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Hello,
I am hopeful those of you with more tuba knowledge than I have might be able to help me find out approximately when my Miraphone 186 would have been made and thus it's approximate age. I unfortunately can not use a serial number, as the one on this horn was removed at some point (I purchased it from someone who purchased it legally from a music store, so I don't know when or why this occurred).

Pictures of the horn can be found here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... _9OxB6w9Ke" target="_blank

Thanks!

Some of them did not come with a serial number. Someone else is going to have to fill you in on the details of dating a Mirafone/phone.

Looks to be late 60's or early 70's based on the S-links and other clues.

Look on the bell krantz--it should say MIRAFONE, not-phone. It is also the smaller 16 1/2" bell by all appearances, plus the S-link, it almost certainly a '60's to 70's vintage. Dead ringer to my 1972 horn.

My 1978 186 had the nylon ball linkages so yours is definitely older than that.

Dating Miraphone 186 is illegal.

Even in Alabama!!

It wasn't forged, so much as it was embellished!!

bloke wrote:

so (ex.) 1726 becomes 17263...and an 86 becomes a 14...??

It actually is a 14 but it looks like a 19.

Allegedly...

bloke wrote:
bloke "I probably wouldn't be dating an 86 anyway."

In 2041, maybe?

I have a 1974 Mirafone 186 CC. From what I understand, horns made for the American market through the late 70's have an "f" instead of a "ph" in the name. Also, my horn's bell is bigger than yours, so I am guessing that it is pre-1974. Looks like a great tuba.

Thanks,
Dan Bradley

p.s. Does anyone know when they stopped using the beautiful S-linkage on the rotors? My horn has it, as does the poster's.

Dan Bradley wrote:Does anyone know when they stopped using the beautiful S-linkage on the rotors? My horn has it, as does the poster's.

FWIW: my 1974 184-4U CC came with the plastic ball linkage and all 4 rotors factory vented and still says "FONE"...

windshieldbug wrote:FWIW: my 1974 184-4U CC came with the plastic ball linkage and all 4 rotors factory vented and still says "FONE"...

Like B&S and Cerveny Miraph/fone used modular designs, where the basic acoustic design was the same through all model levels. Looks like WSBug 40+ years back boght himself an upscale version with upgrades like vented valves and more modern transmission. Possibly also with better alloys, Kranz, and more valves.

One US importer through a period sold cheaper 186 BBb basses with no Kranz and much less nickel silver. Irony has it that these basses likely were much more responsive, as they weren’t stiffened by the nickel silver elements. But of course also much more vulnerable to dents and bent bell and tubing.

Klaus