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Melton makes parts for other manufacturers. They made parts of the later, heavier PCKs. I've heard from several different folks that they make Alexander's tuba bells. I know that Gerhard Meinl has "collected" bell mandrels over the years and is not interested in making new ones.

cjk wrote: ↑Wed Jan 18, 2023 10:02 pm Melton makes parts for other manufacturers. They made parts of the later, heavier PCKs. I've heard from several different folks that they make Alexander's tuba bells. I know that Gerhard Meinl has "collected" bell mandrels over the years and is not interested in making new ones.

That would make some sense, the only think that doesn’t make sense is why it’s so hard to get MW parts.

I'd hope that parts availability improves with the addition of their new show room... If they're making it easier to get tubas then certainly they can stock some parts, yes?

Sousaswag wrote: ↑Thu Jan 19, 2023 10:11 am I'd hope that parts availability improves with the addition of their new show room... If they're making it easier to get tubas then certainly they can stock some parts, yes?

It sounds reasonable, but hey, you never know.

Sousaswag wrote: ↑Thu Jan 19, 2023 10:11 am I'd hope that parts availability improves with the addition of their new show room... If they're making it easier to get tubas then certainly they can stock some parts, yes?

I’d expect the opposite.

When they had a dealer network with repair shops, each repair shop would stock their own parts, likely being redundant of one another on the whole. Now with just one point of sale and no direct ties to repair shops, I would think that they’d have less demand for parts.

It would be great if they’d stock parts stateside in Jacksonville, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t.

They might just have to take one of those 6450/2s and cannibalize it for parts.

I’ve never played them side by side, so take it with a grain of salt, but I don’t remember the 2182/2182W playing much different from each other. Both are nice tubas. Don’t work for everyone, but there’s a lot of people who really like them.

I can say without hesitation that the 2182 is considerably larger overall than the 182.

2182=4/4 F tuba. 182=5/8 F tuba.