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Also, for anyone curious, I have MAW pistons in my 2145. The fingerbuttons are what Martin sent "stock" with the valves. When I ordered the valves, he didn't have the buttons I wanted so I just told him to send it with the "standard" buttons. I had no idea what they looked like. I thought I would let others know that the buttons on my tuba are the "standard" buttons from my understanding.

@Eric Murphy that is a P H A T Willson thumb ring.

(Who would win between Willson and vintage Cerveny in a thumb-ring-athon contest?)

I’ve always liked the way the 2145/55 play but could never deal with that palm/wrist-cramping fifth valve. Looks like a good improvement.

So @tubatodd, you’ve got quite a few 4/4 CC tubas. Do you have plans for the other ones at this point or just enjoying them all as you can?

Did these have the very large leadpipes on them, ala 2155/2165, or are these more modest? If I recall, Sam Pilafian helped design this one, but didn't have a hand in the bigger two?

Those mods look great. Good to know other people also hate the original 5th valve design, and it's not just me being me.

arpthark wrote: Sun May 17, 2026 7:47 pm @tubatodd, you’ve got quite a few 4/4 CC tubas. Do you have plans for the other ones at this point or just enjoying them all as you can?

The other 2 are keepers. They aren't going anywhere. The 2145 was an opportunity. I'm going to get it cleaned up and play it. How long will I keep it? Unknown.

Now excuse me while I go tune my 24 bass guitars.

I have a problem.

Your new Meinl Weston 2145 is a terrific tuba. I owned one over ten years ago and other than the thumb ring debacle as mentioned by others, it was a great little tuba. I sold it to return to the BBb world as that is what the Concert Band world runs on! Thank you for posting and also a thanks to Eric Murphy for the very creative fix regarding the thumb ring and the fifth valve! My fabrication skills are equal to the following emoji:

Judging by the comments, it sounds like folks have very favorable feelings about the Meinl Weston 2145. I knew I had to snag it before one of y'all beat me to it.

tubatodd wrote: Mon May 18, 2026 12:52 pm Judging by the comments, it sounds like folks have very favorable feelings about the Meinl Weston 2145. I knew I had to snag it before one of y'all beat me to it.

Don't worry, Joe will pop in soon enough to talk about the too-short 4th valve slide and unusable so-many cents sharp/flat nth partial...

Does it actually fit in the car?