Tubajug wrote: ↑Sat Jul 06, 2024 1:42 pm
Does yours require as much pull on the first slide? How far out is your MTS? What mouthpiece do you like for it?
I pulled the 1st slide by accident this afternoon when I wanted the 5th. I think that's what it was -- there's a bunch of slides up there. Frankly it was long ago and far away I played this tuba with anyone. (I do play it a lot, but just at home.) I don't remember experiencing problems with intonation, particularly where I'm sure it isn't me (I have bad playing habits in the medium high range that contribute to flatness up there.) I don't play really high notes on the tuba, so have no basis for comment on how that it holds up up there.
I think the main point I can make here is that its intonation is flexible, especially lower in the range and/or with no valves. Some people play different than others, if I'm not wrong, and some have to pull out farther than others with the very same tuba; if that's so, I bet this tuba would be a good one to demonstrate that principle. It isn't a unique phenomenon, of course - I have felt that my BBb Kalison is somewhat the opposite, but you sure can play flat or sharp on it.
This afternoon when I was checking it out on the tuner, I put the main slide 3.5cm out [edit] but I like 2 cm better. [/edit] The 5th is about the same as the 3rd. The slide settings could probably use some work, other than 1 which seems to be about right and 2 which can't go farther in. I do not pull slides while playing (except on the Kalison where there's a jigger that I push for a couple bottom end notes.)
Lately I've been using a Faxx fhb 7B copy, but also like JK 5A, Dillon F1B (that's obscure), Marcinkiewicz H4, Glow-in-the-dark Kellyberg, etc. A ways back I went through them all, trying to find one that would (as I now see it) make up for my poor mid-upper range playing, and generally found little difference (i.e., I suck equally on all.) The Faxx 7B and the JK 5A would be at the top of my list of commercially available options if someone were looking for a mouthpiece, but probably regardless of what bass tuba.
I love this tuba, but like other tubas I have had, the accumulation of water is a gret annoyance. It has several water keys, there's yet one more valve branch that needs one, and there's the weird right angle bends at the valve section that have been discussed here before.
[A couple edits applied.]
[2nd edit] Also, while it looks very much like the picture, there is a little minor denting in the bell and 1st bow. If you'd like to put some dents in yours, to see if it helps, I could plot them out. [/edit]
