Meinl-Weston

[Tuba ray]

Im am looking at a meinl-Weston 30 cc tuba, can anyone tell me more about this horn

[Mark E. Chachich]

The Meinl Weston 30 is a four valve version of the five valve Meinl Weston 32 (both are CC tubas). It is generally considered a 4/4 (whatever that means and I have seen them listed as 3/4). The MW 32 and MW 30 are in my opinion good all around tubas. These tubas were popular in the 1960s and 1970s but have fallen out of favor most likely because of the greater selection of tubas that we have now. The MW 32 and MW 30 were fairly common in Connie Weldon's studio back in the 1970s. In her studio either a Bach 18 or a Bach 12 was generally used for these tubas. The metal is a bit on the thick side, so these tend to be heaver than many tubas in their class. I have a Meinl Weston 32 that I use as a back-up tuba for my Alexander and I used to use it as my quintet tuba.

When I was playing my MW 32 a lot I used a Bach 18. One of the major complaints that I have heard about these tubas is the "stuffy" low range. I found that if you use a slow air stream they are not stuffy, if you try to force the air they will back up.
It is my opinion that these are good tubas. If you find one that you like and the tuba fits type of playing that you do these tubas are worth a serious look. Feel free to
e-mail or PM me.

best,
Mark

[bort]

I owned one about 6 or 7 years ago, and thought it was a nice tuba. Not popular right now, but solidly built, nice sound, and good intonation... i.e., you might be able to get a nice deal on a used one! Go for it!

I used a Bach 18 for a little while, because it was all I had. Later tried a PT-88 and then a Baer MMVI. Both worked just fine, and made it sound just like a tuba.

Wouldn't mind trying one again sometime, might be fun to see what I think several years later!