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I'm having trouble finding the serial number on my Meinl Weston F tuba. It was made in west Germany back when it was a division of Getzen. The only thing I've found is a serial number on the second valve that I believe to be the valve set number. Any suggestions where else to look and what to do if I can't find it? I need it for insurance purposes.

Aidanc97 wrote:.... The only thing I've found is a serial number on the second valve that I believe to be the valve set number. ....

That probably IS a serial number. A hand engraved two or three numbers with maybe a letter in front was pretty common.

My MW 25 from the early '70's had no numbers on it except for '88' under each of the valve levers.

My 6 valve MW from 1970 had the SN on the 2nd valve . It was 3 digits followed by F6.
My understanding was that F6 represented the model/configuaration and the number the quantity/sequence in which the F6 was made. At that time they had only made a little over 100 F6s.

Meinl Weston did not believe in serial numbers at the time your tuba was made. So... that hand engraved number on the #2 valve casing is what Getzen (the distributor of Meinl Weston tubas at that time) engraved on the tuba when they received it. That is your serial number.

Would I be able to date the tuba with that number?