Hey everyone,

I am hoping to spend some free time learning tuba this summer, but don't know where to look to rent / borrow a tuba. I'm in the Seattle area. Anybody have any advice for where to look?

Cheers

It looks like Music & Arts or Kennelly Keys don't list tuba rentals on their websites. You could call and ask if they rent or if not, if they know where.

Because of the limited supply, renting a tuba is crazy expensive. I believe it would be cheaper to buy a decent used one and resell it later.

https://mackbrass.com/tu422l-3%2F4-bbb-tuba

Tom is my neighbor, and he has a good reputation for service. These are Chinese copies but he does some extra quality control on them.

[quote="timothy42b"]https://mackbrass.com/tu422l-3%2F4-bbb-tuba

Tom is my neighbor, and he has a good reputation for service. These are Chinese copies but he does some extra quality control on them.[/quote]

Kinda far from Seattle, no?

[quote="Sweaty"]Because of the limited supply, renting a tuba is crazy expensive. I believe it would be cheaper to buy a decent used one and resell it later.[/quote]

If is difficult to find a business that will rent a tuba, but I don't think it is a lack of instrument supply. It is really a "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" situation. If a flute or trumpet fall off of a table (remember, most renters are young, school-aged kids), the repairs are relatively easy and the instrument maintains a very high percentage of its original valve. Many of the smaller instruments can be rented multiple times and still be in great condition, even with several repairs.

If a tuba falls off of a table (again, most renters are kids) the damage can be enormous plus the repairs can be very labor-intensive and expensive. A tuba with crushed tubing instantly looses a large percentage of its original value. The tooling for tuba repairs is also very expensive. I think music retailers avoid renting tubas because it would be very tough to make a profit.

[quote="BGuttman"]<QUOTE author="timothy42b" post_id="147802" time="1620136844" user_id="211">
https://mackbrass.com/tu422l-3%2F4-bbb-tuba

Tom is my neighbor, and he has a good reputation for service. These are Chinese copies but he does some extra quality control on them.[/quote]

Kinda far from Seattle, no?
</QUOTE>

Still might be cheaper even paying shipping costs. What would they be, couple hundred USD?

Try contacting Dan Oberloh. He's a repair tech who sells tubas also. No idea if he rents, but he knows the tuba community in Seattle.

http://www.oberloh.com/