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Which model Miraphone? I used to know where a 184 bell was... it may be available.

There are other options:

A good brass technician can convert your forward facing bell to an upright bell. Expensive but probably cheaper than a new bell from Miraphone.

Other bells will fit and, in the opinion of some, make the horn sound better. Ron Bishop replaced a 184 bell with the Yamaha Eb tuba bell for his small tuba. He played it for years.

LARRY CLINE wrote:I think that mine is a 184 model so if you can locate that bell you used to know about, I would appreciate it. I have thought about attemppting to straighten the curved one and am glad to know that I am not the first to think of doing so. Thanks for your help. Larry

Before I would attempt to straighten the curved bell, I would look into replacing the entire bell stack from the ferrule up. That would remove the bell-attachment ring, but that must not be important to you anyway if you are contemplating straightening the forward bell.

Badger State Repair in Elkhorn, Wisconsin carries Miraphone replacement parts, and can probably get a brand new bell for a 184, though probably not a detachable one. They might even have one in stock.

Rick "thinking as used bell for a 18*6* would be easier to find" Denney

[quote]Before I would attempt to straighten the curved bell, I would look into replacing the entire bell stack from the ferrule up. That would remove the bell-attachment ring, but that must not be important to you anyway if you are contemplating straightening the forward bell. [/quote]


I am soooooooo disappointed to hear that you didn't like the suggestion of changing the bell front to upright. As an adventurer in the tuba world, I thought you'd relish the idea.

If I had time, I'd try it myself.

The original poster should contact me about the 184 bell directly. I tried e-mailing him but can't do it from here.[/quote]

I have an Alexander Bell (15 3/4"), if you're up for experimenting. I got a new, larger Alexander bell (18") last year.

Alex C wrote:As an adventurer in the tuba world, I thought you'd relish the idea.

I'm only adventurous with junkers, and then only MY junkers.

Rick "who thinks making a Miraphone bell when one can be bought for relatively cheaply wastes precious life-minutes" Denney

It it's a 184, a Boosey Eb bell might do the trick too. Maybe you can find an old Imperial owner who upgraded the old 16" bell to the 19" model.

But double-check your measurements--a by-guess-and-by-golly eyeball guesstimate here says that they're pretty close.

I know this horn, it is a 186, bell front from the '60s. The body is in great shape, but that bell has to go.

BTW, this horn has the detachable bell, so he just needs the upright version.

ai698 wrote:BTW, this horn has the detachable bell, so he just needs the upright version.

Ah, there's the rub--contrary to the American practice, many of these European bell-front tubas did not have a detachable upright bell as an option. I've seen lots of bell-front Besson BBb tubas with a detachable front bell, but none with a detachable factory-original upright bell.

So the choice would seem to boil down to replacing the entire bell stack with a single-piece 186 bell or using the flange from the forward bell for some sort of homebrew upright bell.

TubaAS wrote:The only problem with buying an upright bell and putting it on will be the fact that Miraphone parts come unfinished. The bell would have to be buffed and lacquered to match the instrument. If you have the money to do it, there are people ready to do it for you.

And that is a problem compared to finding an upright detachable bell, when one was probably never made, or compared to straightening a curved detachable bell?

Polishing a new bell is not difficult--nothing has to be ragged. I would assume that you repair dudes adjust it for good fit, polish it, solder it in place, clean up the solder, and then spray lacquer on it. Personally, I'd be happy if you stopped before the final step.

Rick "whose Miraphone, like several of his tubas, is unlacquered anyway" Denney

I'm in the same boat as Larry, but as a former machinist and modelmaker, I would like to make my own upright bell from one of the "parts" tubas that seem to be showing up on that auction site. Does anyone have any recommendations on what would be a good fit? Yamaha? Reynolds? an old Eb? And, does anyone know how long (tall) it should end up to be close to being in tune? I'd guess it should end up the same as a regular 186 as long as the bell is between 15" and 20" in diameter, or am I missing something that you acoustical gurus, or Rick Denny, could inform me on?

twoconnguy wrote:I'm in the same boat as Larry, but as a former machinist and modelmaker, I would like to make my own upright bell from one of the "parts" tubas that seem to be showing up on that auction site. Does anyone have any recommendations on what would be a good fit? Yamaha? Reynolds? an old Eb? And, does anyone know how long (tall) it should end up to be close to being in tune? I'd guess it should end up the same as a regular 186 as long as the bell is between 15" and 20" in diameter, or am I missing something that you acoustical gurus, or Rick Denny, could inform me on?

Just get a bell from a junked Miraphone 186, machine up an attachment ring like the one of the forward bell, mark the right spot on the bell, make the cut, and solder it up. It would be easy enough to find someone with a regular Miraphone 186 to measure up to see if the bell-stack diameter is the same at the attachment ring (which I bet it is).

I can't think of anyway one might reasonably calculate the needed length. You'd need to just try it and see. I'd be floored if anything upstream from the ferrule where the bell stack attaches to the bottom bow is different between a 186 with a forward bell and a standard 186. Thus, I would measure the length of a standard 186 bell stack and subtract the distance from the ferrule to the attachment ring from that length to get the length of an upright bell. Then, measure candidate bells to see if they have the correct diameter to fit into the attachment ring at that same distance from the bell opening. My suspicion is that only a 186 bell will be close enough. There should be lots of those especially if you don't mind resurrecting a dead one.

Rick "hoping you have a lathe that will turn a ~6" attachment ring" Denney