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Rudi Meinl 4/4 CC, $7,500 (Winston-Salem, NC/FB)
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2026 9:21 am
by arpthark
Re: Rudi Meinl 4/4 CC, $7,500 (Winston-Salem, NC/FB)
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2026 11:41 am
by Timtamtuba
I regret never finding a way or creating an opportunity to ever try one of these. Heard so many good things about these but one never seemed to be anywhere close to where I was
Re: Rudi Meinl 4/4 CC, $7,500 (Winston-Salem, NC/FB)
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2026 11:46 am
by arpthark
Timtamtuba wrote: Tue Jul 14, 2026 11:41 am
I regret never finding a way or creating an opportunity to ever try one of these. Heard so many good things about these but one never seemed to be anywhere close to where I was
I've owned the 3/4 and currently own the 5/4 but never had a chance to play the 4/4 CC. They're excellent. Some weird quirks of construction and metallurgy going on (I've encountered two with stress cracks in the brass -- no red rot in those areas, very odd) but the response and quality of sound are really nice. Folks who own them tend to keep them, I suppose.
Re: Rudi Meinl 4/4 CC, $7,500 (Winston-Salem, NC/FB)
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2026 12:08 pm
by cktuba
Years ago (2012) I sold mine to a student at Oklahoma City University. If that person still has that horn and has any interest in selling it. Please let me know, I would love to buy it back.
Re: Rudi Meinl 4/4 CC, $7,500 (Winston-Salem, NC/FB)
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2026 12:47 pm
by tubatodd
I have one. I've posted about it before. I've even listed it for sale at one point. It wasn't until I gave it some dedicated "face time" that I really fell in love with it. It ain't going anywhere. In fact, I'd like this one too if I could finagle it.
Re: Rudi Meinl 4/4 CC, $7,500 (Winston-Salem, NC/FB)
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2026 3:53 pm
by Timtamtuba
arpthark wrote: Tue Jul 14, 2026 11:46 am
Timtamtuba wrote: Tue Jul 14, 2026 11:41 am
I regret never finding a way or creating an opportunity to ever try one of these. Heard so many good things about these but one never seemed to be anywhere close to where I was
I've owned the 3/4 and currently own the 5/4 but never had a chance to play the 4/4 CC. They're excellent. Some weird quirks of construction and metallurgy going on (I've encountered two with stress cracks in the brass -- no red rot in those areas, very odd) but the response and quality of sound are really nice. Folks who own them tend to keep them, I suppose.
Yeah I meant a Rudy in general but typically it seems people either have the 3/4 or the 5/4. When I met Mike Roylance he was playing on a Rudy F tuba and considering someone like him could have just about any tuba he wanted says something about them.
Re: Rudi Meinl 4/4 CC, $7,500 (Winston-Salem, NC/FB)
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2026 4:09 pm
by bort2.0
The 3/4 and 5/4 are generally better instruments than the 4/4.
The original 4/4 was all the glory of a handmade tuba. Great sound but wacky inconsistent intonation. And a niche market that -- to my understanding -- Rudi wasn't keen to spend a lot of time figuring out. That is, as a handmade tuba maker, there was little benefit to making yet another CC variety for the American market.
Sometime around the 90s, the tuba was redesigned/updated using computer modeling. It fixed a lot of problems, but it lost all of the magic of the 3/4 and 5/4, and was kind of dull.
I owned a Rudy 4/4, and it was a really good one. More than other tubas, I think it requires a lot of player maintenance to know exactly what the horn needs from you, and also NEEDS a large room to sound like it makes sense. I liked it quite a bit, but sold it to get a bigger horn, and down the spiral I went.
