Handmade Miraphone tubas

[Chuck(G)]

Working on S/N 44xx 186; just finished working on S/N 17xx 184 and finished S/N 52xx 186 about a month ago (for sale!). Seems that the low serial-numbered ones are pretty plentiful on the left coast--a lot of schools bought them--and a lot of students bought them also.

[Chuck(G)]

Not to put words into a person's mouth, but how about this in place of the original question:

"Who else owns an old Miraphone tuba?"

(Fellow in the band owns an old Miraphone Eb tenor horn and I think it's gawdawful)

[TubaRay]

Uh elephant guy....i dont know what your problem is but all i asked was a simple question, who else owns miraphone tubas. I strogly advise you to keep your comments to yourself seriouly because if you dont have anything to say postive, dont say anything at all.

Sorry, tubaman, he can say anything positive or negative that he wishes. You don't get to make that call. Sean does.

And it is true if you know anything about tubas that they just dont make handmade tubas anymore becasue for one, its very costly, and also mass production is a cheaper way to sell horns at a quick paste. Learn and do research before you make an *** of yourself dumbass.

It is not the elephant who making an *** of himself, here.

So why dont you take your big elephant self to some other topic. And as for me bumping my stuff. Man i pay taxes and this is free damn country so you mind your business or something and quit being a dumbass.

Here you provide additional proof of who is making the *** of himself. Paying taxes and living in this free country have little to do with posting on this forum. This is Sean Chisham's TubeNet. It is not yours or mine. He alone gets to control its content.

I would suggest you be more careful of the manner in which you defend yourself on TubeNet. When you attack a respected and long-time member of this forum, expect this to be received rather poorly. All Wade did was offer some advise to you. He may not have offered it diplomaticly, but he offered it, nonetheless. There was no call for your flaming response. He was right, by the way. It isn't necessary to bump your posts to the top so frequently. It does cause others to start questioning what your motivation is. Much can be learned, here. I learn things almost daily. I learn far more than I contribute. I am totally aware of this. And more importantly, it isn't always necessary to defend yourself, here.

[Rick Denney]

Eh....Im am sorry to say old grumpy man but that is certianly not true by any means. If you really have done your research you would cleary see that the only tubas today that are handmade are the special made ones, gronitz, some hirbrunners and of course the MW 2000.

Yeah, you're right. Bloke needs to do more research on how tubas are made.

But since he doesn't know, why don't you tell us why you consider Gronitz and the Meinl-Weston 2000 to be hand-made. What makes it so? What specific processes are done differently?

Rick "eager to learn" Denney

[Michael Woods]

tubaman06 . . . . . . . . . . . . . yur dumb.


nuf said

[circusboy]

I can do bump my **** all i want to.

Clearly.

I own a handmade Miraphone.

[Rick Denney]

Rick Denney, i would just like to commend you on your respect that you give on this topic. As you could have read, other people just couldnt seem to stick to the topic at hand.

I think you misunderstand me, and the others as well. Nobody has higher respect for what Bloke knows about how tubas are made than I do. Hint: He also owns a Gronitz PCK.

On the subject of sticking to the topic, please understand that you do not own the conversation. Threads morph into what is interesting for those in the discussion, just like normal human conversation. Sometimes, that wanders away from what the guy who brought up the subject wants to discuss, in which case he can either try to steer it back or move on to another group (or thread) and try again. But if you are going to steer a conversation back to what you want, calling the people in the discussion dumbasses is probably not going to achieve your objective.

And you did indeed step into my trap. In fact, you don't really know the difference between a "handmade" tuba and a "machine-made" tuba. I respectfully submit that the difference is limited to whether the bottom bow, and perhaps the upper bow, are hand-hammered or hydroformed. This difference might have an effect, but probably not.

That is the only fundamental production difference between a 2000 and a 2155 (except small design differences between the two). The biggest difference comes during assembly, and all tubas are hand-assembled.

So-called "hand-made" tubas are hand-assembled by the best technicians, and the parts are adjusted to fit very exactly without having to be stressed. Non-hand-made tubas are hand-assembled by lesser technicians (or technicians who are granted less time) who sometimes make parts fit by flexing them into position and soldering them down.

Having to make hand adjustments to parts is usually a sign of poor production practices, and most manufacturers believe that more consistent production that minimizes the work required during assembly is an improvement. I'm sure Miraphone was pleased when their production improved to the point where parts didn't require so much hand fitment to make them work.

And being hand-made doesn't mean that much by itself. St. Petersburg tubas are at least as hand-made as any tuba currently produced. Being hand-made is no advantage unless the hands belong to a master.

I don't know when Miraphone stopped hand-hammering the outer branches in favor of hydroforming. And I'm not sure it matters. There are many wonderful tubas with hydroformed outer branches and many stinkers that were hand-hammered. I suspect that the bigger difference was a change in design, and perhaps also when Miraphones got popular in the schools, Miraphone had to increase production and therefore used assemblers with a little less mastery.

Rick "thinking respect has to be earned" Denney

[Tubadork]

Wow,

Deep breath, relax. Remember this is still tuba, no one is going to die over this (I hope)

Chillax
Bill

ummmm... food

[circusboy]

hey circus boy, get a life for one dollar dumbass

I am truly humbled by your droll, yet trenchant riposte.

[dmmorris]

other people just couldnt seem to stick to the topic

Mommy, mommy....Billy is praying with his eyes open......again!

[iiipopes]

GENTLEMEN, PLEASE!

As was told to me recently, and I accepted, now that you have all vented, please resume the customary courtesy and deference to one another that makes this a superlative forum.

Now, just where is that picture of the tuba with a full beer glass for a bell?

[windshieldbug]

Man i pay taxes

(Or at least his mom MIGHT)

btw: There is no such thing as "mass production" of tubas, either.

Maybe, but I'm thinking that Yamaha has come as close as anyone...

"What we have here is a failure to communicate" - Cool Hand Luke

tubaman06 - What do you think makes a tuba handmade? What parts of manufacturing does this include?

[circusboy]

Forgive me. I had a bad morning.

You forgive us
We'll forgive you
We'll forgive each other
'Til we both turn blue

Then we'll all go fishin' in heaven.

--John Prine

[Chuck(G)]

Forgive me. I had a bad morning.

Take me for a ride in the car, car.
Take me for a ride, take me for a ride,
Take me for a ride in the car, car.

Click, clack open up the front door.
Click, clack open up the back door.
Take me for a ride, take me for a ride,
Take me for a ride in the car, car.

Climb, climb, rattle in the front seat.
Spree I spraddle on the back seat.
Take me for a ride, take me for a ride,
Take me for a ride in the car, car.

Engine, it goes "Brrrm! Brrrm!"
Engine, it goes "Brrrm! Brrrm!"
Take me for a ride, take me for a ride,
Take me for a ride in the car, car.

I'm a-gonna let you blow the horn.
I'm a-gonna let you blow the horn.
Take me for a ride, take me for a ride,
Take me for a ride in the car, car.

[Donn]

ummmm... food

This isn't food. Doc, show him what food looks like.

Evidently we don't call him Doc because of any medical credentials.

[tubamirum]

I might suggest that tubaman learn to punctuate, therefore making his rants easier to read. Also, what factories has he worked in?

[TubaRay]

I might suggest that tubaman learn to punctuate, therefore making his rants easier to read. Also, what factories has he worked in?

I believe you have misread tubaman's posts. He uses the word "dumbass" in place of punctuation marks.