MW 2141: Thoughts, Repairs, Pictures, and more!

[Sousaswag]

Hi! It's been a while since I've posted my own thread here! I thought some of you might be interested in not only a new tuba post, but also my initial thoughts, and the several repairs that this tuba needed! This is a L-O-N-G post!

About two weeks ago I purchased this Meinl Weston 2141 Eb tuba. After a few years of playing on a rotary F tuba, I knew that type of horn wasn't what I was looking for. I already owned a Meinl Weston 5450 before I purchased this tuba, and love it to death, but carrying that horn on my back several times a day was really taxing on me. I wanted something smaller, lighter, better for brass quintet, easier to bring to school to demonstrate passages, techniques, etc. to my future students, AND something that I could reliably play both bass and contrabass tuba repertiore, as well as trombone/euphonium stuff with any private students. Again, I love love my 5450, but it's a bear to carry around all day and isn't the most agile horn in the world.

Over the last year or so I have been investigating piston F tubas and 5v non-comp Eb tubas. The vast majority of piston F tubas were way above my budget of around $5,000, and I wasn't necessarily interested in going with something made in China as of yet. Not that they don't play great, but there's a whole longevity aspect that concerns me. I know, I know, if they're good enough for professionals, they're good enough for me. But the more I thought about it, the more a non-comp Eb tuba seemed to fit what I was looking for.

The only piston F tubas I was really interested in were the Meinl Weston 2250, which was way out of my price range, or the JP 2250 clone, OR the ZO Falcon. Both great horns, but I wanted something from Meinl Weston, Willson, or B&S if I could help it.

What else was important to me? Ergonomics. I'm about 6'3", with a long torso and long arms. I sold a Miraphone 1293 because I felt that I had to hunch to play it. The Eastman 864, Pt-10, Falcon, Willson 3200, 3400C, and Adams F were all too short for me, or I didn't like something about the leadpipe angle. Call me picky! The horns that really fit what I wanted were the MW 2141, B&S Pt-22P, MW 2250, Willson 3200XL or 3400. None of these are particularly common on the used market, or really, aren't common at all!

My theory with Eb tubas is that, particularly with 5v non-comp, there weren't that many made to begin with, many are discontinued, and not many people actually want them. Those who DO, tend to hold onto them. So, I had to be patient. Several 2141's had popped up in various places but I was never quick enough. The 2141 seemed to be the most common out of my short list of tubas that fit what I wanted, and they nearly always fit my budget. The 22P has shown up about twice that I remember, so I decided on the 2141 after playing some that I knew of locally. I really like these tubas.

Eventually, I bought one! Yay! Within my budget, I made the drive and picked it up.

Boy, did it need some work. When I bought it, it played pretty well. I didn't have a Euro shank bass tuba mouthpiece, so I first purchased an AT7U which I think works really well with this tuba. But, I was having trouble getting the high register to slot, and play in tune. The leadpipe was dented, and the bell was pretty mangled, so I initially thought that was the culprit, along with this being an older model, I'd read that they were hard to play in tune. So, I was starting to think I'd made a mistake. However, the original for-sale ad that was I think for this very tuba mentioned that it was great, worked in several groups, etc. If somebody could play it in tune, then so could I. I thought that this tuba was likely leaking from somewhere.

However, it still played pretty well. That, coupled with the fact that I was having similar (but not as bad) pitch issues on any F tuba I played, lead me to believe that I was partly to blame. Being so used to the F tuba, I was likely buzzing pitches as if they were supposed to be a step higher. This is literally the first Eb tuba I've really played for more than 5 minutes.

I took the horn to my repair tech so he could do the dent work, and mentioned I was having intonation difficulties. Being a tuba player as well, I knew he would be able to tell me what's what with the horn. A few days into the repair process, he messaged me that he found the problem. The bell to bottom bow ferrule was leaking significantly, to the point that you could move the bell in and out of that joint. That, coupled with all the tension from the bell damage, was likely messing with my tuba. So, it was fixed, along with several broken braces, and cleaned.

EVERYTHING about the tuba is better. Weird intonation? Fixed. Response issues? Fixed. Wobbly bell? Fixed. I was told that the solder around the bell was a bad joint from factory, and it was probably leaking all along. I wouldn't call this tuba "point and shoot," as it still needs slide pulling down low, and some 3rd valve or 1-3 alternates, but no big bass tuba I've played is truly point and shoot. What's important is that all the open partials are now in tune. I can pull slides, but I can't bend a pitch up or down 20 cents every time I need it. Open Eb, Bb, and the Eb octave are in tune now, something that was wonky before. Perfect! I can now say this is one of my favorite bass tubas that I've played.

Future modifications? I'd like a new thumb ring. My repair tech. mentioned that he could turn the 5th valve and put a Willson thumb ring and bracket on it to make it more like the one on my 5450. I don't know about turning the valve, but an adjustable thumb ring would sure be nice. The old style is *fine*. In the summer when I have some more free time maybe I'll think about changing it out.

Picture link below. I've named them so we know what we're looking at. The bell damage was hard to see in the before pictures, but just know that the rim was entirely F'd in some places and straight in others. Thanks for reading!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

[hubert]

Interesting story, thanks.
And congratulations. I remember the 2141 as the "most attractive" Eb I have played.
Hubert

[Easy Mac]

Nice! That ZO is pretty small. Is it like the size of a MW 2182 or a Yamaha 621?

[Sousaswag]

I think it’s bigger than the 2182. Definitely bigger than the 621. It might be a little deceptive; The 2141 is also just really big. The ZO looks to use the body of the Gronitz F.

That said, I’ve never seen the 2182 in person!