TubaForum.net

No agenda here, and not personally interested... just happened to be poking around on the Tuba Exchange website for the first time in a really long time...

I'd kind of forgotten about St. Pete tubas. I'm not considering it as an option for myself, but was a little curious about the quality of the newest ones that they are making. I've played a few before, and some were pretty good, but the bore seemed so friggin big (am I remembering correctly at 22mm?).

Always wondered if anyone actually bought one of those tubas in the late 90s from "die tuba" (tuba . com) that had the updated German valve linkages. I think that was about the first tuba-related website I ever saw (because I was a teenager and I thought, "ooh, tuba . com seems like a good starting point").

Anyway, just wondering what the new ones are like.

830'' bore, not as ominous as it seems. Probably one of the free and easy blowing rotary style horns out there (especially for the price). Top end and partials are just "ok" compared to say, a Miraphone. Pedal range is superb, open and punchy. I had tried a new one for the heck of it in January 2020 ( one of the piston valve variants) and wasn't impressed. Horribly sharp with very short slides. Sent it back. I prefer the old horns actually made in St. Petersburg than the 2014+ ones made in Ukraine. All in all, they are decent but get rotary not piston.

KingTuba1241X wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 2:23 pm ...the old horns actually made in St. Petersburg than the 2014+ ones made in Ukraine.

Interesting, I didn't know that!

Ukraine tuba is best.

Strong, like bull!!

Three Valves wrote: ↑Fri Mar 05, 2021 3:03 pm Ukraine tuba is best.

Strong, like bull!!

https://youtu.be/fzLtF_PxbYw

I recently sold a St. Pete 202. They play well enough for most people’s uses. They sound pretty nice, too. The modern linkages on mine worked fine.
The frustration comes in construction. The slides on mine were out-of-round enough to prevent lapping and on-the-fly slide adjustment. Originally, the tuba’s second valve slide was stuck from the factory and had to be pulled and replaced.
BTW- I vividly remember the outstanding low prices from “Die Tuba”. I was stationed in Germany at the time and went to the importers home to try them out. The ones imported by the Tuba Exchange today are far superior.