St. Petersburg 202n opinions
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2023 8:46 am
Opinions on St. Pete tubas. Considering buying. Needed for community band. Not professional needs
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.
