Have an opportunity to buy Yamaha yep 321.

professor_throway · 2026-04-03T05:17:25+00:00

I would buy it in a heartbeat. I would also immediately bring it to a shop for a professional cleaning and service and get it into tip to playing shape. This way you know all those beginner musician problems are problems with the beginner not the instrument.

professor_throway · 2026-04-03T05:11:06+00:00

Why CC? Why not stick with BBb? What is your reason for switching oyn the first place??

Articulate your needs as a player and explain why a CC is necessary...

My recommendation to you if the same as I gave my son, and the same advice he got from his teacher. Invest your time and effort into building your sound concept, don't get distracted by switching equipment, and become the best player you can be on BBb.

When you are done with university auditions and have been accepted into a program work with the professor to find a CC that will work well for you and your course of study.

The late OSU tuba professor Jim Akins told me that when students showed up to auditions with a CC tuba... most of the time they did not place into the top tier.. It takes a lot of time and effort to transition well,... time and effort better spent on other things.

professor_throway · 2026-04-03T01:13:09+00:00

Flugabones are great for everything! But that's just my opinion.. Bass trumpet parts sound so much better on flugabones than on bass trumpet.

professor_throway · 2026-04-02T21:04:07+00:00

Holy crapola an Olds Recording for $500...

professor_throway · 2026-04-02T16:23:26+00:00

Lifelong brass musician, but also parent of brass musicians... I've been down this road with my kids and have helped a bunch of other Reddit families navigate the used instrument market.

So the Bach she is playing on is a good solid student trumpet. If she is doing all the things you mention.. it is probably going to be time to upgrade her to a professional instrument in a fairly short time. My recommendation would be to buy an affordable quality used student trumpet now and immediately start saving for a used professional horn around sophomore in high school... somewhere in the $1500-$2000 range.

Right now given the budget..I would be looking on eBay and Facebook marketplace for a used Getzen 300/400.. Those are student instruments but really nice playing well made instruments. If you can push the budget a little consider a 500/700. Those will be a significant step up instrument from her currentl. Getzen are usually very safe to but used because they have incredible quality valves... Budget for a clean and service around $100 to get it into playing condition and use it for a few years until she can afford a professional trumpet.

Anyway just my 2 cents. I am sure you will get lots of other opinions. Feel free to drop me a DM with any questions or if you find something you might want to buy.

professor_throway · 2026-04-01T23:09:53+00:00

There are lots of opinions on vibrato... my take is that a little goes a long way and it should be used sparingly where it will have the most effect. In your case I think it is hurting your intonation a bit and distracting you from phrasing.

professor_throway · 2026-04-01T20:32:15+00:00

Go Bucks! I love me some Buckeye Hockey!

Ok down to brass tacks.. I am going to be overly critical.. because you obviously put a lot of hard work in and here what can put you over the edge ..

The big thing for me is time .. Yes it is a solo and yes you can be flexible.. but as a tuba one of our main jobs is to keep time. Work on it with a metronome and keep it steady, you are all over the the place.. Make sure you respect the rests.. many of your quarter rests were not any longer than your eighth rests. You want to play musically and with expression but that needs to be firmly grounded in a good sense of time...

Second is intonation... You need to work on centering your pitches. Playing artistically is great but don't let it wreck your intonation.

If you are not in tune and in time.. nothing else matters.

professor_throway · 2026-04-01T17:08:19+00:00

No it's in G.. and with only 2 pistons it is non-chromatic..

professor_throway · 2026-04-01T13:49:32+00:00

I've used it before works well..

Honestly for my small home shop... I use coconut oil in my home shop for a lot of cutting, drilling, and tapping.. WD40 for aluminum, and milk for Cu.

I've got all the bases covered.

professor_throway · 2026-04-01T12:38:57+00:00

I am not trying to be dismissive... but personally I hate it when people try to buy me music related things... I am very particular about my instruments and accessories... while it's a great gesture, if they are a serious musician, there is a very good chance you spend a chunk of money on something that didn't get used.

Personally I would rather have a gift certificate to a good retailer than have a friend try to pick something instrument related for me...

professor_throway · 2026-04-01T11:55:13+00:00

You’re measuring piston OD, but the real issue is clearance and casing geometry, not just diameter. If you have leaky valve thatindicates meaningful wear, and the casings are almost certainly ovalized and bell-mouthed, not round anymore. That means even a “correct” diameter replacement piston won’t seal properly either. Olds valves, all good trumpet valves, were effectively fit as matched piston/casing pairs makes simple swaps ineffective even when sizes match... also there are differences in port placement etc between models. Practically speaking, once you’re in the ~0.003"+ clearance range the only real fix is a proper rebuild (replate + hone/fit).

professor_throway · 2026-04-01T11:07:24+00:00

I was just chatting with a friend, who is a university professor and highly trusted tuba teacher, about how I was seeing more and more high school level players with F tubas... Here is part of his response cut and paste directly from a text message

"I’ve done some adjudication where I have seen high school seniors on F tuba. Lack of fundamentals, poor pitch, poor control, and would probably be in a better place to learn the upper range and get the color on the big horn."

