JP179B review

[sdloveless]

Before purchasing the JP179B, I spent a great deal of time looking for reviews, videos and photos on the Intartubez, finding very little of substance, aside from a few discussions here at Tubaforum involving those of you who have played, bought, or sold them. I thought I’d make an attempt at writing up the kind of information I tried to find back then, in hopes that others might find it useful.

For reference, I am an amateur/hobbyist/poseur. My opinions and observations here, especially in regard to how the horn performs, are mostly relative to my King 1240. I haven’t really had easy access to other horns over the last few years.

The case

The wheels aren’t quite round and the whole thing wobbles back and forth quite severely at a walking pace unless it’s held at the lowest possible angle. The latches and handles look cheap, but have so far held up nicely. The molded plastic exterior is quite tough.

The interior is very nice and holds the horn in place just like it was made for it. (It was!) The interior also has unutilized space that could have been used for another mouthpiece ferrule (anyone know where I can get one of these?) or an accessory compartment. The case cannot be closed with the main tuning and valve slides extended. Removing a little padding material from the top half would remedy this without compromising the protection it provides to the horn. On the other hand, this forces me to move all the slides on a regular basis. Overall, I think the case is well made and provides good protection, but it’s also made to a price point.

The horn

The valve springs are nice. They’re not too stiff, not too soft, and have quiet, consistent operation. The horn came with extra valve guides, I forgot about them, found them later, didn’t recognize them, and threw them out. If the case had an accessory compartment, I would have left them in there from the start. This is clearly not my fault!

I think the main tuning slide could be just a little bit longer, but when holding the horn on my lap I already tend to bump it with my thigh. Maybe a W shape would be good? It moves almost too easily.

I generally have the 1st and 3rd valve slides pulled out about an inch or so most of the time. They move easily enough to adjust them while playing, but I wouldn’t mind them being a little bit easier to move. The 4th valve slide is generally pulled out about 2-2.5 inches. This circuit requires some gymnastics to clear water and could really benefit from it’s own water key. The way it’s wrapped, adding one looks like it would be difficult.

Regarding the finish. there are a few blemishes in the lacquer. They appear to be dust that was sprayed over at the factory. It is otherwise pretty nice. The joints in the tubing look good. In fact, I think they look at least as good as those of the 494 played by our first chair in the community band. However, they don’t look as good as the joints on one of the other guy’s Eastman EBB226. Overall, the finish seems pretty resilient and it’s been resistant to me ham-handedly banging it into my music stand.

The low range utilizing the 4th valve is easily accessible and doesn’t sound stuffy at all to my ears. Considering the size of the horn, I was a little surprised by this. The higher register isn’t any easier than on the 1240. This also surprised me. Clearly, I’m the problem…

Relative to the 1240, the 179 can absolutely be played in tune, but it’s also much easier to play it out of tune. The 1240 is more forgiving in this regard. I’m gradually figuring it out.

With a Jim Self or standard Conn Helleberg mouthpieces I’m able to produce a full, round tone. With the Schilke 62 it sounds a bit more “breathy”.

It seems to project nicely for its size and it wants to be played loudly. Not that it can’t be played softly, but it really seems to come alive with some fast air. I’m not sure how to quantify this.

The lower strap ring digs into my gut. I’ve considered having it removed, but if I pay attention to my posture it’s really not a problem. I could also stand to lose a few (or a lot of) pounds.

Purchasing the horn

I purchased the horn new in 2021. There was someone here attempting to sell a used one at a good price, but it would have required shipping across several states. Bloke had offered to sell one of these to me at a fabulous price. A local-ish shop was able to get one for me at just a few dollars more than Joe’s price. I went with the local shop, 100% because I was worried about having problems with it and then needing to ship it somewhere for warranty work or some garbage like that. Being able to simply drive it back to the dealer, get lunch, and then be home all within a couple hours was peace of mind. The horn has been fine and has needed no dealer support, just as Bloke indicated it wouldn’t.

I didn’t take any photos, but I’d be happy to if anyone wants to see physical details. Lemme know.

[Grumpikins]

Nice review. This type of info is always helpful to somebody. Thank you.

Just curious, what was the goal in purchasing this tuba? A specific group, or different size, etc.

[bloke]

Oddly, they now offer (while still offering this model) a very similar model...which is (rather than "very similar to a YBB-621") "just like a YBB-621".

It's nomenclature is 279B. I've not sold one yet.

me...??

I'm in love with their model 379B (squatty/rotary/compact/large bore/big sound).

[sdloveless]

Just curious, what was the goal in purchasing this tuba? A specific group, or different size, etc.

After a 27 year break in playing, I got the 1240, which is a 3 valve horn. Even with the elapsed time, muscle memory was kicking in and I kept trying to operate a non-existent 4th valve. Also, my neck is garbage and won't be getting better without surgery. So I was looking for a smaller BBb horn with 4 valves. Since I'm not getting paid to play, I also had a hard limit on the budget. This was one of just a few new horns that ticked all the boxes.

