Quick notes a trip to Dillon Music
Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2025 6:49 pm
So we are visiting a lot of Colleges with my son.. so while we were meeting with Jay Krush at Temple.. We to the opportunity head up to Dillon Music and try some things out. The real purpose of for my son to try out a bunch of tubas, mostly CC, and think about what he might like and if he even wants to switch from BBb. He had a really great Miraphone 186 BBb that was put on top top shape by Dana Hofer before we bought it... so there really isn't an urgency for him to switch.
We were at Buckeye brass a few weeks ago and tried out the Miraphone and Cerveny lines.. out of them the 291 Bruckner was the clear favorite of his, and it was also my favorite as a listener.
Matt had to leave early so Ryan was our tuba concierge and he was an really knowledge and fun guy. So many thanks to him.
We started with the Eastmans... 632, 832, and 836. I didn't play any of these just listened and provided thoughts. I was really surprised how fast he was able to really find the center on the 632.. it was a super responsive instrument. Easy to steer at all dynamics and was able to go from bright and punchy to dark and expensive. He really really liked this. The 832 was very similar... but seemed to give a little bit bigger if a sound at the expense of a little responsiveness. The 836... I have a strong prejudice against this tuba... probably unfair. It was a little strange.. it sounded great in the practice room... but a little woofy in the bigger room.. My son felt decidedly "meh" about it. I played it for about 5 minutes and didn't like it at all.. It felt oddly sterile and it was hard to get any color from it.
B&S PT20... I don't know if it was us or the tuba... but it felt very flat and lifeless. Not really responsive at all. Didn't spend any significant time with it.
Willson 3050s ... my son and I had suffering opinions on this. I liked it.. he did not. It sounded very broad.. I felt this is the ultimate blending big tuba. Very broad and a very big sound. Really good intonation.. and despite being heavy it was pretty comfortable to hold.
291 Bruckner ... Ryan pulled out a brand new Bruckner.. right from the packing create for us. After playing the others this was again the clear winner. This one was yellow brass the and one at Buckeye Brass was gold brass.. I guess you would have to okay then back to back to determine any difference between them.
So I did get to have some fun too..
York 33 Frankentuba.
https://www.dillonmusic.com/used-york-3 ... 18709.html
This was an amazingly fun tuba to play.. This is completely my style. I don't know who built it but they did s great job with the custom 5th valve. Super easy blow and classic American sound.
Vintage York Eb 4 valve front action. Not on the website... but this was my kind of tuba. Would be perfect for a Dixieland jam.. of you don't mind the interesting old American Eb intonation.
Eastman 853 Eb ... this was a lot of fun too... I really nice do anything 4 valve front action Eb. Although for the price point I would much rather have a used Willson 3400 FA or go cheaper and get Wessex Gnagey. I am just not really sure what the target audience is for this tuba.
We were at Buckeye brass a few weeks ago and tried out the Miraphone and Cerveny lines.. out of them the 291 Bruckner was the clear favorite of his, and it was also my favorite as a listener.
Matt had to leave early so Ryan was our tuba concierge and he was an really knowledge and fun guy. So many thanks to him.
We started with the Eastmans... 632, 832, and 836. I didn't play any of these just listened and provided thoughts. I was really surprised how fast he was able to really find the center on the 632.. it was a super responsive instrument. Easy to steer at all dynamics and was able to go from bright and punchy to dark and expensive. He really really liked this. The 832 was very similar... but seemed to give a little bit bigger if a sound at the expense of a little responsiveness. The 836... I have a strong prejudice against this tuba... probably unfair. It was a little strange.. it sounded great in the practice room... but a little woofy in the bigger room.. My son felt decidedly "meh" about it. I played it for about 5 minutes and didn't like it at all.. It felt oddly sterile and it was hard to get any color from it.
B&S PT20... I don't know if it was us or the tuba... but it felt very flat and lifeless. Not really responsive at all. Didn't spend any significant time with it.
Willson 3050s ... my son and I had suffering opinions on this. I liked it.. he did not. It sounded very broad.. I felt this is the ultimate blending big tuba. Very broad and a very big sound. Really good intonation.. and despite being heavy it was pretty comfortable to hold.
291 Bruckner ... Ryan pulled out a brand new Bruckner.. right from the packing create for us. After playing the others this was again the clear winner. This one was yellow brass the and one at Buckeye Brass was gold brass.. I guess you would have to okay then back to back to determine any difference between them.
So I did get to have some fun too..
York 33 Frankentuba.
https://www.dillonmusic.com/used-york-3 ... 18709.html
This was an amazingly fun tuba to play.. This is completely my style. I don't know who built it but they did s great job with the custom 5th valve. Super easy blow and classic American sound.
Vintage York Eb 4 valve front action. Not on the website... but this was my kind of tuba. Would be perfect for a Dixieland jam.. of you don't mind the interesting old American Eb intonation.
Eastman 853 Eb ... this was a lot of fun too... I really nice do anything 4 valve front action Eb. Although for the price point I would much rather have a used Willson 3400 FA or go cheaper and get Wessex Gnagey. I am just not really sure what the target audience is for this tuba.
