Sticky valves on the ZO tubas. What I have found is the valve guides can be a little on the heavy side at times from the factory. After warming the horn up I have found that taking a very fine file you can trim down the guides ever so slightly and this usually fixes the issue. Valve caps, this is something I should have looked at in more depth prior to sending Chris the tuba. The ZO caps are usually pretty good but whenever we do encounter one that doesn't seem smooth enough, we will swap them out with other caps and this usually fixes the issues. This kind of feed back is what we do address and will continue to improve all the products in our line up. Again, I want to thank Chris for his time on this and we do plan on sending him the 6/4 and the 4/4 CC as well as our ZO piston and ZO Symphony F when time allows.
The new format works great! I certainly enjoyed seeing a review on F tuba rather than the York copies. Don’t get me wrong, those videos are great and hearing them back to back is very enlightening, however I would enjoy seeing a larger variety of keys of tubas such as this video!
I think this will be a simple format for everyone to digest and formulate a choice on if its a fit for them or not. Keep up the great work Mr. Olka I truly enjoy your videos and playing.
Chris, you are absolutely amazing my friend! I just purchased a Mack Brass 420S C tuba (the Yamaha 621 clone) and it is excellent! Intonation is spot on and it plays extremely well. It has some minor issues like screwing the valve caps back on after oiling requires some work but I'm sure that will smooth out with time. For me, there just isn't $4-5000 difference between the Mack Brass 420 and the Y621. I'd get another in a heartbeat. Again, you do an amazing job. I subbed you from my other channel and look forward to your vids.
How does this tuba compare with your 822 Yamaha F? Would you consider playing this horn over your Yamaha? Other than price, would you consider playing this horn over the Yamaha?
Based on my limited experience with Chinese made piston brass instruments, valve oil seems to make a big difference. So far Blue Juice has worked the best by far. Not sure why though.
Do you need a Kaiser to review? Come have a sauna or 10 and lets! Good to see you doing well. The point system seems great. At least with first go it has potential to be giving some valuable info, 35/50 is good medium to move around. Don't know how much it changes in the room and recording but with headphones it sounded pretty narrow the higher it went. Also on Mahler1 it felt that its a lot of work to get good sound with bit lower volume in that range. But of course that can also be recording device balancing the levels and ruining all the fun. Still seems very good option for the price range.
AP!!!! Great to hear from you! And yes...let’s review a particular Kaiser tuba I love! I have no access to a large recording space right now (COVID) so sound is tough to adjust and record. You have good ears though, and you are correct in your observations!
Hi, Chris! On the subject of playability (on tubas in general, not just the Falcon), there is some discussion that vented piston and (especially) rotary valves offer more control of articulation and pitch/tone consistency than unvented valves do. Do you agree?
Absolutely. I know there’s a current trend to bash vented valves, but I wouldn’t have my horns any other way. My Eastman EBF864 is not vented currently and giving me a little struggle on slurs, since I’m used to vented valves. Different strokes for different folks.
Mr. Olka, would you consider reviewing the Wessex Berg F tuba? This seems to be a very popular recommendation as an affordable F tuba, and has been suggested to me several times. I would love to hear your thoughts on it.
Always happy to review horns if they’re sent to me. I don’t feel comfortable asking companies to spend money to send me horns to review. It’s got to be something that they’d like to request
@@NickLukefahr the wrap is the only thing that we used, the valves, bore, leadpipe and bell are actually different. The final few small changes we made to the production model is redesign of the thumb ring and brace, adding the slide stopper to the 3rd valve and another brace between the 1st and 3rd valve slides.
@@cheers623 I really like the Mack Brass offerings, but the two horns that I have played both have valve issues. I hope your video helps them address this, because they are such nice instruments otherwise...
@@tubadylan Valve issue could be something thats common to asian horns. Friend has/had Cc from I believe Jupiter and it was ok tuba again for the price but valves were a problem and after some time one valve just died and had to be replaced.
Would you recommend this tuba to a freshman undergrad? I currently have an EBC836 but my professor wants me to get specifically a piston F when I can. This looks like a decent bang for my buck until I can afford a MRP or 2250 but I am unsure
Hi, honestly get yourself and used German F tuba around the same price, Mack Brass does not have great quality especially how much their charging for the ZO models. They’re cheap expensive tubas.
