TubeNet

25 MILES ACROSS THE SEA??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I7zMKptjRs" target="_blank

OR 26??

In all seriousness, could this be a good player? I have tried a MW 25 before and was really happy with how it sounded and I've been thinking about trying to find one for a while. Any suggestions?

I have no idea if it's a 20 or a 25, but that patch on the fourth valve plumbing looks rough in the picture.

The 20 and 25 are basically the same horn except for the bottom bow and bell... which are slightly larger on the model 25. The bores are the same. This could well be a model 25 but there were tons more of the model 20 sold to schools.

In my opinion... the model 25 was just a lame attempt to jump on the 'bigger is better' marketing schemes of the 60's-70's.

About the only way to identify the models is to see them side-by-side or measure the bell throat and bell flare. I think I have those measurements around here some place.

I'm looking to buy my first tuba, but, being a college student, my budget is a bit too tight to buy new. Any idea what kind of investment would make this a good player?

OK. I found some of my notes regarding the bell throat dimension of the Meinl 20 and 25 tubas:

The bell throat of the Meinl 20 (where the bell stem enters the bottom bow ferrule) has a circumference of 14 3/8".

That dimension on the Meinl 25 is 16 1/2". The flare diameter is 17 5/8".

For the sake of comparison... the Miraphone 186 is 15 3/4".

Michael Bush wrote:I have no idea if it's a 20 or a 25, but that patch on the fourth valve plumbing looks rough in the picture.

That patch could be 'cleaned up' (sand/polish/lacquer) to look decent enough.

tyrell1111 wrote:I'm looking to buy my first tuba, but, being a college student, my budget is a bit too tight to buy new. Any idea what kind of investment would make this a good player?

'Prolly already is a good player. I think this is a model 20. The bell and bottom bow section look a little small/lean to be a model 25. I played an old one (M-W 20) years ago that had the bell kranz, 'S' linkage and "W. Meinl Weston" etched diagonally across the bell. It was probably made in the 1960s. I think this M-W 20 was made in the 1980s. Most likely a good, solid tuba.

But I still prefer the larger M-W 25, which is really more a large 4/4+ tuba like a Miraphone 187. Some ppl call the 25 a 5/4 tuba. The M-W 20 is a 'regular' 4/4 like a Miraphone 186 or B&S Sonora.