Posted by Tom Mason on May 22, 2003 at 21:43:19:
In Reply to: Yamaha Sousaphones posted by Zach on May 22, 2003 at 13:39:01:
IMHO, the yamahas are not as good as a conn 20k already mentioned, the 14k?, (regular valve metal horns), or the king 2350's.
My experience with the yamaha horn is that it is a stuffy horn with the valve guide issues already mentioned. Iwill go so far as to say that i would rather buy rebuilt conns and kings than the yamahas.
The jupiter sousaphones are in worse shape because of the aforementioned construction quality. Where I love the 582 (4 valve large tuba), I don't like the other tubas or sousaphones. Maybe things will change in the future, and I will keep looking. For now, the kings and conns are better.
Tom Mason