FT/FS: Meinl Weston 6450/2 Handmade 6/4 CC tuba: $OLD!!
Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2023 12:17 pm
I bought this tuba approximately two years ago. Has served me well, but I’m planning on using my 195P for large scale orchestral works in the future, so it’s been in its case for the last 4 months. Was cleaned in the spring and has probably been played 45 minutes since then. I’d like to be able to keep it, but I can’t justify having two very large tubas which do pretty much the same thing.
Here’s some info on the tuba:
-PITCH: pitch is largely as expected; I pull 4th on the D and C# in the pedal register. I pull 4th on the 2+4 combinations of C# and F#. I pull 1st on 1+2 combinations. E in the staff can be played open and lipped. Eb in the staff is a little low but I never used 2+3 for it as it too is lipable. Open intervals are pretty nicely in tune, particularly for a large CC piston tuba.
-SOUND: sound is best described as “brilliante” and very opaque. Very strong sound that cuts through. It trends more towards “projection” than “presence”, in my opinion, at least as compared to other 6/4 piston models that have a darker sound.
-RESPONSE: response is outstanding. Lightening fast. Horn slots VERY easily.
I DO really like MAW valves in the horn for the low register, particularly if a smaller Laskey type mouthpiece is being used. But the horn and the pitch are NOT very mouthpiece sensitive overall.
-CONDITION: horn is in outstanding condition, with maybe 2-3 extremely small, shallow, pin sized dents. Small enough that the camera won’t show them. Horn has never sustained damage of any kind.
ALTERATIONS: Martin Wilk performed all alterations on this tuba; added a few small braces that helped with projection and slide alignment. Chopped 1” off of the 5th valve slide to help with pitch (my understanding is that this is customary on this model).
ACCESSORIES: comes with appropriately sized blue cordura Cronkite bag. Bag is about 1 year old. Very little wear. ICON 24AW knock off mouthpiece is included as well as the Meinl Weston maroon dust cover. All three adjustable gap receiver bits are included as well. MAW oversized buttons and lightweight stems are included as well as the original buttons and stems.
I’m not in a huge hurry to move the tuba; but it’s just sitting here and taking up space, and again, I can’t justify keeping two horns that do the same thing. Price is $15,500, BUT my strong preference would be to trade the tuba to someone looking to go up in tuba size or who is looking for a great tuba to take to auditions. Trade would need to be for a 5v 4/4 CC tuba plus cash. I’d welcome tubas like Miraphone 188, 129x, Bruckner, Gronitz PCM, Alex 163 (of somewhat recent vintage), B&S PT-4/PT-20, Meinl Weston 2145/2155, 3/4,4/4 Rudy, Hirsbrunner HB-2/2P, 4/4 Nirschl (German made only), etc. I’d also consider a Meinl Weston 2250 F tuba as well. Not interested in big stuff. For those interested in an outright purchase, I’m open to respectable offers; in that case, final sale value will be decided only when both buyer and seller agree to a price.
Tuba is located in the St Louis area and is available for testing at any time. I can bomb proof it to your address, but the buyer will be responsible for the entirety of the shipping cost. All sales are final. No trial periods.
I’ve got multiple recordings of the tuba in an orchestral setting that I’d be happy to share via email or text message.
Feel free to contact me with questions or offers either via PM, or even better to my email at ckalaher1 at g mail dot com
Pictures are HERE: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... T0IZkvdTqd
Thanks for looking.
Here’s some info on the tuba:
-PITCH: pitch is largely as expected; I pull 4th on the D and C# in the pedal register. I pull 4th on the 2+4 combinations of C# and F#. I pull 1st on 1+2 combinations. E in the staff can be played open and lipped. Eb in the staff is a little low but I never used 2+3 for it as it too is lipable. Open intervals are pretty nicely in tune, particularly for a large CC piston tuba.
-SOUND: sound is best described as “brilliante” and very opaque. Very strong sound that cuts through. It trends more towards “projection” than “presence”, in my opinion, at least as compared to other 6/4 piston models that have a darker sound.
-RESPONSE: response is outstanding. Lightening fast. Horn slots VERY easily.
I DO really like MAW valves in the horn for the low register, particularly if a smaller Laskey type mouthpiece is being used. But the horn and the pitch are NOT very mouthpiece sensitive overall.
-CONDITION: horn is in outstanding condition, with maybe 2-3 extremely small, shallow, pin sized dents. Small enough that the camera won’t show them. Horn has never sustained damage of any kind.
ALTERATIONS: Martin Wilk performed all alterations on this tuba; added a few small braces that helped with projection and slide alignment. Chopped 1” off of the 5th valve slide to help with pitch (my understanding is that this is customary on this model).
ACCESSORIES: comes with appropriately sized blue cordura Cronkite bag. Bag is about 1 year old. Very little wear. ICON 24AW knock off mouthpiece is included as well as the Meinl Weston maroon dust cover. All three adjustable gap receiver bits are included as well. MAW oversized buttons and lightweight stems are included as well as the original buttons and stems.
I’m not in a huge hurry to move the tuba; but it’s just sitting here and taking up space, and again, I can’t justify keeping two horns that do the same thing. Price is $15,500, BUT my strong preference would be to trade the tuba to someone looking to go up in tuba size or who is looking for a great tuba to take to auditions. Trade would need to be for a 5v 4/4 CC tuba plus cash. I’d welcome tubas like Miraphone 188, 129x, Bruckner, Gronitz PCM, Alex 163 (of somewhat recent vintage), B&S PT-4/PT-20, Meinl Weston 2145/2155, 3/4,4/4 Rudy, Hirsbrunner HB-2/2P, 4/4 Nirschl (German made only), etc. I’d also consider a Meinl Weston 2250 F tuba as well. Not interested in big stuff. For those interested in an outright purchase, I’m open to respectable offers; in that case, final sale value will be decided only when both buyer and seller agree to a price.
Tuba is located in the St Louis area and is available for testing at any time. I can bomb proof it to your address, but the buyer will be responsible for the entirety of the shipping cost. All sales are final. No trial periods.
I’ve got multiple recordings of the tuba in an orchestral setting that I’d be happy to share via email or text message.
Feel free to contact me with questions or offers either via PM, or even better to my email at ckalaher1 at g mail dot com
Pictures are HERE: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... T0IZkvdTqd
Thanks for looking.