1970 Mirafone 184 or 186?

[tubatim89]

I am in need of information on this horn. It has a 16.5" bell and about 39" tall.
Is it a 184 or 186? It looks like a POS, I know, but any information on how much its worth or if its a pro, student horn or what you think of the horn is appreciated! If you are interested in this let me know too!
Thank You

[Dan Schultz]

It's a 186. A 184 would have a 14" bell. Too bad about the bell. It's had a rough life. If the valve section is is good shape, it's probably worth plunking down the dough for a new bell.

[tubaguy9]

Yeah, I'd guess a 186...They're nice horns, and yours would be nice without the dents...

[rocksanddirt]

looks a lot like mine when I got it.....

after some work (ok, a lot) it still looks awful, but sounds great!

[iiipopes]

We can rebuild it. We have the technology....

[iiipopes]

From what I have heard of 186's through the years, and most recently the trio of different variants I have either played or sat next to, the 186 is very amenable to personally tailoring your desired tone by bell selection. In addition to the descriptions on his website of how the various bells sound, I can tell you the old 16 1/2 inch bell is typically "German" stovepipe sounding, the new 17 3/4 inch bell leans towards the American market, although a little vanilla in tone for me, and my retrofit St Pete bell with its wide throat and smaller flare definitely looks east towards Alex territory.

Yes, indeed. At this point, with nothing left to lose, and assuming the block and bugle are in otherwise tolerable shape, talk to Dan about what kind of tone you want out of your beast and have him supply a bell accordingly.

[Dan Schultz]

..... talk to Dan about what kind of tone you want out of your beast and have him supply a bell accordingly.

I have a complete recording bell and stack for a 186 that would work on that horn. However... it's a little known fact that there were several generations of Mirafone tubas that had minor manufacturing changes. One change was a different branch out of the main tuning slide depending of whether the Mirafone was shipped with an upright or a front-facing bell. You do need to play the horn the way it is first and make a determination of whether the horn tends to be flat, sharp, or 'in the middle' before you mess much with the bell. You can always pull out a bit to correct a sharp open bugle but if the horn is already on the 'flat side', you don't have anywhere to go if the horn goes flat after a bell swap. It's true that just changing the size of the bell flare doesn't change the pitch much but that's all 'out the window' if the horns already flat. It flies in the face of conventional wisdom, but I'm seen smaller bells make a horn go flat.

[The Big Ben]

We can rebuild it. We have the technology....

Yes, we do. That bell could be repaired. Cost may or may not be more than a new bell and it may or may not look good, depending on the horn jockey.

[tubatim89]

Bump

[J.c. Sherman]

Garbage... better send it to me for disposal

Seriously, though, you can repair that bell... you can actually order a new wreath for it, even. However, it's all economics... Mr. Tinker's bell is probably the most economical.

J.c.S. (Who wants TubaTinker to send him the bell he removed from that B&S/Alex/WTF BBb!)

[Dan Schultz]

Garbage... better send it to me for disposal

Seriously, though, you can repair that bell... you can actually order a new wreath for it, even. However, it's all economics... Mr. Tinker's bell is probably the most economical.

J.c.S. (Who wants TubaTinker to send him the bell he removed from that B&S/Alex/WTF BBb!)

That bell is no prize but if you want it, I'll gladly send it to you for the cost of the postage. I would eventually cut it up and use the stack for something, anyway.

[iiipopes]

How about an American-style bell from a Holton, York, Conn,.... instead? This has been done, so you should be able to find out some specifics instead of winging it.

That's basically what the stock "new" 17 3/4 inch bell is trying to do, but just doesn't quite get the job done. But a real transplant with about a 19 or 20 inch bell should.