Intonation — Almost, but not quite, point-and-shoot. Bottom line G is dead on. The Cs all line up. In fact, the entire open series is really excellent.
Problem 23 combo — Not bad at all, with bottom space Ab and the Eb below the staff tending toward their normal flaws, but being better than on any CC tuba I have ever played. Ab is like 5¢ flat, and the low one is about the same. The problem Eb is dead on, and the 3rd space Eb is fine played 2nd.
!st — 4th line F is in tune WITH 3rd line D being played in tune using 1st. Amazing. How did they do that??????
Above the staff — Top line A is sharp. It is the same with the G on their BBb tubas — always use 3rd and things will never upset you. Everything else (for me) up to double high C is nicely in tune and responds clearly with no weird tendencies to fall off or chip.
Low Range — This is why I spent all of this money. Holy crap! It is mouthpiece sensitive to a certain degree, in that things differ greatly between deep and shallow cups. For the most part, everywhere else on this tuba, the mouthpiece choice does not seem to matter, but way down low both intonation and response are wildly affected by this one mouthpiece aspect. In *ALL* cases, a deep mouthpiece gives the tuba a slightly sluggish response and *normal* 5-valve pitch issues, with 234 low E being pretty flat and no available alternates that do not include a slide pull or push, and a nebulous low G that can be played fairly well with great solidity using either 13 or 4. But plug in a more soloistic mouthpiece and WOW! The response becomes absolutely nimble, with that Thor-like-low-G on EVERY note. Instant low F. Instant low G. Instant low E and D. Again — WOW!
With a smaller mouthpiece in the receiver (read: Miraphone Rose Solo, Sellmansberger Solo, Doug Elliott P cup, JK Exclusive 2C, Miraphone old C4, etc.) and several slide adjustments, the low range has a clarity that makes hearing/matching pitch amazingly easy and fast for me. And the tuning becomes much more like a 6-valved instrument in that now the sharp 245 is in tune for low E (no more 234 sagginess), low D is dead in tune played 2345, Db is 1345, leaving me 12345 with a pull on 1st as a viable "super-soft" pedal CC. The *only* issue is that Eb 1245 is a bit flat, but if you lay into it it rides up enough. It is only an issue for me when I have to sustain it at soft dynamics. In that case, 1345 and a pull to 1st works very well, but it is a long pull.
The horn lacks the *sparkle* in the sound that my Eastman had, but after a few months on that tuba, it just sounded like me. Likewise, the Yamaha now sounds like me. I like it. It is not as massive or loud as the Holton I have, but it can be played louder and softer with ease.
In short: I love this tuba and think the money was well spent.
I have the hard case that came with my Eastman 836 as well as a spiffy leather Cronkhite bag. I am currently using a Doug Elliott P cup, P5 shank, and 4N 132 rim. Wooooo-sexy…
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Adams F
Not as unicorn-y as I had hoped; it is still an F and has F tuba issues. My Kurath is almost as good but is just too BIG for my main use. The intonation is very good, but not perfect. The low register is excellent, but not perfect (nor is it point-and-shoot). The learning curve has been very small, though. I bought it last summer, and by Christmas Eve was nailing stuff to the wall in quintet. For me, mouthpiece selection fairly was tiresome. (I went through about 35 of the dang paperweights!) I ended up with something I would never have used on an F, but it works so dang well that I won't be experimenting with anything else in this tuba. I ended up with a Schilke SHII-CLE that I had intended to try on the YamaYork. I hate it in that tuba but it is magical in the Adams.
Intonation is really excellent once the slides have been dialed in and some alternates. Now that I have it dialed in where I like it my life has become so easy in the quintet.
Some caveats: The assembly was not as spiffy as I had been led to believe. In fact, there are several joints that look suspiciously like Chinese work to me. Also, these come with two leadpipes, but the large one was missing from this horn. Also, I'm not pointing fingers anywhere, but someone polished it with silver-bearing polish (so-called re-plating polish) to make it look like new, This is freaking dishonest as hell! If you do this, GREAT! BUT TELL THE BUYER EXACTLY WHERE THE FAKE SILVER IS, AND GIVE THEM THE WHOLE BOTTLE OF THIS EXPENSIVE POLISH… or do not try to cover up damage to the finish dishonesty. I am very pissed about this. There are many bare patches on this tuba that became bare after I had used the horn for about a month. NOT COOL!
I loved this tuba when I got it. started to have buyer's remorse shortly after I got it home and discovered the manufacturing flaws and the shitty plating issues, then hated it until I worked through the mouthpiece situation.
Now I love it. But caveat emptor, y'all…
It came with a Chinese hard case that I don't want, as it does not fit that well, and an Adams-branded gig bag that is junk. I would *never* carry a horn that I like in that bag. I won't even sell it. I took it to the dump recently. I have this tuba in a new cordura Cronkhite bag, but it does not fit all that well, as they have an HB-10 bag and an HB-18 bag, but the Adams is the smaller horn with the larger bell, so I had to get the bag for the 12, which is rather loose at the bottom. Oh, well. I will eventually get a hard case from Adams, or one of those Eastman cases that can be modified to fit this tuba. It is worth it to me.
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I am happy with both of these tubas and think I actually got a fair deal on the prices. They both are with their high prices. But both were USED TUBAS when I got them, so neither was perfect. The Yamaha is missing a lot of silver, for instance, and both needed minor work to the valves and slides. (I think the Yamaha is 15 years old.)
!!!!!
