Amati Kraslice 4 Valve Rotary - Advice?

[imperialbari]

Odd world. The tuba in question is exactly the one I abstained from. I didn’t know (or remember) the hometown of the seller.

Ken sent me the photos, which I recognised at once.

My general rule as a collector is that buys shall be almost immediately playable. If the price is low I accept to do some flushing, corking, lubrication, and adjusting myself. One FUBAR tuba made it here, but only because it was Danish made and had Berliner Pumpen. Even my 1870 Eb 3+1 Besson Eb is playable in modern pitch after a little, fully reversible, messing with some spare tubing already being in my home.

Being a teacher before anything else I will post a few times to show the photos, and then let TubeNet reveal, why my suspicion is, that this tuba will be far more expensive than the sticker price plus shipping from Europe plus whatever US customs might apply.

Klaus

[imperialbari]

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[imperialbari]

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[imperialbari]

I say get this 186 for $2100 instead-
http://baltimorebrass.net/index.php?cat=5

Here it is:



And I tend to agree because the dubious matters about the Amati already have been taken care of in this Miraphone. Which started out as a better instrument anyway. And the seller is in your own country.

Take that from a person owning several Czech instruments, but no Miraphones.

Klaus

[imperialbari]

I don’t like the green stuff. Nor the sharp edges of some of the dents. The metal is thin because that is the Czech way of getting alive instruments, but I am suspicious about the storing of this instrument, which isn’t new (valve mechanism shows that). My guts tell me that the metal has become too brittle.

The Miraphone isn’t much newer, but you can see that the metal has been worked on recently, and that it has survived the work.

The German seller is honest. But nobody can be honest beyond his abilities/level of knowledge, and he is no brass man. The Baltimore seller has his reputation as pro tubist in a rather large orchestra at stake.

My guess is that the Amati will end at roughly 2/3 of the Miraphone’s sticker price, and the Amati isn’t guaranteed to be playable because the seller cannot test it. The Miraphone shall be playable out of the box from the way it is advertised. The photo shows an older instrument in a sound condition with no lacquer over wear and repairs. That looks honest to me.

Klaus

[The Big Ben]

The German seller is honest. But nobody can be honest beyond his abilities/level of knowledge, and he is no brass man. The Baltimore seller has his reputation as pro tubist in a rather large orchestra at stake.

My guess is that the Amati will end at roughly 2/3 of the Miraphone’s sticker price, and the Amati isn’t guaranteed to be playable because the seller cannot test it. The Miraphone shall be playable out of the box from the way it is advertised. The photo shows an older instrument in a sound condition with no lacquer over wear and repairs. That looks honest to me.

I agree if you can swing the price of the Mira 186 at Baltimore Brass, that would be a very good deal. It could look better by stripping off the rest of the lacquer and polishing the raw brass. The materials to do that are kind of cheap and it would just be your time. Of course, you could use it just like it is.

[rocksanddirt]

regarding the idea of only playing a few times a year.....

I play my tuba nearly every week at church, just the base lines of the hymns. People tell me it really ads a lot to the richness of the sound.

[imperialbari]

Congratulations!

But then you kind of owe us the story about how you found that 186 so soon. I suspect that it was a more local find that the Baltimore sample discussed.

As for gig bags: no gig bag is better than a cheapish one with thin or no foam.

Klaus

[shovelingtom]

I look forward to playing much more than twice a year...that's just our formal gigs with choir and orchestra...we are starting a new ensemble in the spring and I'm excited about helping with that. We have a new Minister of Music that moved here from Memphis and he's awesome!
Thanks to everybody for their advice and input.
TODAY! I PICKED UP A MIRAPHONE 186 4-U. I am SOOOOO EXCITED!! Now I'll go post a request for some help picking out a case or gig bag.
To one and all...your input helped make this decision possible and we all agree it was worth the extra $$ to go with the Miraphone.

You the one who beat me on the eBay auction for the 1962 one coming out of California?

Congrats either way!

[rocksanddirt]

Congratulations!

check out Altieri gig bags. http://www.altieribags.com/index.html

I have one for my used 186, and really like it.

Though if the horn is going to live at the church, maybe a hard case, or cabinet would be a better option?