Tuba weight

[sailn2ba]

Am tuba shopping, and weight/height of a horn might be an issue for me.
My current horn horn is 18 lbs. and about 40" in height. . . It's quite manageable. I can also handle a Cerveny 601 OK; weight's good. . . height is a bit unwieldy.
I'm looking at 5 valve BBbs. A distributor told me that the Miraphone 1291 5UB weighs 45 lbs (the horn, not ship weight; I asked). That's HEAVY, and a person who owned one says it's less than 30 lbs.
Anyhow, does anyone know the weights of the VMI 3302, 3105, Meinl-Weston 25E, Miraphone 1291 5UB, 186 5V. . . or, for that matter, have suggestions?

[TUbajohn20J]

I dont think any of those horns you listed should be above 25lbs..maybe 30 at the most but unlikely

[Alex F]

Can't help much with the weight but, if you go to http://www.hornguys.com" target="_blank, find the cases page, check "tubas", and look at the Cronkhite bags, you'll find a chart showing the heights, give or take an inch, of most tubas in commun use today.

I believe that the Miraphone 186, Cerveny 686, VMI 2103, and MW 25 weigh about 22 lbs.

[Rick Denney]

Am tuba shopping, and weight/height of a horn might be an issue for me.
My current horn horn is 18 lbs. and about 40" in height. . . It's quite manageable. I can also handle a Cerveny 601 OK; weight's good. . . height is a bit unwieldy.
I'm looking at 5 valve BBbs. A distributor told me that the Miraphone 1291 5UB weighs 45 lbs (the horn, not ship weight; I asked). That's HEAVY, and a person who owned one says it's less than 30 lbs.
Anyhow, does anyone know the weights of the VMI 3302, 3105, Meinl-Weston 25E, Miraphone 1291 5UB, 186 5V. . . or, for that matter, have suggestions?

I have not weighed these tubas, but I have held them and my lap is calibrated by the experience of holding tubas that I have weighed, including my Holton, York Master, and Miraphone 186.

My Holton weighs about 25 pounds, and is about two or three pounds lighter than my York Master. The YM's are known to be thick and heavy.

The 1291 is lighter than either. The 3301 is lighter than the 1291. My Miraphone 186 weighs about 18 pounds (four valves). I would expect the VMI 3105 (if it's the standard rotary tuba) to be about the same or maybe a bit heavier (plus the addition of the fifth valve), and the Model 25 to be a bit heavier still. In other words, all of these are in the range of 20-24 pounds.

I've seen where Conn 20J weights were claimed to be 60 pounds, but this is just ridiculous. Mine weighed 28 pounds. I just don't trust those claims--they are often made by people showing off their muscles.

Rick "thinking a 601 will be light by big-tuba standards" Denney

[sailn2ba]

Thanks. Here's how they line up:
Lighter Conn 56J and a Miraphone 188
4V 186 18 lbs.
VMI 3105 maybe a bit heavier + 5th valve
MW 25 a bit heavier still
Miraphone 186, Cerveny 686, VMI 2103, and MW 25 weigh ca.22 lbs.
MW 25E has 5th valve, is 22 lbs. (per MW.)
VMI 3301 is lighter than the 1291
VMI 3302 has 5th valve
Miraphone 1291 lighter than 25 lbs
Heavier Willson CC and MW Thor

As Alex said, hornguys has all the heights