St. Petersburg 202n opinions

[Tubaafter37yrsaway]

Opinions on St. Pete tubas. Considering buying. Needed for community band. Not professional needs

[the elephant]

They are okay. They are not great.

More specifically, the design is great, and the quality of construction is variable. The metal is VERY thin in the slide tubes. The last generation of the 'normal" rotors is fantastic. The front-loading rotors are an unknown quantity for me, personally. (Sorry.)

They moved production to Ukraine years ago and things like the valves improved. The soldering was more accurate, and even the horrible braces that looked homemade were greatly improved.

The main issues have traditionally been too-thin nickel plating that wears off completely in hand contact location, rotor bearing quality, and the valve transmission system, which was so bad that importers had to remove them and swap in German-made stuff for many years.

The tubas play very well as a generic BBb tuba in a band section, with decent intonation (which has been one of the inconsistencies, but is generally good) and a great sound if you fill them up. They can be air pigs, but if you can fill up a Miraphone 186 really well it will not be a problem.

The ones that have been soldered together by a drunk chimpanzee are stuffy and out of tune or have one or two uselessly bad notes. The good ones are just good. You can usually tell after about half an hour of playing on one whether you want it or not. Make sure it has a good gig bag, and a hard case is nice, but the ones that came with these are monstrous plywood things that will not easily fit into a car. They also offer almost zero protection to the tuba in the event the case is dropped. (The shell is important, but the padding and isolation are MORE important, and these do not do a good job in that regard. So the hard case is a bargaining point to lower the price. Tell the seller that he can sell it separately for more money. and perhaps he might be able to do that, but you would be better off not taking it, getting the price lowered, and using that money to buy a better case if you want one. These are thin tubas, so a gig bag might not make you happy. Your call.)

I have always liked these tubas, despite the production issues the Russian factory could never seem to overcome. The Ukrainians are much better at making the things, but since the war has been on I am not sure where (or if) these are even currently being made. What is for sale may be old stock. I would not ask, as I am not sure you would get a straight answer as to source information like that from a seller.

The price has crept up over the years faster than the price of German-made tubas, as it was quite low for a long time, but now they are a lot more expensive, and I am not sure they are worth it. If I could still get one in raw brass I might do so, but you can *only* get them with the too-thin nickel plating. I do not know if the Ukrainians were laying down thicker plating. I know that most of the parts I have bought for these from Tuba Exchange over the years have been very good since the move out of Russia, though. And the price has been good, and the order arrives quickly.

I think the 202 has the current German Minibal links and solid nickel-silver levers. These are pretty darn good.

As with all things like this, you REALLY need to try one, or several, before you drop any sort of $$$$ on something of this nature. Inexpensive tubas tend to have hidden issues that you might not find for years.

You do not say whether you are looking at a new one or something from Craiglist or a tuba you found at the dump. It is hard to say much without photos to look at. I would not buy anything used that you cannot try first, unless it is a screaming good deal, like under a grand. These are decent tubas, but nowhere nearly so decent as to be able to buy one sight unseen.

[russiantuba]

As with all things like this, you REALLY need to try one, or several, before you drop any sort of $$$$ on something of this nature. Inexpensive tubas tend to have hidden issues that you might not find for years.

You do not say whether you are looking at a new one or something from Craiglist or a tuba you found at the dump. It is hard to say much without photos to look at. I would not buy anything used that you cannot try first, unless it is a screaming good deal, like under a grand. These are decent tubas, but nowhere nearly so decent as to be able to buy one sight unseen.

This. Even back in 2005, my undergraduate purchased 2 new models of these. The one I played on was pretty good, while the other major had one where the 4th valve was 40 cents flat.

[hubert]

Heard, that production recently has been moved to the Amati/Cerveny premises at Kraslice (Cz), because of war in Ukraine.
Curious, whether this will result in improvements of quality (like more consistency)....
Hubert

[bloke]

[jtm]

...
I'm not a particular fan of piggy style B-flat/C tubas whether they are Russian-made, Czech-made, Miraphone-made, or China-made.

defining "piggy":
- very large bore
- compact short stature
- large bell throat with small bell pancake

Except for "very large bore", that includes a Miraphone 188.

[bloke]

I would disagree, because I don't consider 38 inches tall to be short enough to be "short", and I don't consider an upper bow that sits down roughly a foot lower than the bell rim to be compact.

Even though they are short (32") and compact (upper bow nearly as high as the bell rim) old York's and Holton's with 19 inch bells don't fit into the category either, because of their pancake bells and only medium bore sizes.

[dillonrjohnson48]

I think for the price the St. Pete is just fine. The factory is still located in Ukraine (there is also one in Bratislava, but they only put out the lacquered horns from what I can tell so far) and the horns are now being stamped with a new logo. I played on one all through college. I do recommend sitting down and playing a couple if you can. Intonation can differ from horn to horn. They`ve gotten better and more consistent over the years but still are not as consistent as I would like them to be. Some of the models coming in now (stamped with the new logo) have a new rotor system that I think is an improvement. The plating is thin, but there is a lacquered version if that`s a concern for you. As a former Army tuba player, I wouldn`t be taking any symphony auditions with it, but for community bands, occasional amateur BQ gigs, they will serve just fine.

[bloke]

[Kamthetuba]

Would the St. Petersburg 202 be suitable for a high school player because the Yamaha they have us playing on are awful?

[Three Valves]

Would the St. Petersburg 202 be suitable for a high school player because the Yamaha they have us playing on are awful?

That’s great way to say that!