@@jdplaystuba That really does seem like my best bet tbh, I inquired further with him and he said you could get by with a budget CC horn but a budget F is just a bad idea all around because of how much more the horn relies on build quality. I’ll just save longer and get a decent Meinl Weston or B&S MRP
Hi Chris,
thank you for your opinion. It's super interesting. Your categorys are very useful. Thank you again! Greetings Daniel 🍀😊
Sticky valves on the ZO tubas. What I have found is the valve guides can be a little on the heavy side at times from the factory. After warming the horn up I have found that taking a very fine file you can trim down the guides ever so slightly and this usually fixes the issue.
Valve caps, this is something I should have looked at in more depth prior to sending Chris the tuba. The ZO caps are usually pretty good but whenever we do encounter one that doesn't seem smooth enough, we will swap them out with other caps and this usually fixes the issues. This kind of feed back is what we do address and will continue to improve all the products in our line up.
Again, I want to thank Chris for his time on this and we do plan on sending him the 6/4 and the 4/4 CC as well as our ZO piston and ZO Symphony F when time allows.
It’s great that Mack Brass is open to feedback and looking to improve and add more horns!
Hope to see that video about 4/4 raptor
have you sent the 4/4 CC yet?
The new format works great! I certainly enjoyed seeing a review on F tuba rather than the York copies. Don’t get me wrong, those videos are great and hearing them back to back is very enlightening, however I would enjoy seeing a larger variety of keys of tubas such as this video!
I’m only limited by what manufacturers or retailers want to send me. Send it and I’ll try and review it!
Love your playing of the Vaughn Williams!
I think this will be a simple format for everyone to digest and formulate a choice on if its a fit for them or not. Keep up the great work Mr. Olka I truly enjoy your videos and playing.
It’s such a pleasure to hear you.
Thanks very much!
Weird seeing Chris with a tuba that isn't comically large. My eyes are confused...
Hope you can get your hands on a Thunderbird sometime (if you don’t already have one to review)
Great review, Chris! I really like your rating system.
Hi Chris, thanks for another interesting video. Already looking forward to the next one! Greetings from Belgium, Guy.
Thanks Guy!
Thank you so much for this review! Really looking at one of these horns!
I always look forward to these!
Chris, you are absolutely amazing my friend! I just purchased a Mack Brass 420S C tuba (the Yamaha 621 clone) and it is excellent! Intonation is spot on and it plays extremely well. It has some minor issues like screwing the valve caps back on after oiling requires some work but I'm sure that will smooth out with time. For me, there just isn't $4-5000 difference between the Mack Brass 420 and the Y621. I'd get another in a heartbeat. Again, you do an amazing job. I subbed you from my other channel and look forward to your vids.
Thanks for the kind words and feedback!
I have had slight valve issues as well from my ZO CC little thunderbird.
Very good analytical format, and the Falcon looks like a very good horn for the price.
Thanks for the feedback
Always love your T&E videos, and the new scoring system is great! Thank you for taking the time to make and share these videos!
Great review Chris! Love the new format.
Thanks!
Excellent review!
I just ordered a Mack F -- the PT-15 copy. It looks like it's going to work out well.
Let us know how it turns out!
@@cheers623 :) I wish I could afford a Willson F (I play on a Willson CC and love it) but I think the Mack will work well.
@@cheers623 Good horn; I was impressed by what I received for the money. Excellent intonation.
How does this tuba compare with your 822 Yamaha F? Would you consider playing this horn over your Yamaha? Other than price, would you consider playing this horn over the Yamaha?
I like the sound of it better than the Yamahas. Pitch and response are better too. Still like my Petruschka though!
@@cheers623 Sounds like a great value to me!
Based on my limited experience with Chinese made piston brass instruments, valve oil seems to make a big difference. So far Blue Juice has worked the best by far. Not sure why though.
Do you need a Kaiser to review? Come have a sauna or 10 and lets! Good to see you doing well.
The point system seems great. At least with first go it has potential to be giving some valuable info, 35/50 is good medium to move around.
