1.) Visit Mighty Quinn and demo the instruments they have there. They have a great selection that can narrow down what you like or don't like about an instrument. Don't buy a tuba without playing it first.

2.) Contact the tuba professor or band director at your college and find out what they have ...

I found that for false tones on horns that don't want to play nice that I have to lighten the mouthpiece pressure basically to 0 and play like a bass trombone-shaped buzz. Even if the horn doesn't want to resonate nicely with your face you can get some beef to come out that way

The 836 has been touted as a do it all tuba and it is certainly nimble enough to achieve that title, as long as you have the skill to wrangle it. It's also got a pretty big sound that is not suitable for some situations without a lot of walking on eggshells by the player.

The 834 feels a little ...

The famously apolitical tubaforum.net strikes again

(apolitical unless it's bloke pushing misinformation with 0 consequences, that is)

Kids assume they'll need to buy and learn a CC eventually to make it in the big leagues, and haven't it beaten into them yet how hard that actually is. If you're gonna buy a tuba, might as well invest in one that you're going to keep for your career.

Nevermind the fact that 90% of high schoolers ...

If it was written before 1870 or it's French, play as written. If it's written after 2010 and it's American, play as written. If it sounds bad, tell the conductor to complain to the composers.

We also have some stinky sulfur smelling milky looking stuff (water-based)...
Every swipe instantly turns black to white on a silver plated tuba. Pretty soon, the whole thing is white, and then all you have to do is go over it with a high grade silver polishing cloth and turn white into shiny ...

There's a healthy resale market for these so you can either find one to trial/borrow from a seller or make most of your cash back if you buy and don't like

The Yamaha 621 is the pro version of Yamahas 3/4 size. Very easy to play, 4 valves with good tuning. Big sound when you really push it but doesn't take a lot of air to get going. I'd recommend that over anything else, if you like the sound of the 103.

Reading through this post... is there ANYTHING about Vitamin E, or did someone's AI just spit out random nonsense?


I mentioned vitamin E for someone's lip troubles, bloke replied to it with a modified title and inadvertently changed the thread title as well. It stayed that way after he deleted ...

It's probably important to consider the difference between solo and ensemble playing too. A tenor player can probably get around on a bass ensemble part pretty well, but bass solo rep is on another level that I would consider qualifies as a separate area of study.

Someone mentioned lead trumpet vs ...

1 Ton Tommy wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2026 4:34 pm Playing outdoors in the wind the day before I can't do much about; I didn't book the gig.

Crack open a vitamin E capsule and spread the goo on your lips when you go to bed after getting wind-burned, sunburned, or generally overplaying - works wonders for recovery

Thank you so much for your kind words! As a trumpet player, I had absolutely no idea if it was good or not.... I really like the high register of the tuba, and that's what I most want to develop.

There's one thing that I still can't believe. NOBODY asked me which mouthpiece I'm using hahahahah ...

Definitely not the overwhelming majority, but we did touch Cowboys and Jaws a little

No... I've already got one and was just curious. For some reason, I seem to remember an I.D. of 33.2mm. AI is spitting back 32mm... which seems like it might be for the Bass Tuba versions.



Why would you expect AI to have that information if it's not posted in a place you could find it by ...

Charlie C Chowder wrote: Tue Feb 03, 2026 11:07 am Thank you Bloke for the link to "Skylark".

As I live just across the river form Vancover, WA, I am happy to hear of a new store in the area. I will check it out when there is something to check out.

CCC

Also check out the fabulous Brookmeyer arrangement!

I believe the Laskey rim is like this as well, with a peak about 1/4 the way from cup to edge

Hope the Long Island Brass logo on the website means they'll have those pieces in stock, there's nowhere good to demo low brass mouthpieces in the PNW

Good point about the benefits of playing multiple instruments- it sounds like cross training. There are skills that transfer. I saw that when, as a school band director, I would play different instruments with the kids. It was good for me.


I will die on the hill that all brass musicians should ...

Since this has been resolved, can a moderator unpin the thread?