Posted by ok I'll try to answer on March 12, 2001 at 10:32:11:
In Reply to: what makes it so bad? posted by Art on March 10, 2001 at 21:55:21:
Sounds like the German F tubas, that suddenly become stuffed with a blanket at about C below the staff. Somehow the nodes don't vibrate in that region; Yamaha "fixed" this design problem and achieved playability with the 621, but they lost the German F sound. Some day, maybe some genius will manage to design a tuba with both the right sound and all the notes easily playable. Just FYI, a person can learn to play these "impossible" notes in about three months, with practice. Takes a lot of persistence and air. But why not get a better tuba to start with?