TubaForum.net

MikeMason wrote: Fri Jul 04, 2025 11:27 am Regarding housing inflation: I’d be curious to see inflation by square footage and level of luxury. Austere/ middle / luxury. I think,but am not sure, this is a part of the problem. If royalty from 1-300 years ago could see us, they would be astonished and switch places with us, I bet.

Having read some fairly realistic accounts. I assure you that you would not have wanted to live as royalty hundreds of years ago in Europe or anywhere. Horrible food, urine and fecal odors (in castles and palaces), disease, etc.

We have not sold any of the JP Yamaha clones yet nor seen one up close.
If they're like all the other JP stuff that I've sold, it's able to be drop shipped from the warehouse without seller inspection. That's why I sell this brand, because I don't want to have to fool with anything other than giving someone a good price on something, as I do tons of repairs, sell other things, and play music as a combination of what I do for a living, and the better part of two decades ago decided that brick and mortar and physically having to display for sale merchandise is for the birds (certainly now that civilization has pretty much come to an end and thievery and vandalism rule of the day).

In my opinion, the JP clones of the Yamaha marching brass are superior to yamaha, because JP pistons are well fitted stainless steel pistons and the hard cases are remarkably durable. I have found that Yamaha marching brass pistons - though well fitted - are nickel plated and lead soldered (not brazed) together. The Yamaha cases are also under-engineered, in my opinion. Needless to say, pricing-wise Yamaha is really quite proud of their stuff.

One thing that some people don't understand is that there are multiple (actually many) factories in China that make musical instruments and just because they see a Yamaha clone sold by one importer, it doesn't mean that another importer's Yamaha clone is made in the same place and is the same instrument built to the same standards. Actually what Jonathan says about Jinbao (a single huge manufacturer) is true. They build stuff to the standards of various reseller companies who buy stuff from them, even though they are one huge place.

JP's diversity of tuba products isn't as strong as Eastman or Jinbao, but to my eyes and hands (even though I'm biased being a JP dealer) the JP build quality exceeds that of the others... So JP loses sales due to lack of product diversity, but I don't get emails from people who do buy them complaining about this, that, and the other.
All of that having been said, if someone's looking for a brand new pt-15 like instrument or a brand new 2250 like instrument or a 621 like instrument that is problem-free and only marked up a few hundred bucks over dealer cost, I might be your guy.

Hi everyone, I'm loving the comments. The only thing that I have a problem with the 45slp is the p part. I'm a rotary kind of guy. No hate to the piston horns, I just prefer rotors over the years.

The Cerveny seems to hit the mark with me now.

Anyone here flyfish? I have a T&T that needs a new home.

@prodigal I know you said you prefer rotors but I saw this on Reverb and it's $1000 less than anything else I've seen.

https://reverb.com/item/89973411-kanstu ... rose-brass

tubatodd wrote: Wed Jul 16, 2025 6:58 am @prodigal I know you said you prefer rotors but I saw this on Reverb and it's $1000 less than anything else I've seen.

https://reverb.com/item/89973411-kanstu ... rose-brass

That isn't bad for that price point!

My issue with pistons is very long arms, but very short fingers, and every piston horn I've borrowed has been warped by previous users' finger placement on the valves. (Plus, I love the rotary sound, it's what I grew up with.)

Anyone have Cerveny F tuba experience?

They list a 17-19mm bore, vs 19-21 for B&S and Miraphone. I wonder if this would an easier response vs a bigger bore F.

prodigal wrote: Fri Jul 18, 2025 5:36 am Anyone have Cerveny F tuba experience?

They list a 17-19mm bore, vs 19-21 for B&S and Miraphone. I wonder if this would an easier response vs a bigger bore F.

B&S Symphonies also start out at 17mm bore, although they eventually expand to 21mm. I think smaller bore on a bass tuba is a good thing.

The Cerveny Fs I have played have been very fun to play and easy to get around on. The little 3/4 sized Cerveny F belies its size; it can put out some sound and has good low register response.

I was thinking of either the little piggy looking one, or their B&S looking one. I would think that it would be a little more lively than the PT-15 I owned with the smaller bore. 4 right and 1 left would help me reprogram my brain now that my 186 is wired that way.

If you want to sell a kidney, the Aex F is now on Reverb.

ICE is now offering a $50,000 signing bonus...
...so how good are Thein F tubas, really, and would this cover the 15% tariff?

F tuba problem is fixed, I even enjoyed a couple Yuenglings in celebration!

prodigal wrote: Thu Jul 31, 2025 1:03 pm F tuba problem is fixed, I even enjoyed a couple Yuenglings in celebration!

What'd you end up getting?

arpthark wrote: Thu Aug 21, 2025 1:30 pm

prodigal wrote: Thu Jul 31, 2025 1:03 pm F tuba problem is fixed, I even enjoyed a couple Yuenglings in celebration!

What'd you end up getting?

Only if ya don't mind us asking...

(although the term "fixed" doesn't actually imply you got anything. Just that there is no longer a problem, but of course that only piques the curiosity... )

Also... I've driven through a town called Yuengling (in NJ, i think). Any connection?

Hi,

I picked up a Cerveny 653 5-valve. I like it a lot, I'm still working on a mouthpiece for it because it's Euro shank, but a Helleburg 7 is kinda okay.

Once I figure out how to post pictures, I'll get some up against the big horn to see how little and cute it is.

I'm not sure that I'd want to use it for Bayreuth, but it's good for me now. She'll be going to Tuba Christmas with me. I'm having more fun playing tuba than I've had in music for years! I can't wait for band to begin in a couple weeks.

Congratulations on the new axe! A nice F tuba feels like jumping into a Miata after years of driving a Suburban. I remember being shocked at how easy stuff like Kopprasch or Rochut was to execute on mine.

From personal experience, rotary F tubas often don't respond great with funnelish mouthpieces like a Helleberg 7b (despite them being great for top action Eb tubas). A widely available and reasonably priced starting point is a PT 64, but there are a lot of other good options out there. Enjoy!

I won’t claim it’s a good idea, but I’m really happy with a TU23 on my rotary F. Sometimes a shallowberger (variant of blokepiece Solo?) is fun.

jtm wrote: Thu Aug 21, 2025 7:30 pm I won’t claim it’s a good idea, but I’m really happy with a TU23 on my rotary F.

That's what Miraphone sells with the Firebird so it must be reasonably good.

Thanks for the mouthpiece advice, right now I'm trying to lower pitch. I'm kinda knife sharp.