Meink Weston Ursus and Baer

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CooperBayliff
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Meink Weston Ursus and Baer

Post by CooperBayliff »

Are the meinl weston ursus and baer basically the same horn? The only difference I can find atleast on their website is that the size of the ursus' bell is like 2-3 inches smaller. Other than that they both have the HUGE .846 5th valve bore. Does this mean that they have the same sound in the low range? Do the horns sound the same and play the same in general?
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TheodoreSmith
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Re: Meink Weston Ursus and Baer

Post by TheodoreSmith »

Ursus is a 4/4 sized horn while the Baer is 6/4.

Pretty clear on the website.
The orchestral CC tuba 3225 “Ursus” was developed together with New York Philharmonic orchestra tubist Alan Baer especially for flexibly handling a repertoire that is requiring a more compact instrument than the 6/4 size CC tuba 6450 “Baer”.
This is more than half of a Baer – the new smaller Meinl Weston CC tuba for the orchestra with the model number MW3225 is called «Ursus» and is a 4/4 size version of the MW6450.
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DannyEldredTuba
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Re: Meink Weston Ursus and Baer

Post by DannyEldredTuba »

The ursus is a much smaller version of the Baer, I’ve spent some time on both horns I’ve played 2 different Baers and 3 different Ursus. The Baer is a fantastic 6/4 horn but has the typical big 6/4 problems to a lesser degree though. To me the Baer takes more effort to control and I don’t think you need one unless you have a big ensemble gig. To a lesser experience player I think you’ll develop some problems from it.

The ursus is a 4/4 horn but in my opinion and everyone I talked to it feels and plays like a 5/4 horn, I think MW could get away labeling it a 5/4 if they wanted to. The three horns I tried were inconsistent with each other, all having different issues but there was one at Baltimore Brass a few years ago that was phenomenal. Personally I feel the Ursus is more free blowing in the lower register than the Baer, the intonation and slots are easier to find. If I were to purchase a smaller horn right now it would either be the MW 3450 or the Ursus. If I were to win a job tomorrow I’d get a Baer.
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