Help identify a MW tuba

[Twoconnguy]

So, like the idiot I can be at times (maybe onset of senility) I purchased a Meinl Weston Getzen from that certain auction site thinking it sure looks like an old 25. Now after starting the tear down for cleaning and straightening a few things I’m not sure what it is. Serial # is B-5174. Rotor casings are stamped 343, as well as the underside of the stop blocks. The bell diameter is just under 18” with no garland. The height is a little under 42”, hard to be accurate judging by bottom bow dents and previously rolled out bell wrinkles. The fourth valve slide is in the back and, slides are nickel silver. Any clues will be greatly appreciated.

[bloke]

Old 25's had that slide in the back...

[Twoconnguy]

Thanks Bloke. I was pretty sure about the slide since I got to play a new 25 in high school, ‘68 - ‘70. This horn just seems bigger, but as a septuagenarian I must be shrinking faster than I realize.

[GC]

The older 25's had that 4th valve slide in the back, like Bloke mentioned, and the bell was 17.75". Many did not have a bell garland and had a plastic ring on the bell. Even though Getzen was jobbing for MW at the time, the Getzen engraving on the bell was on a few years, but not all. I owned one that didn't say Getzen on the front even though it came from Getzen, bought in late '71 or early '72 (I talked to their rep on the phone, and he tried to get me to buy a model 20 instead). There was no serial number anywhere on it, only 88 under each of the valve paddles. It had great valves, a dark tone, and I could peel paint off the walls with it, but it was stuffy and inflexible. Even so, I wish I had never sold it.

If the bell had been 16", it would have been a model 20.

[bloke]

I've always thought of the 25 as being a five-quarter version of the typical German Kaiser B flat.

I think offering an accessible number four slide is a pretty clever alternative to a second slide trigger. The 186 C model has a long fourth slide on the back that tilts out for accessibility, but putting it on the front - next to the first slide (though not long enough to completely solve all of the problems) is probably better.