miraphone serial numbers

[fpoon]

Anyone know a site that could tell me when my 1261 was made? It's a "Mirafone" and I was just curious on when/where it was made...

And is the serial number the long one under the brand on the bell, or the little number on the back of the pistons?

[windshieldbug]

This is what I have gotten from TubeNet regarding Miraphone regarding my 184 CC:

Mirafone
>I believe that the manufacturer engraved "Miraphone" on their tubas, but the old U.S. distributing company in Sun Valley, California (the predecessor of "Orpheus Music" - now in San Antonio, TX, who is now completely out of the tuba importing business) thought that "MiraFone" looked more European, "exotic", and "expensive", so the ones shipped to Sun Valley, California were stamped "MiraFone". –Joe S.
>I recently emailed the factory in Germany to find the answer and they informed me that Miraphone was the ORIGINAL name of the company and that is what they mainly go by today... However, the name Mirafone was created and licensed for the same horns, but is stamped only onto to horns shipped to America. Miraphone wast the original, Mirafone is the American licensed brand. -Dopey Dog
>My 186 cc was made in 2002, it is marked Mirafone, the mouthpiece that came with it is marked Miraphone. I don't really think it matters, 6 of one half dozen of another –tubathig
>I bought a Miraphone 191 in the fall of 2000. The tuba says Miraphone on it; but the case has both Miraphone and Mirafone stamped on it. -Mark

When did they start making the MiraFones for the U.S. ?? I can't get a handle on the start of Orpheus/California.
Musictrader starts #1463 in 1960. Does that mean anything?
>Yes. The Lockie brothers began distributing Miraphone/Mirafone tubas in that year. They had a warehouse near Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. If anyone has a tuba with the serial number 1463, you have the very first Mirafone sold in the United States as an American horn. Eventually, they would settle at the Roy J. Maier Corporation Building at 8484 San Fernando Road in Sun Valley (actually in the Los Angeles city limits). Then they moved up to Santa Clarita (Valencia). And after that they moved to San Antone.
The Mirafone tubas that went through Los Angeles (and later Valencia) were actually remanufactured to American standards. I had a tuba overhauled in the Sun Valley shop in 1982. I thought it was a very impressive setup. It was too good to last, sigh!
Roy J. Maier is now the property of Steinway, along with Conn, King, Selmer (US), and Leblanc. - LoyalTubist



And the long number on the bell is the serial number. The short number on the valves is just used while the build the valve block, and haven't yet assigned a serial number, I believe.

[fpoon]

Thanks for the reply. I gathered most of that together last evening when I was searching past discussions on the topic.

What I'm curious about is that is there a website somewhere that has a list of the serial numbers, that I can figure out when my horn was made. I've seen such lists for Conn, York Master, King, etc. Is there one for Miraphone?

[windshieldbug]

Yes- Lar's Kirmser's MusicTrader. I use it for finding the dates on many manufacturers.

[LoyalTubist]

Without checking my reference books, I would guess your instrument was built sometime between 1962-63.

Bill

[fpoon]

LoyalTubist, who are you talking to, me? I think my horn was made late to mid 90's...

And is there anything out there that can give me a more accurate number than "post 1979", etc.?

[LoyalTubist]

I'm sorry, I was only glancing at the original post. 1261 is the model number and I thought it was the serial number.

Never mind!

[windshieldbug]

No, that's the only one I know of, but you could try contacting Miraphone direct. There's an 'ENGLISH' on the left hand column that you'll need to click to get it translated.

[LoyalTubist]

Actually, if you go to

http://miraphone.de/auswahl.asp?L=ENGLISCH

you can ask them a question about the serial number and they can give you a ballpark figure (not an exact date).

[TubaRay]

the old U.S. distributing company in Sun Valley, California (the predecessor of "Orpheus Music" - now in San Antonio, TX, who is now completely out of the tuba importing business)

Actually, Orpheus is back in the tuba importing business. See Dalyan tubas which appear on Orpheus' website. They aren't Miraphones, but they are a decent tuba.

[LoyalTubist]

I wrote that and it was correct as of about 2004.