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In my opinion, the "S" model Miraphones were intended to be a cheaper alternative to the regular 186. They are made of cheaper materials and are not built to last as long. Personally, I wouldn't be willing to pay as much for the "S" tubas.

The "S" series came out in the early 90's I think. I could be wrong about that, but that was the first I saw of them. They have improved in quality quite a bit since then, but the early ones were a little suspect.

IowegianStar wrote:Is the borrowed 186 an "S" model? When did Miraphone begin marketing the "S" models?

Yes, it's an S model, but an early one.

My memory tells me that Miraphone introduced the S models in the early 80's. They were being announced about the time I returned to playing after my 8-year layoff during and after college. The first S models were as Ray describes them: A budget model. They had brass outer slide sleeves with nickel inner slides (as opposed to the reverse), no engraving, no bell garland, and unfancy linkages. But in later years, they added a lot of nickel to the S model, and also added the bell garland, but I don't remember the details or exactly when they did so. Early 90's sounds familiar for some reason, but I don't know. Perhaps it was around then that the pro models notched up a bit with the addition of things like a nickel leadpipe (which my 70's 186 pro model does NOT have).

The S models were not particularly cheaper than the "pro" models. As I recall, when 186's were selling new for $4000, the S models were selling for $3500. I don't recall when that was. The later S models are, I'm sure, less different from the pro models.

Rick "expanding a lot on very few and very dim memories" Denney

Rick Denney wrote:

IowegianStar wrote:Is the borrowed 186 an "S" model? When did Miraphone begin marketing the "S" models?

Yes, it's an S model, but an early one.

My memory tells me that Miraphone introduced the S models in the early 80's. They were being announced about the time I returned to playing after my 8-year layoff during and after college. The first S models were as Ray describes them: A budget model. They had brass outer slide sleeves with nickel inner slides (as opposed to the reverse), no engraving, no bell garland, and unfancy linkages. But in later years, they added a lot of nickel to the S model, and also added the bell garland, but I don't remember the details or exactly when they did so. Early 90's sounds familiar for some reason, but I don't know. Perhaps it was around then that the pro models notched up a bit with the addition of things like a nickel leadpipe (which my 70's 186 pro model does NOT have).

The S models were not particularly cheaper than the "pro" models. As I recall, when 186's were selling new for $4000, the S models were selling for $3500. I don't recall when that was. The later S models are, I'm sure, less different from the pro models.

Rick "expanding a lot on very few and very dim memories" Denney

Wow. I had no idea they went back to the early 80's.
Anyway, there is very little difference these days between a pro 186 and a s186 in price and the student models are getting increasingly hard to find. I wonder if Miraphone is trying to phase them out.