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I figure that - out of forty - one should be really special...
...but it would also be nice to own a handful of them:
- one for home (because I spend SO MUCH TIME practicin')
- one for each of the churches where I work - a few times each year
- one to store in the boiler rooms of a couple of different halls used by per-service orchestras with which I work.
(so I can be "green") and ride one of those stand-up scooters to most of my gigs)

At least you don't have to be invited to buy one, as was once the case.

Pretty sure my invitation was lost in the mail...

I was considering waiting for the "production" version, but - since I'm a fesshunun 'n' such - I probably need "hand-made" (40) one(s), 'cause I can hear grass grow 'n' stuff...

bloke wrote: ↑Sun Dec 26, 2021 9:12 am I was considering waiting for the "production" version, but - since I'm a fesshunun 'n' such - I probably need "hand-made" (40) one(s), 'cause I can hear grass grow 'n' stuff...

What does growing grass sound like?
I have never taken the time to listen to it...

And seeing the subject, i was loosely expecting this to be some sort of xmas miracle...

humBell wrote: ↑Sun Dec 26, 2021 11:02 am What does growing grass sound like?

If you have to ask…

Serious talk…

The handmade 6450 is $5k less than this. From many accounts, the Yamaha is a friendlier tuba. So while $40k seems ridiculous, it’s in scope of similar horns.

At some point, market saturation was bound to happen. Couple that with Chinese 6/4 York copies of various quality hitting the streets for ~25% of this cost and the ability for good techs/repair people to tweak them within margin of the Yamaha, then the market will further erode.

Yamaha also, supposedly, limited production such that they could allow the people building them to take the requisite care in construction to keep quality high. Makes sense.

Yamaha started this effort over two decades ago. In terms of bolstering their overall brand image, I certainly think it worked. Based on the quality of a 8 series trumpet I bought for my daughter, I do think that Yamaha is one of the better makers out there, specifically manufacturers that carry full spectrum products and produce a large quantity.

As pointed out by someone, good quality bassoons are double this cost. Same with most string instruments. Literally have to pay to play.

Were I somehow coerced into playing a 6/4-size 3/4-inch bore piston C tuba, it would be this model.
Not-distracting tuning characteristics is - to me - the #1 thing I look for in any tuba.
Though I can't see myself owning any other tuba/euphonium by this maker (nor a 6/4 C) this one is the least quirky, tuning-wise.

I've played one of most of those out there...

My wife wanted to get me a NEW (I've never owned a brand new horn) tuba for my 65th B-day. I told her I wanted a YamaYork - she laughed when I told her what they cost. So, I chose a new Alex. It will be here Tuesday.
As far as being "invited" to own a YamaYork - I bet they would invite anyone that had $40k to part with!

The invitation thing was real. They were only able to make 2-3 per year for quite a while.

It was also to control the market perspective. There are people out there, that have a lot of disposable income and would like, for whatever reason, a 6/4 York copy that also might not play them out in public let alone a full time professional orchestra. Yamaha wanted to get these out into the hands of capable pros and build the brand there.

Stryk wrote: ↑Sun Dec 26, 2021 1:12 pm So, I chose a new Alex. It will be here Tuesday.

I hope we will find out more about this tuba.

I'm not getting the Yamaha because I'm more of a BBb player.

I suspect if I walked into my local Yamaha-dealer music store, asked the owner if he would like to make $1000 cash, that he would order me a YCB-826S, and sell it to me for $1000 (plus gross receipts tax) over cost...
...but I'm not interested in any 6/4's and no one's trying to get me to buy one.

Besides being the most in-tune of any of them, I also (having looked at one next to some others) believe it to be one of the smallest...about the same size as that York one - that is still occasionally utilized.

humBell wrote: ↑Sun Dec 26, 2021 11:02 am

bloke wrote: ↑Sun Dec 26, 2021 9:12 am I was considering waiting for the "production" version, but - since I'm a fesshunun 'n' such - I probably need "hand-made" (40) one(s), 'cause I can hear grass grow 'n' stuff...

What does growing grass sound like?
I have never taken the time to listen to it...

And seeing the subject, i was loosely expecting this to be some sort of xmas miracle...

It sounds like a raw brass lap sousaphone with lots of patina and Saturn water keys.