Thomann Grand Fifty S C-Tuba

Beautiful instrument. Valves and slides are great. Pedal tones are very easy. Centering, slotting notes is difficult in usual playing range and so is the intonation without a lot of pulling or alternate fingerings. High F is super sharp. 1st harmonic C and B are flat in proportion to the rest. Fifth valve linkage pulls sideways making it uneven pull and terrible to operate. It would be an easy factory modification by pivoting the rotary valve 90 degrees. Brace between the bell and first valve loop makes the valve cluster vibrate. That might cause the lack of projection. It might pass in orchestra where one can hear themselves but in larger brass-wind ensemble, centering and tuning is a problem if one cares about intonation. Water accumulates everywhere and there’s a need to pull the upper slides off at every possible opportunity. Having said all that, it’s a large 5 valve C at a decent prices. It would be interesting to try this instrument if it had some modifications. It has design flaws that should be fixed at the factory. It can be a good instrument.