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I did a search but couldn't find what I was looking for.

I know there was a change, obviously, but why exactly did the spelling change? Was it just an overseas thing for us silly Americans, or perhaps a "political" reasoning?

The German company is called "Miraphone", but in the U.S. a telephone maker had already trademarked that name, hence the temporary name in the U.S. of "Mirafone".

I'm sure others can provide the exact years, but my 1974 184 has a "fone" spelling.

windshieldbug wrote:The German company is called "Miraphone", but in the U.S. a telephone maker had already trademarked that name, hence the temporary name in the U.S. of "Mirafone".

I'm sure others can provide the exact years, but my 1974 184 has a "fone" spelling.

I owned a Mirafone 1290 (predecessor to the 1295 and 1291). Not sure of the age though.

http://loyaltubist.blogspot.com/2009/04 ... tubas.html" target="_blank
My 186 was made in 1994 and has "mirafone"

I believe I was told that the name was changed to Mirafone here in the states to go along with other marketing changes that were cropping up at the time, like Lite Beer and such. The warehouse was in Sun Valley California and I would expect this is true.

Just my $0.02.

Roger

the elephant wrote:HAHAHA!!!

Last person you said that to got upset.

Just a little Photoshop fun.

It's sort of the same thing as Melton/Meinl-Weston. The name "Melton" was already taken here, so they had to come up with something.

They should have use the Miraphone method and just change one letter. Mellton? Meltun? Melltun? Ok never mind, those are terrible.

Here's another question... sort of like the old myth (half-truth?) that manufacturers would select only the best instruments to be silver plated (as they were more worthy of that level of extra work and attention).

Since the tubas are all made in Germany, do you think that Miraphone might have selected better examples of their stock to receive the "f" spelling and be sold in the US? (to help jump-start and promote new sales?) Or perhaps the opposite (keep the best at home!)? Or just engrave them without discretion?

We'll probably never know, just curious if it's like "time to make an 'f' batch" or "hey Mr. Tuba builder, make half of them 'f' and half 'ph'"?

bort wrote:Here's another question... sort of like the old myth (half-truth?) that manufacturers would select only the best instruments to be silver plated (as they were more worthy of that level of extra work and attention).

Since the tubas are all made in Germany, do you think that Miraphone might have selected better examples of their stock to receive the "f" spelling and be sold in the US? (to help jump-start and promote new sales?) Or perhaps the opposite (keep the best at home!)? Or just engrave them without discretion?

We'll probably never know, just curious if it's like "time to make an 'f' batch" or "hey Mr. Tuba builder, make half of them 'f' and half 'ph'"?

I can't say how they did it in the past, but nowadays the myth is not true. Miraphone ships their tubas totally clean and dry and unplayed so tarnish and corrosion issues do not arise during shipping. There is not an opportunity to pick favorites. Many tubas ship by ocean, so it can be over a month before arrival. A tuba shipped wet can have frozen rotors out of the box. You might wonder if this increases the incidents of faulty tubas being shipped. My experience in selling Miraphones for 7+ years is that only one tuba arrived that didn't play flawlessly, and it just had a piece of cork blocking a tube.

Josef Lidl tubas, which are also excellent for the price, do have tarnish issues on the rotors upon arrival, probably from not being completely dry inside before packing. Play testing before packing will do that. It's not hard to fix, but I have to do it. (Hulk angry!)

It's not only Miraphone that has this high standard. Yamaha instruments, and many Conn-Selmer and other makers' horns also ship totally dry and unplayed to prevent corrosion during transport and storage.

Best,

Ferguson

the elephant wrote:

chronolith wrote:

the elephant wrote:HAHAHA!!!

Last person you said that to got upset.

Some people are born with wadded up panties already in place, ready to go to work!

SAYING WHAT?!

bloke wrote:Regardless of the factory or country in which it was located, wouldn't trust any factory laborers (or hired "horn testers", for that matter) to pick out "the best instruments".

+∞

If anything about playing tubas has become apparent to me, it is that no horn works exactly the same for any two people. The idea that a "playtester" can determine anything about the suitability of a horn for a specific buyer other than that the horn is functional is laughable to me. Where's the photo of the used car salesman when you really need it?

pierso20 wrote:

windshieldbug wrote:The German company is called "Miraphone", but in the U.S. a telephone maker had already trademarked that name, hence the temporary name in the U.S. of "Mirafone".

I'm sure others can provide the exact years, but my 1974 184 has a "fone" spelling.

I owned a Mirafone 1290 (predecessor to the 1295 and 1291). Not sure of the age though.

Mid 90's.

Mirapfhone.

Seriously, I think that all the Miraphones I saw and played in the late '60's and early '70's were labeled Mirafone.

My TE-186 built in 1997 is a Mirafone.

What is a "Best" instrument? Different players interact differently with different tubas and mouthpieces. Different players have different criteria priorities in selecting tubas. The only thing to do is to try as many as you can before you buy so the proper tuba can find you.

Conversely, I think people pretty much agree when a tuba is a "dud."

Howdy! I've recently volunteered for our local symphony and dug my old tuba out...It's a Mirafone BBb 3/4 size 4-valve piston, the model number is faded but looks to be 4762...anyone have any idea how old this is?

I know it's at least 20 years old because I've had it that long, but it wasn't new when I got it.

Thanks!

Howdy! I've recently volunteered for our local symphony and dug my old tuba out...It's a Mirafone BBb 3/4 size 4-valve piston, the model number is faded but looks to be 4762...anyone have any idea how old this is?

I know it's at least 20 years old because I've had it that long, but it wasn't new when I got it.

Thanks!

According to this list your tuba was built in 1968:
http://www.musictrader.com/mirafone.html" target="_blank" target="_blank

Hey, awesome!! Thanks for the info!

Your Google-foo is much stronger than mine