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Hello everyone!

I have been looking for a CC tuba for a bit now, to prepare for college auditions and playing. So far, because I'm in a bit of a time crunch, I've been looking at two options. One is the Miraphone 188, and the other is the Eastman EBC-632. From my understanding, the Miraphone is just about guaranteed to be a great all around horn, but buying it new obviously comes with a significant price tag. The Eastman on the other hand, is of course a chinese horn, however, I have only seen rave reviews about it, and the benefit of a few thousand dollars saved is a nice bonus.

So here I am asking some more knowledgeable tubists their opinion. For a college student doing mixed playing in wind bands, solo, etc., what would be a better all around horn, the Eastman 632 or the Miraphone 188?

Thanks for any input, and happy tuba-ing!

You really can't go wrong with a 188. There are a few used options on here. Just like buying a car, do your best to avoid buying new! The Eastman is also a good horn and is cheaper. They're just different. Play them both and make your decision. If it were up to me, I'd go with the 188. There's nothing it can't do.

Any reason you aren't looking at the Miraphone 186 CC? What are you playing on now? I would definitely look around to see what's used. There are a lot of great horns out there.

Eastman 632 and done. There’s great used deals to be had here as well. Don’t pay over 5K!

188 is a nice horn.

I do not miss my 186, at all. OPINION: weak low register, stupid “chimney” look, and poor ergonomics (I injured my wrist maneuvering the first valve slide that’s tucked under the top bow). Good riddance! YMMV... I’m definitely in the minority around these parts.

188 fixed all of those things.

But, if I personally could do collage all over again, I’d hands-down stay on Bb and add Eb for solo lit/crushing wind ensemble auditions/advanced studies, etc.

Think about “why” you’re switching, that’s all.

CleverTubaUsername wrote:Hello everyone!

I have been looking for a CC tuba for a bit now, to prepare for college auditions and playing. So far, because I'm in a bit of a time crunch, I've been looking at two options. One is the Miraphone 188, and the other is the Eastman EBC-632. From my understanding, the Miraphone is just about guaranteed to be a great all around horn, but buying it new obviously comes with a significant price tag. The Eastman on the other hand, is of course a chinese horn, however, I have only seen rave reviews about it, and the benefit of a few thousand dollars saved is a nice bonus.

So here I am asking some more knowledgeable tubists their opinion. For a college student doing mixed playing in wind bands, solo, etc., what would be a better all around horn, the Eastman 632 or the Miraphone 188?

Thanks for any input, and happy tuba-ing!

Do you really have USD 10.000 to put into a brand new tuba? I think my advice would be to look around for a decent, used CC - there are several good horns for sale in the "for trade"-section here on tubenet. A used, well taken care of horn is a good starting place, and if you really get into the tuba world, the instrument you buy now will probably not be your last.

Good luck!

For a college student (or prospective college student), I'll recommend the Miraphone, but ONLY buy used.
First reason - If you ever need to sell it, you can get back approximately what you paid, as long as you don't add too many scratches or dents.
Second reason - You're not going to find the Eastman used. It's a good instrument, but it's new enough that they're not really available 2nd hand yet. * - I won't be upset if someone proves me wrong on this point

And definitely go try them BOTH out (Miraphone and Eastman) before buying. For that matter, I say try everything you can get your hands on if you're chops are good enough to stay for a few hours at whatever tuba shop(s) you can get to during Christmas break. Again, stick with used while you're still a student because you're going to be able to re-sell it later when you know what you want.

CleverTubaUsername wrote:For a college student ... ?

Thanks for all the input!

A few questions I see, yes, I will be auditioning in a few months. The ideal situation would 100% be to rent or borrow a BBb tuba that I'm more used to, audition on that, and not worry about buying a horn until a few months (or years) down the line. Unfortunately, I had looked for months including calling every school in northern Colorado, every music store I know about, talking to college professors, my old lesson teacher, a connection I have with the Steamboat Symphony, etc., and I have struck out in trying to find a horn to use for my audition. Since I am two years removed from high school, I don't even have a school horn to prepare on. When talking to the professor at the school I will be auditioning at, he recommended looking into buying a CC horn, and gave me a few places to look, since renting here is, in his words, just about impossible. I did end up going with the Eastman, and got quite a good deal from Matt at Dillon Music. Unfortunately, every day I tried and failed to find a horn to rent, was a day that I couldn't prepare for the audition. Not an ideal situation by any means, but hopefully the Eastman will be a good option that I can play a few years and sell if it ends up not working for me.

Thanks again for all your advice!

It seems like you feel you need to buy an instrument. You seemed to have done your research and nothing is available.

If I were in your situation, I would get a less expensive instrument right now. Used on this forum or something like the Mack 410(CC)/210(BBb). My reasoning is invest less now, while you don't know what you want or if you will get in. Even if you buy an expensive instrument now you will likely get something different later. The limit on getting into University, and the first couple years or more, is not the instrument it is your skill/preparation.

To me the Mack 410 would be a useful tool for you to have. The 410 is cheap, normal 4/4 size and a good back-up even when you "upgrade" later. I have needed a horn for when mine is in the shop.

Dillons/Wessex version of this instrument is good too, if you want to deal with either of them.