Is there a real advantage to TUBA stand?

[2bahawk]

Is there a real advantage to a tuba stand? I am not talking about the kind that you use while playing, I use the corner of my chair, rather a cradle (perhaps that is the better name) to place it in when you are not playing.

Currently I leave my 201 upside down resting on it's bell leaning against a wall. The floor is carpeted and hence the tuba protected. I play in a back corner with not much foot traffic. But the horn seems to get dirty just sitting there over time. I often do not take it home (it is in a well guarded church) as I am older and it is heavy.

Is there any advantage to buying a stand/cradle to put it on? If your answer is yes, do you have any recommendations for brand and model?

[bloke]

No.

Display stands are just to display. Anyone who thinks that they're going to crease their bell by setting their tuba on its bell isn't setting their tuba on its bell - LOL - but are slamming their tuba on the bell.

We had a room that - frankly - was too big to be our bedroom, and we converted an adjacent porch to our master bedroom. That large room is now where each of our paperwork and computer desks are located, along with a couple of couches and all of my tubas and my practice area. My wife wanted the tubas all displayed on wall mounted Wenger stands... and I have a bunch of those. I set it all up, but what really happens is that the three or four that I'm mostly play on gigs are almost always set on their bells close to my chair and music stand.

[Sousaswag]

Unless it’s a bell front, all of mine live on their bells. Bell fronts have no other easy way to be stored other than flat across the floor which gets in the way.

Just leave it on the bell.

[bloke]

Unless it’s a bell front, all of mine live on their bells. Bell fronts have no other easy way to be stored other than flat across the floor which gets in the way.

Just leave it on the bell.

LOL...
yep !!!
My two bell-fronts DO stay on the wall...even though I have supplemental upright bells for them...
Their detachable upright bells are on the floor...stacked one on the other.

I've devised this method to keep the sousaphone out of the way with its two bells:





One other thing: The two detachable upright bells are both Besson-fitting, which means that they also fit this King sousaphone, which means that I also have a 17-in upright bell and a 19-in upright bell that I could stick on this King sousaphone, were I to choose to do so... but I really don't see an advantage to a "raincatcher" sousaphone - certainly not outdoors.

What's in that padded envelope that you never opened, bloke?

LOL...replacement batteries for all the landline cordless phones in the house (business line) - which we bought two years ago, but haven't yet stuck in the phones.

[York-aholic]

Vintage original fiberglass rain catcher sousaphone!

[The Brute Squad]

I've used a K&M in the past, but usually only for when I'm playing in a tighter space (pit, rehearsal space too small for the group, etc).

[1 Ton Tommy]

I recently bought a bell-front Martin Mammoth and after thinking about it the next morning, realized there wasn't enough space in our rehearsal room to lay it on the floor. So I went back and bought the stand the fellow also had. I play it on the stand. It's that heavy. I'm that old, though big. I haven't yet played it in performance and the stand, though sturdy, isn't very pretty. Given our performance space, I'm quite visible so appearance matters.

[bloke]

Nothing flat black paint won't fix. If it's 70 years old with little wooden feet on the metal and weird thick felt padding, just protect that stuff from being painted.

Another paint choice might be that zinc containing paint that people spray on their gas pipes on the outsides of their houses to make them look nicer.

[Charlie C Chowder]

Yo One Ton, I have a 32 lb recording bell York. I use a playing stand with all of my tubas. I have converted a drum seat so I can play standing up, tuba sits on the round seat. I too am and old guy, I don't need to lift more than I haft to.

CCC