Don't know how much it changes in the room and recording but with headphones it sounded pretty narrow the higher it went. Also on Mahler1 it felt that its a lot of work to get good sound with bit lower volume in that range. But of course that can also be recording device balancing the levels and ruining all the fun. Still seems very good option for the price range.
AP!!!! Great to hear from you! And yes...let’s review a particular Kaiser tuba I love! I have no access to a large recording space right now (COVID) so sound is tough to adjust and record. You have good ears though, and you are correct in your observations!
@@cheers623 Would be fun to get MW4260 to this test bench. I loved it but its way out of my league price-wise. It's a rotary tho :D
But can Olka play the Polka
Great review Chris!
But the way the Tuba works depend on the players themselves!
Simpler is better. Sometimes shorter is too!! ;)
I agree...sometimes it’s hard to keep it short with so much to cover though!
Could you test the Mack Brass 6/4 CC Tuba ZO Thunderbird?
If there’s a model you’d like tested, contact the manufacturer and have them arrange it. Schedule permitting, I try to accommodate that.
Sounds great and I like the review. Felt like you were fighting the intonation at times though?
Only because of my lack of familiarity. Fairly easy pitch on this horn
Hi, Chris! On the subject of playability (on tubas in general, not just the Falcon), there is some discussion that vented piston and (especially) rotary valves offer more control of articulation and pitch/tone consistency than unvented valves do. Do you agree?
Absolutely. I know there’s a current trend to bash vented valves, but I wouldn’t have my horns any other way. My Eastman EBF864 is not vented currently and giving me a little struggle on slurs, since I’m used to vented valves. Different strokes for different folks.
Mr. Olka, would you consider reviewing the Wessex Berg F tuba? This seems to be a very popular recommendation as an affordable F tuba, and has been suggested to me several times. I would love to hear your thoughts on it.
Always happy to review horns if they’re sent to me. I don’t feel comfortable asking companies to spend money to send me horns to review. It’s got to be something that they’d like to request
Great video!!! How do you think that the Mack Brass TU540 their rotary F tuba stack up against the Falcon F tuba?
I have not had any experience with that other model so I can’t say.
Could u do a T&E on Miraphone 186 b flat tuba
Awesome review, as always! Have you tried the Wessex California pistons f tuba?
Haven’t played a production version since COVID.
@@cheers623 coild you maybe share how it would compare to the falcon?
Any chance you'll do this format with the Petrushka or your Rotor F? Or would it be too biased 😊
Very possible on the Petruschka. The Eastman EBF864 will definitely happen sooner than later.
Seems to be almost exactly the same design as my Gronitz PF-125.
Very close...
I think the 5th valve is wrapped a bit differently but otherwise yeah, looks almost exactly the same
@@NickLukefahr the wrap is the only thing that we used, the valves, bore, leadpipe and bell are actually different. The final few small changes we made to the production model is redesign of the thumb ring and brace, adding the slide stopper to the 3rd valve and another brace between the 1st and 3rd valve slides.
Any chance you can do a follow up on a production model horn?
Only if they’d want to send a production version. Wouldn’t hurt if asked them.
The sticky valves sounds like a big problem if they don't fix that in the production version.
Time will tell if they address this. Wait and see I guess!
@@cheers623 I really like the Mack Brass offerings, but the two horns that I have played both have valve issues. I hope your video helps them address this, because they are such nice instruments otherwise...
@@tubadylan Valve issue could be something thats common to asian horns. Friend has/had Cc from I believe Jupiter and it was ok tuba again for the price but valves were a problem and after some time one valve just died and had to be replaced.
Would you recommend this tuba to a freshman undergrad? I currently have an EBC836 but my professor wants me to get specifically a piston F when I can. This looks like a decent bang for my buck until I can afford a MRP or 2250 but I am unsure
Hi, honestly get yourself and used German F tuba around the same price, Mack Brass does not have great quality especially how much their charging for the ZO models. They’re cheap expensive tubas.
@@jdplaystuba That really does seem like my best bet tbh, I inquired further with him and he said you could get by with a budget CC horn but a budget F is just a bad idea all around because of how much more the horn relies on build quality. I’ll just save longer and get a decent Meinl Weston or B&S MRP
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