Phoenix area professional work and clean on Mirafone 186

[rodgeman]

A few months ago I bought a very used Mirafone 186 BBb 4 valve tuba. I really like it. After the community college band season was over I decided to get it serviced. I had a chemical clean and overhaul done on my previous tuba (a Conn 20J). Since this horn was new to me I wanted to get it cleaned and checked out.

There were no playing issues with the horn. Last time I had my horn cleaned at Milano's Music in Mesa, AZ. Milano's is a 45 minute drive from my house and they do not have a pickup service I was aware of. I then realized one of our community band members has a music shop about 10 minutes from my house called Music Masters http://www.azmusicmasters.com/. They had a drop off service to Nye Instrument Repair http://www.nyerepair.com. I got a quote on a sonic clean that was much lower than what Milano's was charging. Since I knew the store owner this became a possible option.

I researched chemical clean vs ultrasonic clean on this site and was open to either option. I spoke with Mike Nye and he was very easy to deal with. On top of the cleaning he would also remove dents he could reach without taking the tuba apart (other than slides, etc.). I have to say I am very happy with the work. The tuba plays great. It is very clean and as shiny as can be. In the future I will take my tuba to him for work.

My impressions of the sonic clean is it leaves the horn very clean. No residue or smell I could detect. It got all of the dirt and gunk off in and out of my horn. I like what it has done.

Thank you for indulging me in reading this long post.