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http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT

I emailed the seller and he said the bell is 14". He thinks the horn is a prototype. There is no serial number on the horn but his dad remembers that it's a model 1285. ??

Could be a 184. Looks like a BBb.

Looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

1959 is pretty old for a Miraphone; maybe before they used the model number 184?

bort wrote:Looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

1959 is pretty old for a Miraphone; maybe before they used the model number 184?

Yeah... the published serial number lists start in 1960 with number 1463. IF 1285 is really a serial number (and not the model number)... 1959 is feasible. It may well have been one of the very early US prototypes.

This horn might make a nice quintet horn for someone. (not me!)

It looks exactly like my old 184, which was a 1968 model I think. They are very nice quintet/doubler horns.

It's a 184, no question

The serial number should be right under the "Mirafone" triangle logo which is engraved or embossed on the bell in front. It sure sounds like the seller mistook it for the model number.

It also sounds like it was a very early MiraFone horn, hence the prototype reference.

windshieldbug wrote:The serial number should be right under the "Mirafone" triangle logo which is engraved or embossed on the bell in front. It sure sounds like the seller mistook it for the model number.

It also sounds like it was a very early MiraFone horn, hence the prototype reference.

I emailed the seller about the serial number. The earliest serial numbers that appear on any list is 1463 (1960). Prior to that... there were assumed to be no serial numbers on Mirafone tubas.

The seller claimed his dad bought the horn for a school program in 1959. His dad thought the horn was probably a prototype. It could very well be that it was some sort of pre-production model. There were some strange things happening in California with Mirafone at that time.