a characteristic of a tuba labeled by a manufacturer as professional quality

[bloke]

I'm not attacking any manufacturer or any specific model, but I've noticed that it's not uncommon for pretty fancy tubas to feature first valve slides that can't be pushed in far enough to play the pitch a whole step above open forth partial sharp enough to be in tune. This would include first valve c above open B flat, and first valve d above open c. I can fix that stuff on my own instruments, but what about people who buy silver plated instruments set up like this that might cost a ton of money?

I'm not looking for private messages asking me for examples. Everyone should be able to figure this out when they're testing an instrument, but some people purchase instruments based on pictures and hype, and particularly some people's parents.

I know enough from trial-and-error and experience to know that it's not difficult to build a #1 slide that has enough tuning range to play the fourth partial 1-3 pitch flat enough and the fifth partial 1st valve pitch sharp enough.

[Mary Ann]

Can you say, "Marketing?"