I really like Gregory Fritze's Twenty Characteristic Etudes for Tuba.

So far as I know none of my three tubas has vented valves. If one did, what would I look for?

[...]

Is it worth doing to either my new Willson or my Big ol' Martin?


The first valve of your Willson 3400S is vented (mine is, at least), but using a different method than typical. Notice the ...

Does knowing the bass guitar translate well to learning the double bass and/or vice versa? I've wanted to learn double bass forever but never pursued it, though I've been thinking more about it recently. Ideally I'd like to get to the level that I could play double bass in a community orchestra ...

I'm also looking for rotary valves because all of the pistons that I have dealt with so far have been really sticky, no matter what I do. Unless someone can convince me that pistons can be not bad, then I might consider a piston horn, but otherwise a 4 valve rotary


My observation has been that ...

I don't want to sound like I'm telling you that you're wrong, but I do wonder:

I've played several "show demo" tubas that were also not good players. I wonder if something was/is wrong with those particular instruments you didn't like? Maybe hastily assembled, out of alignment, or some other ...

I attended NWRTEC in Boise last week and took some time the first day to try out various tubas. There aren't many opportunities to try out instruments on this side of the US, so even though there were only three vendors (in separate rooms, thank goodness), my horizons were significantly broadened. I ...

In choosing whether to learn C fingerings when you already know Bb fingerings, I think it's important to consider learning efficiency. A teacher who specializes in C tuba may not adapt well to teaching a Bb student, studio rehearsals/exercises may be a weird key mismatch for the odd Bb player, etc ...

A new Willson 3400 showed up at Baltimore Brass a couple weeks ago: https://www.baltimorebrasscompany.com/p-18306-willson-3400-5v-eb-tuba.aspx , the first new one I've seen since starting to pay attention over a year ago. And they still have one new 3400S as well: https://www.baltimorebrasscompany ...

I've read about MAW valves with interest, but there's clearly a lot I don't understand about them (and tubas in general). Don't different tuba makes/models have different entrance/exit angles, spacing, bore diameters, and casing diameters? I would expect MAW valves to need to exist in myriad ...

I have a Denis Wick 4AM (gold plated) that I put away after brief testing. If that's close enough for your needs, PM me.

This thread piqued my curiosity re: the Besson 984, and I found a couple videos of James Gourlay playing one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLk4xesyWDM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c61svXdmX7s

The thing that jumped out at me is his use of a trigger to manipulate (I think) the 1st valve ...

I believe the compensating Eb has the same bugle and bell as the front action 5v model. It is an awesome horn. Probably still sitting because of the 3+1 layout.


Some brass band/brass band player will love that instrument. Truth be told, I prefer the front piston designs, but will never tell ...

I went through the public education system primarily as a euphonium player (grade 6+), added trombone for jazz/pep/marching (grade 9+), and tuba for pep/marching (grade 12+). These days I put most effort into tuba, but y'all know way more about tuba than I do, so I'll focus on euphonium.

Please ...

My 1207V arrived yesterday. It turns out that the outer shell is identical to the 1204V, but the interior has different padding dimensions. Most obviously, the bottom bow padding is thinner and the blocks in the lid are different. On the bright side, retrofitting the 1207V padding for the Willson ...

The 1204V looks to be bigger than the 1207V.


I based my choice on the fitment guide ( https://mtsproducts.com/tuba-fitment-guide-1 ):

MTS_fitment_small.jpg

Although the website does not specify the actual case sizes, it suggests that the 1207V will hold a taller (1-2") tuba with a wider (1 ...

Seems to be in print here:

https://euphonium.com/products/bobo-mastering-the-tuba


I borrowed another tubist's old copy of this book, and liked it well enough to order a copy for myself. Unfortunately what I have is as pictured in the above link, and although it has a bit of new content ...

I got a 1204V for my Willson 3400S and am planning to rebuild the interior to customize the fit. It's going to be a lot of work (that I don't know how to do yet), but the case shell appears to be the right size.

Looks like a fun arrangement, though I won't have a chance to play it in time for beta testing feedback. Regarding sellability, I'm in my early 50s and only know the song from a cover by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. My wife and I even have a Rankin/Bass Christmas DVD set (that doesn't include the relevant ...

Eb tubas should be more "in." I know the 5v front action non-comps are rare as hen's teeth, but man, there's just something about them that I really like. I know 3+1's are more common and many people like them; But I think a lot of us would be just fine with something like this as our primary ...

LOL...
Threw shade on the 195..."better for amateurs"

guess:
This person sells tubas and owns a 196.

Both sound like "him playing the tuba".
tuning/attacks: (both tubas) curious

Maybe, sometimes I'm playing about like that (such as four months of repair work with very few gigs and no practice ...