Posted by Ola on June 13, 2002 at 09:35:21:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Alternate Fingerings posted by Chuck(G) on June 12, 2002 at 18:57:46:
The college I am just finishing at had one of those B&H (or was it Besson, were they still different companies back then?) 3+1 compensating F's and I did spend a few hours on it. Unfortunately, it had that discusting smell that many tubas get if it sits in its case for far too many years not being used, and playing it, me and my clothes would smell like it after a short while. Anyway, as I'm not very technically knowledgeable, I wouldn't know much about the precice construction of the thing other than that it looked perhaps more like an oversized Besson Euph than a cutdown eefer. Unfortunately the college sold it, along with a number of other wonderful (and some not so wonderful) tubas, a couple of years ago to fund the purchase of two (2nd hand, oldish) Besson Souvereign BBb's for the college brass band. Pity.
Anyway, back to the F. It was a really nice sounding instrument, that with a bit(!) of cleaning up, care, and general maintenance could be a really lovely instrument. Low range was a bit stuffy and it was hard to play loud down low on it, but the high range had a lovely, singing quality that I still haven't found in any modern F tubas that I have tried.
But I can imagine a few reasons some people wouldn't like it: It's an instrument that would take a little bit of getting used to (perhaps that Hirsbrunner compensating F is like that too, just I didn't have enough time to get used to it), both in terms of playing characteristics and the general sound it produced. Also, the bottom range being a bit iffy with some notes quite difficult to slot could make many an unexperienced player shun the instrument. That would be quite similar to that old Mirafone (190 CC, I've found out after looking at pictures on this board) that the college still has got: for similar(ish) reasons most tubists in college detest it, and I must admit I did so for quite a while, until I discovered 'the trick' in producing a pleasant sound on it, and also got used to the general sound of it and learne how to deal best with some severe intonation issues the instrument has. Maybe this is one reason why a lot of people don't like Mirafones?
I strayed a long way from the original subject there...
Ola