BBb piston tubas at ITEC


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Posted by Art H on June 01, 2002 at 23:16:08:

I will leave discussion of smaller tubas to those more qualified. But I did try several BBb tubas this week and would like to share some observations. Some just were not comfortable for me, and I moved on. I was very pleased with a gigantic Kalison 2001 with 5 valves. It even had the thumb ring and finger buttons in the right places. I also liked the big Wilson, but didn't get to spend as much time with it.
There were two Mirafone there; the bigger one had a rotary 5th valve and was comfortable to hold and had a more reasonable size, but seemed to have a weakness down around low A-flat. Did anyone else notice that? The company man blamed room acoustics, but the other tubas did not share the problem when played in the same chair. The smaller Mirafone was a pleasant surprise. It is only slightly bigger than a Conn 5J, and is very easy to get used to. I really liked the piston arrangement on that horn.
I spent some more time with the new Kings, and still like them a lot. But going back and forth between the King and a Jupiter was an eye-opener for me. Did anyone else try comparing the two? I wanted to like the King, but for me the Jupiter beat it hands down in spite of the goofy wrap and slighty awkward piston placement.


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