[sdloveless]

Oddly, they now offer (while still offering this model) a very similar model...which is (rather than "very similar to a YBB-621") "just like a YBB-621".

It's nomenclature is 279B. I've not sold one yet.

me...??

I'm in love with their model 379B (squatty/rotary/compact/large bore/big sound).

I've seen the 279 on the JP site and it does look a lot more like the 621. It's pricier than the 179 and I'd be interested in exactly what makes it more expensive.

Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't have purchased the 379, but my recollection is that it was right at, if not slightly higher, than my wife-imposed budget limit.

[PlayTheTuba]

I forgot about them, found them later, didn’t recognize them, and threw them out. If the case had an accessory compartment, I would have left them in there from the start. This is clearly not my fault!

I'm sure as long as the valves are oiled enough the original guides will last a very long time. Unless they are nylon/plastic, which will still last awhile as long as everything is smooth.

I feel your pain but your wording does crack me up!

Thank you for review! Always like to read people's thoughts and opinions about tubas.

[bloke]

Adults don't "trial and error" pistons into casings, but line them up carefully before inserting them. Young Scholars bang them around until they finally get lucky. I have found that the metal sandwich is a trade off on Jupiter and Yamaha. After a while, the plastic wears down to the metal (steel), and then you've got steel scuffing and defacing the track in the valve casing. That's not good. Original brass guides were the best choice, really, yet they make noise, so we choose what we choose, and manufacturers react to what they think we want.
Jupiter valve guides and maybe even Yamaha work on JP pistons. There is a tiny amount of play until the stem is tightened down, but all that's needed is to eyeball it to the center of the tiny little amount of movement and then tighten down the stem on it. Every single one of these systems relies on the stem being tight, so...
Whenever I see some original Yamaha valve guides that don't have the metal in them and are old/new, I buy them and set them aside for people with professional grade Yamaha piston instruments.

[GC]

I searched for the JP279B and found the ad easily enough. Then I took a careful look at the pictures and then looked again. I'll admit to being plenty oblivious at times, but I only see one water key. Am I missing the obvious?

A horn of that design seems like it would be gurgling constantly and needing a constant spin or valve slide pulling to get the condensation out.

First and second look like they would dump down the main channel until they reach the third and fourth valves. Or continue to the MTS if 3 and 4 aren't used.

[sdloveless]

I searched for the JP279B and found the ad easily enough. Then I took a careful look at the pictures and then looked again. I'll admit to being plenty oblivious at times, but I only see one water key. Am I missing the obvious?

A horn of that design seems like it would be gurgling constantly and needing a constant spin or valve slide pulling to get the condensation out.

First and second look like they would dump down the main channel until they reach the third and fourth valves. Or continue to the MTS if 3 and 4 aren't used.

You're not missing anything. There is only one water key on the main tuning slide. The 4th valve has been problematic for me. It make two vertical loops and water collects in the bottom of each one, requiring some acrobatics to clear. There is probably a better way, but I haven't figured it out yet.

[bloke]

This is something I asked them to add, along with shortening the fourth circuit just a little bit, but it takes more than one dealer to affect a change. If they don't hear anything about an issue from more than one person, no manufacturer or importer/distributor is going to change a product.

[sdloveless]

Joe knows I like Packer. I've owned several of their instruments, and still own 3.

I do have to say that adding 279 series of tubas was a bit puzzling. Come on, at least put a larger bell on them so they aren't exactly like what we've already had available to us on the new (and used)market for decades

[Lew]

Thanks for the review. I've been thinking of getting a smaller BBb as I get older and this and the 279 were two of the horns I was considering. Just out of curiosity, I see your info shows that you are in Harrisburg. I'm in Central PA too. Where were you able to find one locally?

[sdloveless]

Central Penn Music in Palmyra. They did not have it in stock, but had to order it in for me.

[Lew]

Thanks for the info. I was hoping to find one to try locally, but as I suspected, that's not likely.

[sdloveless]

I'm going to TMEA tomorrow. If anyone has any questions about this model or any other, I'll check it out again

[sdloveless]

I'm going to TMEA tomorrow. If anyone has any questions about this model or any other, I'll check it out again

I'll be there tomorrow as well, Mark. Hope to see you there.

[LeMark]

I'm hard to miss!

[Schlepporello]

I'm hard to miss!

Me too!

[sdloveless]

If either of you have an opportunity to A-B a 179 and 279, I'd love to hear about your impressions.

[bloke]

If either of you have an opportunity to A-B a 179 and 279, I'd love to hear about your impressions.

Even as I have already sold a 279, I still haven't played one.
Having played 179 tubas with the long mouthpipe which offers pretty good expansion - and having played the Yamaha BB-621 which is obviously about 99% similar (at least in looks) to a 279, I would imagine that the 279 offers subtly more resistance as far as the feel to the player. Understand that I'm a person who does not consider resistance to be a bad thing, even when it comes to smaller instruments that are already inherently resistant.