Posted by Ace on May 14, 2001 at 15:23:00:
In Reply to: MW 2145 and Mirafone 186 posted by Randy Mac Iver on May 14, 2001 at 13:18:25:
I played a Mirafone 186-5 CC and liked it a lot. But, most of my tuba playing was in a fairly large orchestra and I wanted an instrument with a slightly darker tone with a very free-blowing low range. So, I talked with Mike Russo at Brasswind and asked his advice about instruments in my price range that would be suitable for the type of playing I did. He recommended the MW 2145, I bought it, and I've been very satisfied with it's performance. My 2145 has the big valve set. It blows wide open, particularly in the low range. I put a PT-50 mouthpiece on it, and set aside the Melton 24AW that shipped with the horn.
I'm 6'2", and the tuba seems to fit me very well. However, even though I have very large hands, it is a challenge to span the four pistons. I agree that the thumb ring is badly designed, but I am now accustomed to it. (The best thumb ring I've ever experienced was on a Cerveny 601-5MR.) All in all, for the type of work I do, I much prefer my new MW 2145 over my former horn, the 186.