a small budget? only if they can hand it 100% of the time and make sure they dont hold it too hard, and that nothing even comes to the instrument, because it will dent.