I might not be quite a stupid as I thought I was.

[bloke]

I was close enough to a friend's house - on a route - to stop by and see how he was doing, since he was recovering from surgery. He showed me his instruments, which included some that I've never seen him use before. He has both an Imperial 1950s low pitch euphonium and a Sovereign, as well as a stencil Meinl-Weston - just like mine. I saw that he had his slides pulled out far - just like I do on my own, and he told me that he uses it when he's teaching tuba students, because it sounds more like a tuba than do the other two euphoniums.

He's also switched to playing his vintage solid silver King Duo Gravis bass trombone in his full-time orchestra, because the principal player remarked that it offers a clearer sound than his Shires.

Well whadaya know...

[matt g]

Those old King and Conn trombones offer options with regards to sound. And the Benge 290.

Options are good.

[bloke]

yeah...

- Unlike the groupthink of the past when some of these were in circulation, I've discovered that the M-W euphonium is actually pretty easy to play in tune (though it's valve slides are designed to be pulled out farther than with other makes), easier to play in tune than some others, and someone - who plays better than I do (as I'm a doubler) - completely agrees.

- The trombone brand du jour may not (??) be the be-all/end-all. The typical sound produced by the brand - regardless of particular bell/metal/bore has never impressed me, and some older discontinued models always seem to me to be instruments that offered more interesting characteristic types of sonority.

[TheHatTuba]

Is the MW the one you had to add tubing to the comp loop? Might be thinking of something else.

[2nd tenor]

Newer and fancier does not necessarily equal better - and it never has done - but it does mean more sales and that’s what shops and manufacturers like.

Whenever possible I stick with simple and traditional, it’s not always the best but it avoids paying larger sums for other stuff which also isn’t the best. Do I need the best? Not at all and very few people do. Who needs the best? I’m not sure but it sounds like those people eventually figure out that what’s sold to them is too often mis-sold.

[bloke]

Is the MW the one you had to add tubing to the comp loop? Might be thinking of something else.

yes...a dumb mistake in design, an easy fix, and (yes) messed up the double-low compensating range intonation, but nothing in over 99% of all ensemble literature. (Were I a composer/arranger seeking an odd-sounding/special-effect type of sound in that range, I'd hand those pitches to the bassoons, and never to the euphoniums.)

At first, I also thought that the entire instrument as too long, but later discovered that (with the huge bell) it sounds and responds much better with (though large) the SM mouthpiece that I now use with it (vs. the bass trombone mouthpieces I was originally attempting to use with it).

I sort-of do agree that it may not be the best "solo" instrument (though maybe for "heroes" - such as Mr. Thurman, etc...)
again: The reason that both my friend and I like it is because
- it doesn't need one of those awkward/heavy/obtuse main slide trigger gadgets, and
- it sounds more like small tuba than does most any other make..oh yeah, and...
- since very few know much about them (and no one recognizes one, when engraved as a stencil), they don't cost much.

I did NOT use it - though I had it - when I played "Mars" on a pops concert...The part is screamin' high, and it's a "big lift" (for a doubler, such as myself) to play in that range on a huge instrument...yeah...I used my old .571" bore/11" bell, small-shank Yamaha 321. ...
...BUT - in the very same concert - I DID use the Meinl-Weston on Berlioz "March to the Scaffold" and Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette" (ie "small tuba" things)...so a tuba and two "euphonia", on stage.

Mostly, it's just sorta reassuring to find someone ELSE (and who's a working musician) who finds a nearly-discontinued model to be very viable.

(Ours do not feature triggers.)
https://www.wwbw.com/Meinl-Weston-751-P ... 01000.wwbw