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Over what years did Miraphone make the 185?
In another thread it was stated that 1971 was too early for a 185. I have a BBb with no serial number, said to be a 185, that looked pretty old when I purchased it in 1985. I've also been told that M stopped making the 185 "some years" ago.

I'm probably the one you saw with that remark in another post. I should have kept my mouth shut as I have no idea when they were made. Somewhere in the back of my mind I thought maybe '71 was too far back but that was really a wild guess. Maybe one of the techs that really know something will chime in.

Uhmm, I don't think that "mouth shut" is in the spirit of this BB (assuming decent behavior). It's a sideline to TUBANESS, but I am really interested in what folks know about the Miraphone 185 (3 valves, BTW). THANKS for coming forward. BobF

sailn2ba wrote:Over what years did Miraphone make the 185?
In another thread it was stated that 1971 was too early for a 185

Tommy Johnson's main tuba for many years was a five valve 185 CC with a removable bell that he purchased sometime in the early 1960s. The mouthpipes on the early 184, 185, and 186 looked the same as the BBb version as did the crook past the fourth valve. The mouthpipe and the crook were changed to the current configuration around 1970. Perhaps that adds to the confusion as to the original production date. You could always email Miraphone if you want to know for sure.

Norm Pearson

There is a 5 valve CC model for sale on that auction site: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0271980895" target="_blank

Back in the day, the 185 was a very good choice if you wanted/needed to use one horn for everything. Now I suppose it would be called a "niche" horn - really a bit too small for current tastes in the orchestral environment. But all (3? 4?) of the 185s I've tried were exquisite instruments. Terrific in a quintet and for solo and smaller ensemble work. And their owners would never have parted with them willingly, which says quite a lot.

a LOT of Miraphone 185 CCs seem to have started their lives in Cookeville, TN.

Here is the reply I revieved from Miraphone regarding the years of manufacture for the 185.

Dear Mr. Stark,

thank you for your inquiry. The oldest catalogue we have in our archives is dated 1950. There the model 185 is already included. The last year of production of this tuba was 1997.

Yours sincerely,

Eva Staudinger
Sales Assistant
Miraphone eG
Traunreuter Str. 8
84478 Waldkraiburg
tel: +49 (0)8638 96820
fax: +49 (0)8638 82863
e-mail: eva.staudinger@miraphone.de" target="_blank
web: http://www.miraphone.de" target="_blank
Sitz der Genossenschaft: D-84478 Waldkraiburg
Reg. Gericht Traunstein, Gen. Reg. Nr. 107
Vorstand: Markus Theinert, Josef Lindlmair

tbn.al wrote:Here is the reply I revieved from Miraphone regarding the years of manufacture for the 185.

Dear Mr. Stark,

thank you for your inquiry. The oldest catalogue we have in our archives is dated 1950. There the model 185 is already included. The last year of production of this tuba was 1997.

WOW! That's quite a lifetime.... much longer than I expected. Thanks for dredging up the info and posting it. That clears up a lot of questions. I'll bet that there are a few more of the 185 model around than is obvious as these horns are very easily mistaken for 186's.

You can still get one if you want. They stopped being regularly imported in the early 1990's.