Reply to the sponsors talking among themselves about parts

[Michael Bush]

...in the Sponsors forum.

I think both Bloke and Neptune have excellent points. Somebody needs to be the guy who has parts in the US, and I second Bloke's nomination of Al to be that guy.

And it's also true that nobody is going to have every part you might need.

Once, when I was playing a 186, I got tired of waiting (after several weeks) for a linkage screw to be sent from Deutschland, and tried one of the screws left over from when I repaired Apple computers as a graduate student. It fit like it was made for it. The screw from Miraphone showed up two months later.

[Michael Bush]

[sidebar/random.miraphone.de]

MODERN 186 mouthpipes DO NOT FIT "vintage" 186 tubas. Why...?? Because the MODERN 186 tubas have a WIDER bell-to-top-bow brace and FATTER bell throat. Thus, the MODERN 186 mouthpipes are bent accordingly.

recommended solution: Keep the larger-bore half of the original 'pipe (which, typically, is not badly damaged nor badly dezinctified) and hand-make (not that hard to do) the part that is usually destroyed: the smaller-bore portion that wraps around the bell. Connect them together next to the top bow, as is done at the factory on M-W 20 and 25 tubas.

classic example: http://cgi.ebay.com/USED-MIRAFONE-TUBA- ... 0709211063

[/sidebar]

Well, that's all fine, Bloke, if anybody has a mouthpipe problem. The problem I was dealing with was a little screw on a *modern* (not S-shaped) valve linkage.

[Wyvern]

Well, that's all fine, Bloke, if anybody has a mouthpipe problem. The problem I was dealing with was a little screw on a *modern* (not S-shaped) valve linkage.

Sounds like a job for the 3D Printer mentioned in another thread. Maybe repair men should have one of those to replicate spare parts as required (although you will end up with a plastic tuba)?

[tubaforce]

Hi!
I have it on good authority that the best way to get Miraphone parts is direct from Germany, thus avoiding markups and mixups! I bend Carbon Steel Pipe, Stainless Steel and Copper Tubing quite a bit in my real job, and I know I'd be throwing away a lot of tubing trying to learn the ins and outs of making and/or adjusting a mouth-pipe to fit PROPERLY! I know one Craftsman pesonaly, and another one or two anecdotally who have the skills and experience to perform proper repairs and alterations to Brass instruments of ANY size (and saxes, too)! And those Craftsmen are middle aged and OLDER! What is needed is several ambitious people willing and able to learn the trade of instrument repair AND fabrication! Such a person should know their way around a machine shop, and have the math skills to lay out a new bow on a piece of sheet brass, and the patience and TALENT to roll it up and braze it, anneal it, adjust it, and make it fit and function right! Where one goes to get such an education, I don't know. And how that person eats while obtaining that education, and still ends up with many productive years utilizing that training is not known to me! What I do know is that we're going to need such pesons before it's too late, and there's no one to go to for a custom screw, or "new" bottom bow for an 80 y/o York.

Al

[bort]

Once, when I was playing a 186, I got tired of waiting (after several weeks) for a linkage screw to be sent from Deutschland, and tried one of the screws left over from when I repaired Apple computers as a graduate student. It fit like it was made for it. The screw from Miraphone showed up two months later.

But isn't that sort of what repairmen do anyway a lot of times? They repair and fix things, by whatever means they can. Though maybe not computer parts, I never assumed that parts were always manufacturer parts as much as the part that works (possibly salvaged from old horns).

It's not like these are auto parts!

[MartyNeilan]

Once, when I was playing a 186, I got tired of waiting (after several weeks) for a linkage screw to be sent from Deutschland, and tried one of the screws left over from when I repaired Apple computers as a graduate student. It fit like it was made for it. The screw from Miraphone showed up two months later.

But isn't that sort of what repairmen do anyway a lot of times? They repair and fix things, by whatever means they can. Though maybe not computer parts, I never assumed that parts were always manufacturer parts as much as the part that works (possibly salvaged from old horns).

It's not like these are auto parts!

Interesting what they do in Cuba, keeping 50 year old American cars running. I think there are a lot of similarities (politics aside.) Here is a documentary I watched on Netflix the other day:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312048/

[Michael Bush]

Once, when I was playing a 186, I got tired of waiting (after several weeks) for a linkage screw to be sent from Deutschland, and tried one of the screws left over from when I repaired Apple computers as a graduate student. It fit like it was made for it. The screw from Miraphone showed up two months later.

But isn't that sort of what repairmen do anyway a lot of times? They repair and fix things, by whatever means they can. Though maybe not computer parts, I never assumed that parts were always manufacturer parts as much as the part that works (possibly salvaged from old horns).

It's not like these are auto parts!

Exactly. I think this whole worry about parts will resolve itself in time, as dealers like Al and others make the need clear in China, and as repair shops figure out the necessary workarounds, as you point out.

And it isn't necessarily a walk in the park to get parts for the mature brands we're more accustomed to, making workarounds necessary with them also.

[The Big Ben]

And those Craftsmen are middle aged and OLDER!

Hey, Al! Don't talk about Dan O that way!

[Dan Schultz]

Although I would like for manufacturers, importers, resellers, etc. to make repair parts available... I've learned to live with the fact that lots of the old stuff will interchange and some things are as common as Ace Hardware.

Parts can be a HUGE problem even from respected manufacturers. Have you tried to buy parts for a Besson tuba or euphonium lately?

Even with old names that are now owned by The Cyborg... model numbers have changed and it can be very difficult to get parts for horns that are only a decade or so old.

Some importers are making an effort to stock a few parts. That's a good sign. However... the problem as I see it is that the current market is in such flux and there are so many new models coming on stream... it's going to be about impossible to keep up with.

Heck... I even managed to buy a new neck for a 'SKY' also saxophone today. Life is good!

[tubamlb]

M&M Instruments does keep a supply of parts for all the instruments they sell , that also fit most other European and Asian Instruments

They have been supplying parts to informed progressive repair men for the past 6 years

[bisontuba]