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I've found a beautiful tuba for a nice price, however in my quest to find feedback about it, I've found there is barely anything. It is a Meinl Weston 37. It is a more recent model than what I believe is considered the Bell model, so this one doesn't have a detachable bell and the tuning slides are a little different. I fell in love with the picture of it and put it on hold. I'm making the four hour drive to try it (and some other horns) in a couple of weeks but would like to know what to expect. The information I've found online thus far has been scarce.

If anyone here has played a newer MW37, how was it? How does it compare to the older ones?

Thanks in advance.

They made up until about 10 or 15 years ago... very nice tuba, just no demand for them. If you like it, go for it!

bort wrote:They made up until about 10 or 15 years ago... very nice tuba, just no demand for them. If you like it, go for it!

Thank you for the input! Would you consider efficient for orchestral playing despite the smaller bell circumference? I take part in many different music projects so the more versatile, the better. (I am in high school so switching horns frequently isn't a necessity or really an option at this point)

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I had one for a few months before it was stolen, and I still miss it, definitely a great horn easy playing tuba with a unique sound, I personally see it as a good all around horn, only thing i can say is that the lower register notes like low Ab and below were stuffy/hard to project but all in alI'd recommend it.

The Bell model MW is a good tuba. I played an older model 35 (4 valved CC tuba) for quite a few years. I used it behind a 100 piece orchestra and had no trouble being heard. It is also great for brass quintet.

The tuba was styled after the rotary valved King that was played by Bill Bell in the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Bell's successor in the NYP, Joe Novotny, and Abe Torchinsky, formerly of the Philadelphia Orchestra who also had long, successful careers using the King with the 16" diameter bell and had no trouble being heard. The MW 37 is very similar to the King. I know, I also owned a rotary valved King for a while.

I have attached a photo of me and section doing Tcaikowsky's 6th Symphony. The bass trombonist is a Chicago trained player with a huge sound. I had no trouble matching him.

I'm not sure if this is the tuba in question, but Dillon's also has a MW-37 for a good price:

http://www.dillonmusic.com/p-20091-meinl-weston-37.aspx" target="_blank

In general, these (as well as MW-30 or MW-32 tubas) are very nice and perfectly capable tubas. They are not the most modern in style, and therefore unpopular and passed over by many people. The only real thing that changes is that the price will be a bit lower.

bort wrote:I'm not sure if this is the tuba in question, but Dillon's also has a MW-37 for a good price:

http://www.dillonmusic.com/p-20091-meinl-weston-37.aspx" target="_blank" target="_blank

In general, these (as well as MW-30 or MW-32 tubas) are very nice and perfectly capable tubas. They are not the most modern in style, and therefore unpopular and passed over by many people. The only real thing that changes is that the price will be a bit lower.

That's the one I have on hold. Making the trip to Dillon's a week from tomorrow. After the replies I've received on this I'm more excited to give it a try than ever. This will be my first tuba that is not a school horn and finding a good C tuba on a budget is quite a challenge. I will very likely follow up with pictures and a review of whatever I've purchased.

Thank you for the responses, this is far more than I could find about the MW37 on my own.

You'll likely enjoy the MW37.

For the record, it was the MW32 that Deck used on the first round of his NY Phil audition. It is my understanding(please correct me so more misinformation doesn't get spread) that Deck had his personal Frankentuba shipped in for the following rounds.

Back on topic: Many recordings made by Sam Pilafian made use of the MW37. Google Pilafian and Empire Brass to get a sense of what this horn is about. Over the years Sam has endorsed a lot of tubas while not so secretly continuing to play the MW37.

joh_tuba wrote:You'll likely enjoy the MW37.

For the record, it was the MW32 that Deck used on the first round of his NY Phil audition. It is my understanding(please correct me so more misinformation doesn't get spread) that Deck had his personal Frankentuba shipped in for the following rounds.

Back on topic: Many recordings made by Sam Pilafian made use of the MW37. Google Pilafian and Empire Brass to get a sense of what this horn is about. Over the years Sam has endorsed a lot of tubas while not so secretly continuing to play the MW37.

I found some Empire Brass recordings and it is wonderful to be able to see the horn in action. Then again, any horn can sound beautiful under the hands of someone like Pilafian. This is very encouraging. I had initially been put off by the lack of demand for the MW37 and lack of information and was about to start doubting my choice. But I'm glad it's a quality tuba and I hope this will be the start of a long journey together.

Now time to learn those CC tuba fingerings.

