What's the real difference?

[ppalan]

I've been playing the 186 CC for a long time but the 4V variety. My current horn dates from the 70's. I'm thinking about getting a larger horn and the 188 "seems" bigger. I actually found one for a very good price. I hope this isn't a dumb question but what's the real difference between the Miraphone 186 5V CC and the Miraphone 188 5V CC. The specs appear to be identical:
- Bell diameter 450 mm (17,717 inch)
- rotary valves
- spiral spring system
- Bore of valve section 19,6 mm (0,772 inch)
The only difference in the listed specs that I could see was that the 188 was Gold Brass. So my question is: what is it about the 188 that makes it appear (and sound) bigger? Thanks in advance for any info you can offer.

Pete

[ckalaher1]

The difference is about like that of the PT-15 and the PT-10. The 188 is just a little bit throatier, maybe a few bows are a little bit bigger, not much else really that I am aware of.

I know that the 188's that I've had a chance to play, and I owned one too, are better playing tubas than the 186's, at least in my opinion. Although, the vintage 186 MiraFones are supposed to be great.

I hear the gold brass 188's are great tubas, but I can't say that I've had a chance to play one.

Best of luck with everything.

[tclements]

I THINK the difference is that after the tuning slide, all the branches are larger. Larger bell throat and in the early models, the bell was larger. Now, the 186 has a 17 3/4" bell. BUT the 188 bell THROAT is still larger.

[bort]

The 188 is definitely wider than the 186, though as you mention, the usual tuba "stats" are all about the same. It's the same valve block on both, too.

This set of photos is kind of cool, though the 188 really seems wider than this to me
http://www.daveamason.com/mirafone/cctubas.html

[bort]

One more thought... while a 188 *is* larger than a 186, if you're really seeking something noticeably larger, you might want to shop around a little bit. While the 188 is a fantastic tuba (I'm biased, since I will have one soon!), it's still just a variety of 4/4 tuba. If "bigger" = 5/4 tuba, you might want to check out other things, like maybe an Alex 163 or one of the big Cerveny tubas.