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If it isn't too much trouble, can anyone let me know how they feel about this particular tuba? I'm going to college for music education, and I really want a great horn. These tubas seem to be the best fit for me. What kind of experiences have you had with these horns? All the little details if you don't mind. Any help would be appreciated!

I own one. I'm in the same situation as you. I absolutely love mine. I've played in full orchestras, bands, quitets, sextets, and a few other randnom ensembles. This horn will do exactly what it advertises, everything. It's a great all around horn. I am pretty bias but I highly recommend this tuba .

In the past there has been much commentary on these horns. You can find most of this by a search of the key terms.


viewtopic.php?f=4&t=30298" target="_blank" target="_blank

That is a link to a recent thread which contains some comments on the horn in question.


Good luck with your search!

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I owned a purportedly Tommy Johnson tuba at one point while playing. It was a beat rough in spots cosmetically, but it was an awesome tuba. Mine was also pretty light, as it was lighter than a 186 BBb I also owned but a decent amount. I had the 2-3 combo on the fifth valve, which was fantastic on this tuba, since the horn was so in tune.

I set up the fourth to be a bit flat so that Db would be dead on 2-4. I played D 1-3 with a decent pull for sustained notes, but fourth only was good enough on the fly. Low G was spot on 1-3 with first about a half inch out and 3 tuned to play low A in tune. Gb was fine with either 2-4 or 1-2-3. Really. One of the best notes on this horn, without a lie, was low F. A lot of guys I knew played their Mirafones with low F 1-4 with a pull. Hogwash. Now (this is where the Tommy Johnson confirmation comes in, since the guys I bought it from was a student of his in LA) I was told to play this 5-2-3. At first it feels a bit awkward on the fingers... but... the low F sounds like the Voice of You-Know-Who. It is anything you want, but the best part is it had a sound. It had all sorts of core, with a nice rim of edge at loud dynamics. This sound continued all the way to the open fundamental. Also, the 2-3 fifth gave you an alternate for pedal CC. 5-1-2-3-4 was an in tune alternate with about an inch and a half pull on first valve. This gave the opportunity to go an octave lower, if you could flap your chops that slow. Enough about that range.

Mid and upper register. The "money" register. Well this horn was solid there. the best part was no goofy fingerings. This horn was a 3 valve horn from D below the staff and up. Everything was in tune with little to no first valve slide movement. Upper register was secure, although it lost the "lock-in" feel after G above the staff.

Response. Mine responded instantly. I've only played a few horns with easier response, and one was Paul Weikle's 186-5U CC.

If you find you are having an issue with the low range on a 'Fone, I suggest the following: envision your airstream to becoming "denser" like a tube of toothpaste. A slower wider stream, but with the "squeeze" of pressure behind it. Once I had that figured out, there were few horns that could out project my 188 in the lower register. I have owned 6/4 horns that couldn't "get out" like that 188. It was just loud. Maybe mine was a bit better in this regard, but others I played seemed pretty damn consistent.

If you were to by one, I would suggest finding one with the longer fifth. The flat-whole step fifth only works for low F and Eb, both of which the 188 does just as well with the 2-3 fifth. The low Eb might be a bit more automatic, as that was the 1-3-4 pull 1st combo on the 2-3 valve. However, 5-1-2-3 was pretty close. That pedal C 5-1-2-3-4 alternate can have some interesting uses. If you want to show a bass bone player what "edge" sounds like, there you go. It's nasty. If you buy new, find out what the wait is for the longer valve. It may be worth it!

My only problem was playing in quintet. The horn is a bit big there. If the other players are good players, not an issue, but it might be with a college quintet.

A good 188 is hard to beat for a horn to do it all. I owned one and played it professionally for a few years. The best thing is, it probably won't be the type of horn you'll sell after you graduate. It fits the bill in almost any situation.

These horns are really fun to play! Very flexible, and you can make it do just about anything.
I think JulieW is still selling hers? I've heard it is a very good example of this horn.
Tubatom, I think I was at WWBW when you bought yours? Congrats on the tuba!

kctubadude wrote:These horns are really fun to play! Very flexible, and you can make it do just about anything.
I think JulieW is still selling hers? I've heard it is a very good example of this horn.
Tubatom, I think I was at WWBW when you bought yours? Congrats on the tuba!

If you were the guy walking out with a blue miraphone bag, then yup it was me! So glad you convinced me to try one. Good to here from you! (Small world isn't it)

Is there any reason to prefer a 188 over a 187 if you don't think you will be playing professionally?
I've been reading that the new 187s have a darker, louder sound than 186s, have better linkages and have better intonation than earlier models, although this may be just advertising...

Warning -- if you buy one now, you might never need to buy another tuba again. This will severely impact the amount of time you get to spend on TubeNet shopping for new tubas, researching other horns, and chatting about equipment.

Seriously though, my favorite tuba I've ever played on was a Miraphone 188 I borrowed from someone in Austria when I was there a few years ago. It responded instantly, had a nice, thick low end, and was just a blast to play. I wanted to buy it, but the guy was selling his Hirsbrunner to keep his 188. Try one, if you like it, buy it.