To my knowledge Meinl Weston doesn't make a habit of making model number distinctions for detachable bells.

Again, I'm no expert on this stuff so I hesitate to post answers at all for fear of clouding the waters BUT I guess I'm about to do that anyhow.

The MW37 was a copy of a King tuba that Bill Bell played. I believe the original King tuba was detachable bell so MW did the same. I would imagine that the newer MW37s don't have a detachable bell mostly because there isn't much demand for that feature AND it probably saves money.

Regarding the lack of popularity of this model, there are a few factors.
1) It's rotor.. pistons are trendy
2) It's a relatively small bore horn.. bigger is better right?
3) In general it's not a huge horn.. again, bigger is better.
4) it's not a new design.. newer must be better, right?

So, basically, the MW37 doesn't check the right testosterone filled boxes at the moment.. but that in no way makes in a substandard instrument. If you take the time to learn what it needs you'll sound like a million bucks and won't be held back at all.

Just to clarify a few points, the model 37 "Bell Model" wasn't a copy of the .687 rotary valve King, though it was clearly modeled after the King in many ways. The earliest models were somewhat closer to the King, with string rotor valves, though with the valve cam on top, as with conventional rotary valves, rather than like the King, with the cam on the backside of the valves.

The model 37's were available very soon, if not at initial introduction, with either fixed or detachable bell. The conventional "wisdom" at the time (though on reflection, it may not have been so wise), was that the detachable bell was preferable, as the collar supposedly focused the sound. I have played quite a few early Bell models with both configurations and would be hard pressed to identify a clear difference between the two bell configurations.

I love the small bore Kings for their clarity of sound--just listen to Joe Novotny on most of the Bernstein NY Phil recordings. The next closest sound is, in my opinion, the Bell Model. Often, you'll need to use 1-3 for first line G, some pulling of the first slide for F's, and often some movement of the 3rd slide between Eb's and Ab's (the reason Abe Torchinsky had the third slide on his King turned to extend up parallel to the 1st slide, and others followed that modification; and carried over to the Bell Model). But you will be rewarded with a remarkable sound that can be heard clearly in many performance situations. Would I take it onstage to play with the 2013 NY Phil? No... but then I'm not going to be playing there anyway.

They are great horns. Enjoy it, and the sound you can get out of it.

Mike

Mikelynch wrote:
I love the small bore Kings for their clarity of sound--just listen to Joe Novotny on most of the Bernstein NY Phil recordings.

Mike

HUGE +1!!!

Mark

Mike Lynch is right. The clear sound of the Bell Model MW worked for me in ALL types of performance situations for years. Consider the instrument, seriously.

Mikelynch wrote:Just to clarify a few points, the model 37 "Bell Model" wasn't a copy of the .687 rotary valve King, though it was clearly modeled after the King in many ways. The earliest models were somewhat closer to the King, with string rotor valves, though with the valve cam on top, as with conventional rotary valves, rather than like the King, with the cam on the backside of the valves.

The model 37's were available very soon, if not at initial introduction, with either fixed or detachable bell. The conventional "wisdom" at the time (though on reflection, it may not have been so wise), was that the detachable bell was preferable, as the collar supposedly focused the sound. I have played quite a few early Bell models with both configurations and would be hard pressed to identify a clear difference between the two bell configurations.

I love the small bore Kings for their clarity of sound--just listen to Joe Novotny on most of the Bernstein NY Phil recordings. The next closest sound is, in my opinion, the Bell Model. Often, you'll need to use 1-3 for first line G, some pulling of the first slide for F's, and often some movement of the 3rd slide between Eb's and Ab's (the reason Abe Torchinsky had the third slide on his King turned to extend up parallel to the 1st slide, and others followed that modification; and carried over to the Bell Model). But you will be rewarded with a remarkable sound that can be heard clearly in many performance situations. Would I take it onstage to play with the 2013 NY Phil? No... but then I'm not going to be playing there anyway.

They are great horns. Enjoy it, and the sound you can get out of it.

Mike

Mike is right on as usual.
My 2 cents:

My first CC - I bought a Bell-model 4-valve at the Geretsreid factory in 1969.
Served me well as a student at North Texas, especially with brass 5tet on the Bozza Sonatine
and as a sub w/Dallas Sym. on Finlandia and Polovetsian Dances.

Do I wish I still had that MW ?

Oh yeah!

Thank you so much for all of the input. I've read the replies over and over and am getting extremely excited about this. I make the trip to Dillon a week from today and I will let you all know how it goes.