TubeNet

Here are 2 links

http://tinypic.com/usermedia.php?uo=NuV ... L-fTqQpDIU" target="_blank" target="_blank
http://tinypic.com/usermedia.php?uo=NuV ... L-fnKQpDIU" target="_blank" target="_blank

Looks an awful lot like the 70s vintage Model 32 except for the detachable bell. Didn't the Bill Bell Model have the detachable bell? Would that make it a model 37?

Looks like a BBb, MW 20 with detachable bell.

The MW 32 and 37 were very different tubas.

Comparing to pictures of the mw20 its different

It looks like a detachable bell version of the MW25 to me -

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=47952" target="_blank

The only difference I see (other than, you know, detachable bell...) is that the bell on the 25 that bloke posted seems to be fatter.

Has anybody bothered to actually email M-W directly?

iiipopes wrote:Has anybody bothered to actually email M-W directly?

And take the fun out of the amateur sleuthing?

And who would you trust more anyway? Some faceless rep from BIG TUBA or the combined wisdom of the TubeNet commentariat?

timayer wrote:The only difference I see (other than, you know, detachable bell...) is that the bell on the 25 that bloke posted seems to be fatter.

Another clue to size disparity is the leadpipe position - to my eye, the leadpipe on the tuba in question comes straight around the bell, where the 25 angles down.

[edit] ... and then right away something shows up on the usual auction site, that's identified as a 25, with a more level leadpipe - but a different wrap on the 4th valve, such that it hangs over the top bow like the 1st & 3rd valves. [/edit]

When I said model 32, I meant model 30 which is what I owned. (A mind is a terrible thing to lose). The pic here is of a MW model 30 in CC with the old pre-ball-bearing linkage, owned by the local university. Note the difference in the contour of the leadpipe and that the leadpipe rises instead of going straight across. Other than that and the detachable bell, they look identical to me. Could the leadpipe shape difference be because it is a BBb?