Re: What's a good F tuba?


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Posted by Rick Denney on September 26, 2003 at 16:28:54:

In Reply to: What's a good F tuba? posted by Jerry on September 26, 2003 at 14:55:35:

Of the F tubas I've tried, the ones I like best are:

Yamaha 621
Miraphone 181-6V
Willson 3400 (and the rotary version of same, which I almost liked even more than the piston version)
Yamaha 822

The Willson and the big Yamaha are like small CC tubas pitched in F, while the 621 is like a small F tuba with a CC bottom register and scale. The Miraphone feels like a cross between the two, and it and the Willson are the only rotary F's I've played that have a scale below the staff that doesn't require a lot of special handling.

My own instrument is the 621, and I have used it in all the applications you describe except solo work, for which I'm not qualified. I thought it worked particularly well on the third part in a tuba quartet, where the sound was distinct from the CC tuba on the bottom and light enough to avoid making mud of the ensemble. In quintet, it's versatile enough to blend with trombone on Baroque stuff and still be tuba-like on modern literature; plus the low register is easy to manage for the lit that goes down there. The only downside to the 621 (and the 822) is that the sound does not have a lot of character on its own, and the same is true of the piston Willson.

Instruments that might be among my favorites had I ever played one might include a Hirsbrunner (though it would have to be used to fall into your price range) and a Rudy Meinl 5/4 F, one of which I've just tooted on for a couple of minutes.

Probably the most common F tuba in pro hands is one or the other of the various B&S and Parantucci models, but frankly I've never been able to make one work for me. I'm happy to conclude that such is entirely my own weakness. Several orchestra pros who stop by here from time to time use the Yamahas (both the 621 and the 822), and some use the Miraphone 181. Most of the pros who visit here who use Willsons use the big Eb rather than the F, but I've heard a couple of pros on the F that sounded wonderful.

Rick "noting that his opinions are free and are only possibly worth what they cost" Denney


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