Posted by Tom Railsback on March 19, 2001 at 21:36:58:
In Reply to: "Good" BBb tubas? posted by Steve Inman on March 19, 2001 at 12:14:08:
I have both a Mirafone s186-4U and a pre 1900 King that are both wonderful BBb's. Both
have great tone; the Mirafone , even with 4 valves dos not have quite the low end that the 3 valve King has for me. I can do pedals clear down to BBBb with very little effort on the King, By the same token, the Mirafone has a better upper end, although I must admit I don't have much occasion to go above Bb very often.
I doubt that you will run onto one of those Kings as the only other one I ever saw was in a museum down in Nebraska; the minute I saw it, I recognized it as an identical twin to mine.
I do think that a good BBb in the hands of the right player is just as capable of making
delightful music as a CC. (I could never learn the fingerings for CC, even when my King
was in the shop for a valve job and all had was an ancient Sandner CC I bought from a
a friend in Denver.)