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I don't have $13k to spend on a new Miraphone 1291. I opted for the Schiller American Heritage 4 Valve BBb 4/4 Piston Tuba Studio Series and have zero regrets and money in my savings account. It's a knock-off of the Miraphone 1291...but I don't care!

If you are looking at Schiller horns, my advice to you is to play before you pay, but don't fear Schillers. Do not order one on the interwebs without trying. I had to play 3 tubas before i found my new baby. I Tried the "Elite" BBb and the intonation was better overall but playing anything lower than a low G felt like driving on an icy, rural highway.

My front-piston studio series has a nice range of timbres in the low register. Also, I have been snobby about the Conn Hellleberg mouthpiece I have used for 30 years. When I tried the stock Schiller mouthpiece that came with the horn, middle C was much easier and my articulation improved.

https://www.schillerinstruments.com/tub ... dio-series

Great post, and it doesn't sound at all like an employee from Jim Laabs Music is posting.

Please share some photos of your new horn!

Ha. TY Easy Mac! I did drive to Stevens Point, WI and Troy Laabs helped me demo the horns. I play a bit around town and was hoping to cook up some kind of sponsorship, but no go. This is my second tuba from there. I am not an employee, I swear.

So, my new horn is a Jinbao instrument. A "stencil" horn - made in a factory in Tianjin, China. It turns out that the same horn is also sold as a Jupiter JTU1110 for 4x what I paid for the same horn branded as a Schiller.

https://chucklevins.com/products/jupite ... 8249690185