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I have an incoming student whose silver tuba bell needs to be replaced (according to him). It is indeed badly damaged... probably could be fixed, but he wants it to look like new when done. The horn appears to be a Mirafone 186, but with Holton pistons. There are no brand names or serial numbers. The reason he believes that the pistons are from a Holton is unclear to me. None the less, it is clearly some sort of silver Frankentuba. It does play well, so it is worth fixing up.

My question: Do any of you have a nice bell that would fit a Mirafone 186... It is a Frankentuba, so I think other bells would be fine as long as they don't mess up the intonation.

We will likey go to one of the respected repair persons who frequent this site for the work and just order the appropriate bell. However, I wanted to see if there are any extant bells floating around your workshops. I am sure he would like to save a few bucks.

Final note: The student does want the bell to be silver.

I appreciate your thoughts and considerations.

Interesting to hear about that horn. I believe that I may have owned it at one time. If it is the same instrument that I know, it was one that Arnold Jacobs had construced out of a Holton valve cluster and a Cerveny bugle.
He sold it to Dan Corrigan who was the tubist in Indianapolis for many years where he played it for a while.
It is a nice sounding horn. Seems there were some quirky intonation issues with it.
I might be able to help locate an appropriate bell for it. It might benefit from something a bit larger than what is there.
I think that Tubatinker came up with a bell soulution that might work too. He used a Yamaha bell for a transplant on a 186 once.

Sam Gnagey wrote: I think that Tubatinker came up with a bell soulution that might work too. He used a Yamaha bell for a transplant on a 186 once.

Thanks for the mention, Sam.

Yes.... when trimmed to the correct length, the bell from a Yamaha 201 will work fine on a Miraphone 186. I just happened to have a used bell in the shop when I made the discovery. Unfortunately, NEW Yamaha YBB-201 bells (same as YBB-321 bells, I think) are a little pricey, too... probably between $500 and $700 depending on who you talk to! I have an alternative NEW bell if you want to drop me an email. (I think Sam also retrofits bells to Miraphone 186's.)

TubaTinker wrote:Thanks, Sam. Yes.... when trimmed to the correct length, the bell from a Yamaha 201 will work fine on a Miraphone 186. I also have an alternative NEW bell if you want to drop me an email.

Final note: The student does want the bell to be silver.

You can get them that way, Dan? You've been holding out on us!

Do what Dan says. He has pictures on his website to show his is the best solution.

Chuck(G) wrote:You can get them that way, Dan? You've been holding out on us!

Just about anything is possible.... for a price! I would guess that silver plating would add about 30% to the $500 to $700 price... depending on who you ask. I noticed that the original poster mentioned a SILVER Miraphone bell but wasn't paying a lot of attention. You just don't see too many silver ones Parts is parts.... it's just difficult finding cheap ones.