Cimbassos

[cskatz]

I'm primarily a tuba player (dabble with bass trombone and euphonium) and am contemplating getting a cimbasso. Does anyone here have experience with the Latzsch cimbassi or other brands that should be considered? Any recommendations? I'm also new to this forum. Thanks.

[BGuttman]

Unless you play in an opera orchestra your call to play cimbasso can probably be counted on one finger.

That said, there are some very good and some not so good examples of the instrument. And you can play lots of tuba licks on cimbasso.

I don't have enough experience on cimbasso to give an opinion, but the Wessex one is OK and relatively inexpensive. Latzsch and Thein make nice (but pricey) instruments.

[Burgerbob]

The Laetzsch is a great horn, but probably more expensive than your tuba. You'll find the tuba forums will probably have more info on the horns in general as it's a tuba double in most places.

[jonathanharker]

I own a Červený CFC-652 in F (discontinued), played opera gigs it and on a Wessex in F, the Auckland Philharmonia's mid-1990s Meinl-Weston in F, and also had a go on a Wessex in E♭. I think that if you are mainly a tuba player, something like the Červený would be a good fit; it has the large tuba mouthpiece shank, wide .715" bore, 11" bell with a wider flare, sounds great, and Mr. Sellmansberger will sell you his "Shallowberger" cimbasso mouthpiece for it. The only thing is it's harder to get the narrow-bore cylindrical sound that Verdi et al. wanted.

It was easier to get the contrabass trombone sound from the Meinl-Weston, and the Wessex in F, which was very similar and a lot cheaper. They both are well made and sounded and slotted beautifully, and used a smaller shank, so I found a Ferguson 2A or Josef Klier KBP-2A a great fit. I'm not so sure of the E♭ model, it seemed a bit stuffier to play? I didn't get a lot of time on it.

I've not played the Lätzsch but the specs look good and from what I've heard you wouldn't be disappointed with it, other than the eye-watering price. For my money, I would have a good look at the Wessex, it's about as good as most of the other (non-artisanal) models, and the bang-for-buck is unbeatable.

[bbocaner]

I picked up the Laetzsch cimbasso at their workshop in Bremen and gave it a good look. It was one of the most beautifully made brass instruments I've ever seen. All The Laetzsch carbon valves are super smooth and luxurious. I don't play cimbasso so I don't have any thoughts on how it plays. As others have mentioned, though, you could get a gently used luxury car for what they go for. The Rudolf Meinl is also supposed to be good, as is the Haag which is what Mattis Cederberg plays and he sounds incredible.

[CalgaryTbone]

Our tuba player plays a Wessex. As he says, it's not quite as good as a top German-made horn, but the price is much more user-friendly. He plays it on the Verdi, Donizetti, etc. operas and for the overtures and arias that get programmed on symphonic programs. Conductors do appreciate the difference, but even a Wessex at its affordable price takes a while to pay for itself.

Jim Scott