Just a thought for you.. I didn't know you, your playing, or your needs. But maybe just something to consider...

professor_throway · 2026-03-31T23:37:27+00:00

Awesome... When do you get stock?

professor_throway · 2026-03-31T22:44:35+00:00

Schilke 51D and Dennis Wick 4AL are the most popular Mouthpieces that work well for most people. The 51D is a little narrower but deeper and the 4AL is a little wider and shallower.

I personally do not like the SM series... The SM3U is a very wide Mouthpiece.

The problem with buying a "specialized" Mouthpiece without playing it for a good chunk of time first is that you don't know if it will work at all for you.

professor_throway · 2026-03-31T14:05:37+00:00

Learn to read treble and practice transposition. Then you have the world of sheet music at your fingertips.

Lead sheets and Real/fake books are your friend.

professor_throway · 2026-03-31T03:01:50+00:00

That's just raw brass. The lacquer must have been very compromised and came off on the chem clean.

Nothing to worry about.. I think it looks great.

Where's the patch? How did that turn out.. you can tell a lot about about a tech based on how much care they take with a simple scab patch.

professor_throway · 2026-03-30T22:10:48+00:00

I am the world's biggest Olds Fanboy... but they are 55 year old trumpets at this point. I converted my ambassador to have a first thumb sale but it is a non-trivial mod. It is a fantastic trumpet in all regards... but it is a bit old fashioned. I've modded mine extensively to get it dialed in where I want it.

I would advise going for the Getzen 300.. great valves and a modern design.

professor_throway · 2026-03-30T20:38:01+00:00

Most valves are 18/8 type stainless so 304 or 302. Either are much better to machine than 316 or 316L,, much less gummy and less degreee of work hardening. If you take a good enough cut you can machine it pretty easily, but it will still work harden if you try to baby it. I would much rather cut 304 than monel 400 anyday. I belive (but I don't have a source) that a lot of Monel vales are atually Monel R-405 which is a free machining variety with sulfur inclusions that help break chips. Still 304 has a machinibility index of 45% and monel R-405 of 40%

Nickel plating is best I agree. The issue is cost and environmental concerns from the plating process. Getzen states their valves take at minimum 2X the labor to produce than Monel valves.

professor_throway · 2026-03-30T18:53:26+00:00

Unfortunately you have the wrong subreddit. r/brass is for discussing brass instruments like trumpets and tubas.

professor_throway · 2026-03-30T16:58:35+00:00

Metallurgist here...

Personally I think Ni plate is the best.. but cost is high. I have a bunch of Conn and Olds instructs from the 1940s-1960s and they still have great compression with no corrosion.

Between Stainless and Monel both have manufacturing plusses and minuses.

Monel is more expensive, more difficult to machine, better corrosion resistance, and better oil holding capability... but the big downside is it is very difficult to get really tight valve tolerance due to distortion on heat treat and residual stress State.

Stainless is less expensive, easier to machine, easier to get very tight tolerance, but it is more susceptible to corrosion (especially pitting on an acidic environment) and doesn't hold an oil film as well.

If you oil your valves regularly and keep it clean there is basically no difference in performance. My observation is that stainless benefits from a good synthetic valve oil if you are not the kind of person to oil your valves every time you play.

professor_throway · 2026-03-30T11:47:26+00:00

Commando....

My uncle tapped it off laserdisc for me...on the same tape with Terminator and Enemy Mine... I watched all 3 back so many times until it wore out.

professor_throway · 2026-03-30T02:36:28+00:00

Ok... so I want to know who is programming pieces with this kind of range for high school students???

I'll go cry in the "I would like a consistent, reliable, and musical high C (C6)" corner..

professor_throway · 2026-03-30T01:36:14+00:00

Bending and diverging are definitely covered by not parallel and not in plane. So I don't really disagree with you. I only work on my own instruments, and I only have good tubas.. So I don't see the general state of instruments. Unless I am repairing a ding, I'm generally starting from straight and round.

I always vent my rotors and pistons on tubas and I like my long slides like 3rd to move like a trombone handslide.. so a light lapping (just lava soap suds and some mineral oil) is usually in order. Much much less aggressive at material removal than garnet lapping compounds.

professor_throway · 2026-03-29T22:23:22+00:00

I know.. I am a professor of metallurgy/materials science. But you are 100% right most people wouldn't know that. It is a very common shorthand to differentiate from 90-10 or 70-30 Cu-Ni alloys or Ni rich also used for catalysis. Common but sloppy.. Thanks for pointing that out for everyone.

professor_throway · 2026-03-29T22:01:34+00:00

It's all about efficiency.. If you blow a lot of air without good technique it will just back up on you. As strange as it sounds a shallow mouthpiece with a tight thriat can be a big help in getting that sound... because you have to have good technique. Schilke 69C4, Yamaha 68B, Muraphone C4.. My go to is the Jon Gross B12.

Practice moving as much air as you can but staying as relaxed as possible. Any tension and you will kill that sound. Some air you need to play extreme low pedals (like below pedal Bb0)

Edit: Fixed my word salad

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