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Hello all! First off, I'm new to the forum and have been enjoying reading through the mountains of information that's posted here. I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask, and I apologize in advance if this has been asked here before. I have a "new to me" Meinl Weston BBb 4 rotary tuba (with removable bell) that is missing a couple of pieces that my local repair guy has been having some trouble finding. The most bothersome is there is a screw flange for the bell that's missing. I also cannot find a model or serial number on it anywhere, other than on the mouthpiece receiver is stamped "Made in West Germany". I tried to load a photo, but the file I have is too large. It's a nice playing horn, and I acquired it at a very good price, so are there any popular modifications that can be made to improve it in any way? The action was a little sluggish at first due to it not being played for some time, but after a good cleaning, lubrication and some playing time it has gotten a lot better.
Sorry for the long rambling post! I look forward to getting back to being more involved with an instrument I've always loved playing but haven't spent nearly enough time doing so!

Welcome back to tuba! And welcome here at TubeNet! You will find that many of us have come back to tuba after a lengthy layoff, so you have a perspective out there similar to your own experience.
As you are in Wisconsin, I'd suggest contacting Lee Stofer [Music] over in Iowa for guidance on your horn issue--he is truly terrific at what he does.

I hope I did this right, these should be link to pictures of my tuba. I couldn't get the camera on my phone to take small enough resolution pictures to upload here. Engraved on the bell is "Meinl Weston, a division of Getzen". The only thing I found stamped on the mouthpiece receiver is "Made in West Germany".
Any other information I can gather about possible year of manufacture and model number is greatly appreciated!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HISU_7 ... p=drivesdk" target="_blank
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z_R1hI ... p=drivesdk" target="_blank
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FkxIWe ... p=drivesdk" target="_blank

Sounds like it might be the Meinl-Weston model 31. They had 4 valves with detachable bell. All of them in the 70s were stamped Made in West Germany on the lead pipe. Would like to be able to see pics.

bloke wrote:Does anyone have one of those old (were they one-page / two-sided...??) 1970's Getzen Meinl-Weston black-and-white fliers that could be scanned and linked here ?

Wish I still had mine, but it's been missing about 40 years. That said, I believe there were some of those pictures and models, maybe in color, in The Instrumentalist magazines from those days.