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They are very nice tubas. I have sat next to a few players who sounded amazing on their MW 2155/2000s. However, I don't think that the 6/4 "lap sousaphone" craze is going anywhere anytime soon. There are quite a few people who like that warm, omnidirectional, enveloping sound of the 6/4 tubas. Especially since the current trend in popular music is extremely "bass" heavy and it seems to have "conditioned"people's ears to expect the same kind of sound out of acoustical brass instruments. The classical recording industry has really influenced this as well. Think about some of the professional brass quintet recordings available today. When you listen to the recording through your headphones or through a high quality playback system, the tuba is sometimes mixed in such a way that it "thumps" and "rattles" the floor. Then, when you hear the same group perform live, the tuba sound is completely different. It's still awesome, but a completely different timbre in some cases. So when you show up to rehearse with an F or Eb tuba, many "colleagues" will say something like, "man, you sound great, nice and clear, but we could use some more depth, like XXXX recording." So then you are forced to do acrobatics on a 6/4 tuba Maybe a shift in the "orchestral" field? However, it sure looks like more and more players across the world are switching to the 6/4 York style tubas. Maybe it's a "fad." However, people have been saying that for years. Since before I even started playing the tuba. I am not defending any type or style of tuba, it just seems like a 6/4 tuba is a "necessary" tool in today's world.

Bloke, Why don't you put one(or two) together and take them to one of the trade shows? For practical purposes I assume that would only be the leadpipe but I used a 2155 for several years and the smaller leadpipe thing makes a lot of sense to me. Have you already done one? You've posted about this quite a lot so if not, why not? You would certainly seem to have the repair skills to do it. And if it's a huge hit maybe you become a consultant for MW when they put it back into production with your modifications. Or not. But if I still had my 2155 and was still playing jobs, I would try to get Tom Treece to put a smaller leadpipe on it just to see. Hey Sam Gnagey builds those great King/York/Holtons and Lee Stofer is building those Getzen tubas so why not Bloke 2155's? Just a thought. Ed

Encourage.....you could encourage with your wallet because that would get someone's attention.....other than that it wouldn't happen...unless maybe you were some big time orchestra guy.......lol

bloke wrote: > smaller mouthpipe tube (5450-size)

Question: Does "smaller mouthpiece tube" (5450 size) = 45-SLP size?

I guess I haven't kept up with the latest and greatest in MW tubas...I know installing 45-SLP mouthpipes was a popular modification for 2165 players for a while and that the 2265 and 6450 (along with the rare BBC-2145 and Dillon-2157) supposedly were outfitted with 45-SLP mouthpipes, but wondering if there are others? I was not really aware that the Thor sported the smaller mouthpipe.

I had a MW2000 for a while (back when they were $10k tubas ) and don't remember the mouthpipe feeling particularly big to me, but it did have a strange receiver from the factory. It played very well and recorded great. Very clear sound and I thought it could make plenty of noise for band and orchestra use.