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There are two under $2000.00 instruments on ebay right now, from reputable sellers (one is Quinn the Eskimo) and I would love to hear opinions as I haven't played either instrument. One is an old-style 16.5 inch bell 186 and the other is a 70's VMI 101. They look to be pretty similar and I would instinctively favor the 186 were it not for some real intonation issues I had once with a borrowed one. The VMI model I have never played, but I have loved the 3301 and think of VMI as a quality manufacturer. Thanks for any and all input. Steve

The name 'Mirafone' means A LOT in terms of resale value. If you think you may want to sell the horn at a later date... you would probably be better off buying the Mirafone.

That being said... I would lean toward the VMI simply because it appears to be in better shape... with regard to the bell. Those VMI tubas (aka B & S, Sonora, Carl Wunderlich, Gerhard Schneider, etc) are very good horns and I think their playability ranks right up there along side the consistency of the Mirafones.

'Fast Eddie' (mrstregs on Ebay) has had one of those VMI horns for sale for $1,850 for a long, long time. I'm frankly surprised someone hasn't bought it by now.

Any feeling for the intonation on each? Also, maybe Tinker can tell me - how much for a new bell for the miraphone? The rest of it looks MUCH better than the bell and the only dent that seems worrying is one Eskimo shows in a close up which is on an inside tube, on top, and appears deep and very hard to reach. The VMI seems to have some big dents in the bow which the miraphone doesn't have, as well as less lacquer overall. I don't understand how the mira got a bell so beat up and lacquer free when the rest of the horn retains a newer look. Past repairs to the bell?

vintage7512 wrote:Any feeling for the intonation on each? Also, maybe Tinker can tell me - how much for a new bell for the miraphone? .......I don't understand how the mira got a bell so beat up and lacquer free when the rest of the horn retains a newer look. Past repairs to the bell?

The older Mirafone lacquer tends to 'crinkle' and 'crack' when the bells are rolled out. The repairs to the bell in question are not the result of a single rolling. I suspect that the horn has resided in a classroom environment for perhaps 25-30 years. The condition of the bell is emblematic of what I usually see... maybe a little better as long as there are no splits or cracks. Nonetheless... I would expect that the bell would be dark-sounding and a bit 'dead'.... not very resonant at all.

Intonation-wise... both horns should be fairly equal.

A brand-new 'original' Mirafone bell will set you back over half the asking price for that horn. An aftermarket Chinese bell might be a little less than half that.... NOT including transportation and installation charges... depending on where you are and whether the new bell is to be finished.

If you want the Mirafone 'brought up to snuff' with an aftermarket bell and a little dent work, be prepared to invest at least another $600 on top of the asking price. For a genuine Mirafone bell complete with new lacquer and dentwork, that cost will exceed $1,500. Forget about finding a good used Mirafone bell. That won't happen.

IF I could buy that Mirafone for $600 or less, I would think nothing of snatching it up, slapping a new Asian bell on it, doing the dentwork, and asking about what the seller is asking for it.

Despite Quinn's excellent feedback, I did not have a good experience with a VMI 2301 horn I bought from him. It arrived with stuck valves and something very wonky going on in the fourth valve loop, probably a leak. I got the distinct impression that no one who knew anything about brass instruments had checked the horn before it was declared a "good player". (Have you ever seen a horn advertised as anything but?) I had it less than 24 hrs before it was on a truck back to him. I also had to remind him to refund my money several days after he had received the horn back.

I would post a "Want to Buy" ad here on TubeNet and see what's out there before I did the eBay thing. PayPal and a 7 day trial should make a tuba player to tuba player deal as good or better than "da Bay".

Eric "who ate $300-400 in shipping on that particular deal, dangit" L.