I've been thinking about getting a second tuba, and I'm looking for some advice from all of you experienced players. Please excuse my long-winded personal story, but here goes.
I am not at all a professional musician, and won't ever be. I'm a pretty good pianist and play the piano nearly every day, and "perform" almost every weekend as the accompanist for my church choir. But for me it's never going to be a job, and I'm never going to be auditioning for a professional group...it's just what I love to do.
When my daughter started band a few years ago, I got out my old trumpet from middle school and messed around a bit. I realized that I never really liked playing high brass. Cruising around the internet, I realized for the first time (can't believe I never learned this as a kid) that I could play euphonium/baritone in treble clef without learning new fingerings. I bought a used 3-valve Jupiter euphonium on Craigslist and fell in love with it.
A year or so later, I sold the Jupiter and bought a Mack Brass compensating 4-valve euphonium, and man, I couldn't believe what I'd been missing. If I'd had this horn as a kid, I would never have quit playing brass. I started to think about getting a tuba too, but I was only playing TC euphonium and had not had much luck attempting BC fingerings. I can READ either clef easily...as a pianist this has been second nature since I was about 8 years old. But even with Dave's transposing technique on here, I just couldn't break through. When I see an F in bass clef or treble clef, I think F, and my fingers think "first valve", et cetera. So--I bought a Mack Brass CC tuba.
The CC has been great. I can play in either clef just fine without messing with my brain to transpose. It's been challenging to develop good intonation, but I'm getting better and I think I have enough confidence to start playing solos at church with the tuba as well as the euphonium. To my pleasant surprise, I can swap back and forth with my euphonium without a problem--I actually seem to do better on a given horn when I've been playing the other for a bit. My low register on euphonium is better after playing tuba, and high register on tuba is better after playing euphonium...no surprise, I guess.
Anyway...the CC is fun to play, but not fun to transport. I love to play it at church when I go in each week to practice, but I don't often take it for that reason. I have been thinking about getting a second tuba that's smaller. This can't be expensive. If I really stretch my budget (and wait for a while) I could get the Wessex tornister CC, or the Wessex "Bambino" compensating Eb horn. (I think I could manage transposition with Eb a lot better). Or I could spend half as much and get a Wessex "Elf" 3-valve Eb tuba right now.
I know that a 3-valve Eb would have its limitations. I wouldn't be able to play the low register as well, and I know there are intonation issues there. But this tuba would not replace my CC. When I play solos at church on Sundays, I'd still use the CC if the part is low enough to need it, and if someday I am able to join a community band or ensemble, I'd most likely use the CC for that as well.
So. My question for all of you is this. If you've read this far and get my situation, do you think that buying a tuba like the "Elf" would be a good option? This is designed as a beginner tuba, but I know there are adults who play it too. I'm interested in something small that will let me basically practice more easily and in more settings. Even if this horn wouldn't be a good substitute for my CC in an ensemble performance setting, that would be okay as long as I enjoy playing it for practice and as long as playing it would strengthen my abilities on the larger contrabass horn. I've looked at used Eb tubas online--there aren't many that are in good condition that are in my price range. The Elf is "only" a thousand bucks, but I suspect I'd be happier with it than I would be with a $500 used Eb that might have to have some work done.
Further complicating this is that I went to NABBA last Friday in Fort Wayne and played the Wessex "Maly" tornister euphonium, and thought it was awesome. This would not fill the niche I've outlined above, but I am keeping in mind the possibility that I should get it just because I liked it, then bite the bullet and play the CC any time I want to play the tuba!
Thanks for your time and for all the useful info I've found on this site.