Tubas, euphoniums, mouthpieces, and anything music-related.
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bloke wrote: Tue Aug 20, 2024 9:02 pm
have since owned a compensating E-flat for quite some time, and love it.
I decided to go to Eb to buck the F trend… I love playing Eb as well; it’s the best quintet and brass ensemble horn. I own an F and do more with it because of how some solos fall with fingerings but I am definitely holding on to the Eb I bought from you, Bloke.
Staying with topic, I’ve played a few Willson tubas but never understood the glamour. They played well and had a nice sound but rather generic and like everyone has said: HEAVY. I get the feeling that some of the horns were real winners and others were just ‘ok’. Perhaps the new ownership has ideas about what can make the line more appealing. I had heard some good things about the Merlin.
Romans 3:23, 24
B&S MRP-C
Bessson New Standard 17" BBb Bass
Boosey & Hawkes Imperial 19" Eb Bass
John Packer 379 FF
Does anyone happen to know DEFINITIVELY if Willson is still building their horns (most specifically meaning MANUFACTURE OF COMPONENTS, such as valve sets, bells, branches, etc)….in Switzerland, or have these been outsourced to Eastman?
(This might be best answered by someone on the ground on the other side of the pond - but any knowledgeable answers are always welcome).
YES, Willson still makes stuff in Switzerland. I know because the parts I ordered came from Switzerland.
Willson markets a Q-Series, lower cost, option on many models that I believe are ASSEMBLED in China, but I believe most things are still coming from Flums.
These users thanked the author Sousaswag for the post:
Fantastic news - I am very happy to hear that - I suspected that was the case but I just wanted to make sure. I have always known the quality of their products to be of the highest standard, second to none.
Yorkboy wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2026 8:34 pm
Fantastic news - I am very happy to hear that - I suspected that was the case but I just wanted to make sure. I have always known the quality of their products to be of the highest standard, second to none.
Willson instruments are overbuilt. I liked the one I owned
These users thanked the author bort2.0 for the post:
I have a friend who bought a Willson Eb a couple of years ago and he sounds great on it. Mostly plays in quintet and small orchestras. Really fantastic sound on it. There was a noticeable improvement over his old Eastman tuba.
I bought one of their valve sets for their popular front action E-flat from DEG, one time.
I was up there visiting them in their quonset hut building quite a few years ago, and they had it sitting on a shelf whereby someone ordered it but didn't ever pay for it.
I paired it up with one of those pre-Elkhart really in tune Conn E-flat bodies and bell. I never finished it but I sold it to Humbell's partner, and I hope he made it into a really nice E flat.
I'm really not interested in the Willson products, even the ones that play really well. They're (in my opinion) just made of unnecessarily thick material.
I am NOT the type of person who typically makes an issue of this sort of thing, but those products are just over the top. I don't think it has any positive or negative effect on the way they sound, but I just don't need to be lugging all that around. ... A 5-quarter tuba that weighs like a 12-quarter tuba...
If the 2000 is the Meinl-Weston 2000, I've liked every 2155 I've played better than every 2000 I've played.
Is it that 2000, or has someone else come up with a model named 2000?
and hands down I like the 2155 better than both the New Yorker and the Ursus.
... but I'm just one old man, who sold all of his C instruments.
Never played that Willson model (which is probably the main topic of the thread).
cktuba wrote: Fri Aug 28, 2026 10:04 am
Now the big question....how does the Eastman 834 compare to the Merlin? Weight and playing characteristics, price etc.?
And in this one... the Eastman hands down.
But opinions are like... and mine probably stinks.
It's interesting how one maker's 4/4 tuba is about the same size as another maker's 5/4. Both the Yamaha and Eastman here are about the same size. The Yamaha sounds a little brighter than the Eastman, but maybe also slightly more compact and clearer than the Eastman.
The Eastman is noticeably flat on the low 4th valve G.
In the other video, I like the Willson 'Merlin' about as much as the MW-2000 from what I hear. The Miraphone less so. But that's listening to this guy play them -- I may have a different experience myself. And the real test is how it sounds in ensembles.
One thing is for sure -- tuba sizing will always be different between makers, and we will always have disagreements But it kinda makes things fun
I agree, there will always be ambiguity concerning the "size" designations. To me, these are all visually 4/4 horns (the 1292 actually being a little larger physically). But the resonance coming out of that Merlin and the light weight.... I'm an old man and that is very appealing. Even though I would prefer rotary valves.
I remember (c. 1974) thinking how large a 186 is, compared to a King (2-pc.) even though a King was taller and had a 22" bell.
The PT-6/Gronitz PCK/Willson 3050 are instruments that are somewhere between 5/4 and 6/4.
My Miraphone 98 is unmistakably 6/4, yet the valveset bore is. .835"...so how to classify it...?? (6.5/4 ?) yet it plays with more ease that many of the smaller tubas.
"Amount of work expended" doesn't seem to have much of a direct relationship to "size of the tuba".
But it kinda makes things fun 