MW32 vs. St. Pete's

[Mwtuba32]

I have owned both at st.pete and a meinl-weston 32 and from my experience the st.pete is much easier to play than the mw and both horns play very well in tune. If I played euph with tuba as my secondary I would not hesitate to play the st.pete.

[iiipopes]

I have not owned both, but I have played the St Pete and the BBb brother to the MW32. The MW seemed a little "hard" to play, meaning it needed more oomph from me to get the response going. The particular St Pete I played was concededly a few years old, and was stuffy.

As usual, I would punt either choice and get either a 186 or whatever the lesser expensive version of the PT-1, or 201, or whatever the number the B&S basic BBb is going for now.

Also, for the price, a lot of folks like the Cerveny 681 instead.

But this could really open up the can of worms about the best 4/4 sized tuba.

186.

[Dan Schultz]

I've owned a MW-32 5 rotor CC and currently play a St. Petersburg 202N. Both are/were good horns but not being a CC guy, I prefer the St. Pete. Get the MW checked over for some of the problems mentioned earlier in this thread. Also, check for leaks.... possibly just a bad waterkey cork.

[Rick Denney]

When I pick up a C tuba, I have problems with connecting the pitch I want to the buttons I'm pushing. That 1-2 is supposed to be a D, dammit, but it keeps coming out as an E! I buzz a D, realize my error, and let it relax up to E. Sheesh. That's a definite recipe for everything you describe.

But I think it would take fully learning the C tuba to overcome that built-in mechanism. I don't make that mistake at all on F tuba, but I put in the time to actually learn it as its own instrument.

It may be that your brain is still thinking Bb pitches to go along with Bb fingerings you are accustomed to from the euphonium. The euphonium would be reinforcing that every day.

Playing a Bb tuba would immediately resolve the issue, but so might putting the euph down and focusing on the C until you cross that bridge.

Rick "presuming to project his own issues on someone else" Denney

[Dan Schultz]

When I pick up a C tuba, I have problems with connecting the pitch I want to the buttons I'm pushing. ....... Playing a Bb tuba would immediately resolve the issue, but so might putting the euph down and focusing on the C until you cross that bridge.

Rick "presuming to project his own issues on someone else" Denney

Having had both a CC and BBb side-by-side and trying to sort through the 'chop differences'.... I should have thought of that.

Now.... THAT's why Rick is known as the 'resident genius'.

[Allen]

I like my MW32 tuba. However, if I were going to be spending a majority amount of my time on euph, I would switch back to BBb tuba. Why make life harder by playing two instruments a seventh apart when you could be playing two instruments an octave apart?

Cheers,
Allen

[MikeMilnarik]

I agree with a lot of the things that have already been pointed out. Another factor...

Also depends on the age of the MW. The old 32's had a lot more problems than the newer versions of the 32.

Mike Milnarik

[jonesbrass]

But I think it would take fully learning the C tuba to overcome that built-in mechanism. I don't make that mistake at all on F tuba, but I put in the time to actually learn it as its own instrument.
Rick "presuming to project his own issues on someone else" Denney

I think Rick's giving some real wisdom here. Each instrument really needs to be learned "as its own instrument" rather than a transposition, etc.

The other part I thought of is that many of the older M-W tubas are hard to play- ie really stuffy. Very nice sound, but very stuffy, to me.