Meinl-Weston 551 Euphonium--Anyone use one?

[elimia]

Make sure you try it before you buy it. Some Meinys are wonderful horns, some have intonation problems.

I've never played one but I'm passing this on from a conversation I had in December with a fellow at TubaChristmas who had one and sold it. His had intonation problems and I remember him saying he was yanking slides all the time and grew weary of it.

[Alex F]

I looked into one of these of few months back before deciding that my level of playing, at least for now, was ably served by my VMI 3171. I talked to Dave Fedderly at BBC about them (He has some 551s in stock). He told me that alleged intonation problems with the old 451 were mostly resolved byh playing the horn for a while and by having a small modification done to (I believe) the second valve slide, something that he did with all the MW euphs he sold. He did not see the same problems with the 551. The problem is that there are just not a lot of these out there even though MW has had the horn out for two years. They come with a Hiscox case (nice) and a generic 4G mp.

EDIT: Obviously, the best way to find out what the horn is like is to play one yourself. That's always good advice but your first have to have a horn to try. Right now, they are hard to find. BBC lists some. WWBW now says they are expected in around June 10 (this is about the fifth time the date has changed). I put a similar post out a few months ago both here and on TubaEuph and got few replies. Seems that folks that have them like them. OTOH there are Bessons, Yammies, etc. all over the place.

[Norm in Bellevue]

A year ago when I was testing various euphs, I tried the 551. It's a beautiful horn--stunning workmanship-I wanted to hang it on the wall just to admire! Unfortunately the 8va B-flats were badly out of tune--the second line Bb being sharp to the one on the top of the staff. But, if you could find a good one, it'd be a fine horn. I ended up buying a Yamaha 642S--a truly sweet euph.

[elimia]

Make sure you try it before you buy it. Some Meinys are wonderful horns, some have intonation problems.

I've never played one but I'm passing this on from a conversation I had in December with a fellow at TubaChristmas who had one and sold it. His had intonation problems and I remember him saying he was yanking slides all the time and grew weary of it.

Thanx for the tip--the whole thing about these horns, according to the advertising, is the quality of intonation, especially in the Eb, Enat, and F above middle C. So I shall certainly hope to try several if Brasswind has 'em.

Was it a 551 your friend sold or a 451?

Thanx...Jim

Really hazy here as it was a brief conversation but I think it was a 451 he was referring to.

I echo the sentiment about the Yamaha 642. Solid horn, not the flashiest thing on the street, but Yamahas are real consistent. The fellow who I was discussing this with replaced the Meiny with a Yamaha 642