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But y’all already know that.

Just sharing my own praise here now that I’m only using Sellmansberger pieces with my tubas.

Holton 340: Orchestra Grand cup, shank
Meinl Weston 2165: Orchestra Grand cup, Symphony shank
Bohm & Meinl: Symphony cup, shank
Willson rotor F: Solo cup, 0 backbore

Various rims including Houser’s 33P, and Joe’s #2 in a few sizes.

I may pick up an Imperial to play around with sometime later. Occasionally I use a Besson 982 with the local brass band that I haven’t found a great fit for.

I very much like them, and they fit each tuba I use really well. Thankful we have someone who understands tubas and offers so much variation.

Seconded. Have enjoyed trying these out over the years. I owned one of the old two-piece Solo #1 (Muggsy) where the rim AND cup were both H-Kote black. Switched to a two-piece Solo #2 (Atlas) before divesting all my gear about 10 years ago.

Since getting back in the swing of things and having a little bit of disposable income as a Real Adult, I have managed to pick up almost all the variations of cups, shanks, and #2 rims, save for some of the odder shank sizes.

My one suggestion/observation is that, having owned a fair number of small British receiver tubas, the British shank for the Imperial is still a hair bit too big for my taste. I wish it went in just a smidgen more. True on my current Boosey & Co., my old York, Besson New Standard, B&H Imperial, and a slew of turn of the century horns that I've had cycle through here.* Maybe receiver size has shifted a bit over the years.

*this does not include the Boston Musical Instrument Manufactory Spanish-American War-era Eb that had a euro shank euphonium(!!)-size receiver.

I've sort of wondered about going a little bit lower on that small shank size. All of the small shank interpretations hover around a half inch for the small end.

Here's the Boosey & Co. Imperial with the Sellmansberger Imperial:

Sousaswag wrote: ↑Tue May 21, 2024 5:07 pm Meinl Weston 2165: Orchestra Grand cup, Symphony shank

Same setup I'm currently using with my Wessex Wyvern. Yep... good stuff!

I use that guy's mouthpieces. The problem with them is that the less I practice, the worse they seem to perform.

When I lost the LA Philharmonic audition, I asked him for a refund. What a jerk. He didn't even answer my email.