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...an opportunity to mount a 5th rotor on the large side of the main slide, whereby a 2145 would actually have some tuning range.

Did these have the oem/much too big mouthpipes on them, or did Sam have them designed with something more sensible than the later 55 and 65 model tubas?

Cool tuba, pretty good price, and an opportunity to "baer-ify" a 2145 if one desired.

Oh MAN! When I was in high school I owned the Empire Brass CD that features Sam on the cover with this horn. I've played that album so much. It was and still is one of my favorites. I would love to own this horn for that nostalgia alone.

I owned this for a bit when I finished up studying with Sam. I got to test this and the 4 valve version. Both had the small valves. I played it for a while as it blew a lot better than the 4 valve version. Ended up missing the 5th too much.

Sam used these for pics, but always played his Bell model mw for the concerts and recordings!

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Was this at Baltimore Brass at some point, maybe 15-20 years ago? I really seem to remember playing a 2144 at some point, back when I lived in Baltimore (pre-2009). I remember playing a lot of the variants there, the small and big valve 2145, the BBC-edition 2145, and I really think I tried the 4-valve 2144 as well.

Liked them all.