Lechgold FT-23/5 F-Tuba, lacquered

I bought the cimbasso as a kind of - albeit expensive - gag, because the conductor said that the cimbasso was actually better than the tuba for the Verdi evening. As these instruments from other suppliers are the equivalent of a small car (Melton, Thein Brass etc.) and are not really available, I was stuck with Kirstein and the instrument offered here, which seems to offer excellent value for money. I bought it online, because it should be clear within 30 days whether it is any good or not: you can return it within this period without any problems.

So here it is.

The case is great and not heavy (I can't say how long the zippers will last, they don't seem trustworthy), the instrument is well stored in it. The finish is not objectionable. The sound is, well, cimbasso. Those who are used to tubas will be startled or surprised, but once you have got used to it, it enchants with a sonorous and carrying sound. The response is relatively easy, sometimes you have to be careful that the sound doesn't break out at fortissimo, but otherwise everything is fine. The handmade ones on YouTube sound better, but are not available at this price ;-).

What bothers me? The cables are brutally stiff. It took a lot of trial and error with lubricants until the tuning slide could be operated comfortably with one hand. If Kirstein were to carry out the promised quality control, they could pay a little more attention to this. The pin is too short for me, I'm just very tall and sit high, so my instrument maker will have to look for a solution. Or you could put a book or something underneath it.

A mouthpiece is included, but the bore is too narrow for my taste. I play it with a Perantucci PT-64, which fits perfectly (for me).

My personal conclusion: if you want or have to have a cimbasso, you can't go wrong for the price

I bought this F tuba at the end of April to start playing the tuba. As an experienced woodwind player, I am teaching myself how to play. In my opinion, the instrument is very good. However, I wanted to find out more and had the instrument tested by a well-known professional musician (solo tuba player and member of several well-known orchestras).
The tuba is quite heavy for an F. It is somewhat unbalanced in terms of weight distribution. The thumb ring is soldered on very high up. Unfortunately, it is too far away for small hands. The stop rubbers are very soft, which means that the valves always bounce when playing. Stronger rubbers would be better here. The sound is very nice and the instrument also sounds very good in the low register. The instrument responds a little heavier, but the tuning is easy to intonate. My friend could not understand that the instrument quickly starts to "pop", as written in another review.
The instrument is really great!

I bought the silver model and use a Denis Wick 3SL Heavy mouthpiece.
The tuba is used in smaller Egerländer lineups as well as an orchestra tuba (as 1st voice next to double bass tubas).

I am enthusiastic about the tuba. How much of the enthusiasm is due to the fact that the expectations at this price / model are rather low, I can not say exactly.

The tuba gets off to a good start. Especially in the difficult register between high F and high C, I find the response at least as good as a B&S 3100(!).
It pops too early in my opinion, but this can certainly be minimized with practice. Compared to tubas of the own brand of a music store in Upper Franconia, which cost almost 2,000 € more, the Lechgold is the clear winner in terms of response.

In the range between small C and large A, the tone is not properly centered and sounds somewhat dull. When playing with a mute (Yamaha SilentBrass), this is even more noticeable.
Nevertheless, I find the overall sound beautiful.

Intonation is not so easy with the tuba, it takes patience and a lot of trial and error.

The position of the valve pushers (right hand) is definitely for large hands or long fingers. I will change that by an instrument maker.
Also, for the left hand, the pushers are a bit far away compared to many common F tubas of the big brands.

Compared to the 3100, the left hand valves are in a different order, so some adjustment is required.

The case is okay, the lid basically goes on a bit sluggishly, so you have to help out when closing it. For the price, you can get over that - especially since I always use a gig bag.

Despite the small weaknesses, it is definitely a good instrument.