an open letter to Miraphone

[bort]

Do you mean a more *open* wrap? I'm not sure it could be wrapped much more compactly.

I mean the bell sticks out of the body by a foot and a half. I'd like the great qualities of the 186/188 but in a more piggy-ish form.

Ah, I thought you meant taller bows instead of shorter bell.

[J.c. Sherman]

Do you mean a more *open* wrap? I'm not sure it could be wrapped much more compactly.

I mean the bell sticks out of the body by a foot and a half. I'd like the great qualities of the 186/188 but in a more piggy-ish form.

Ah, I thought you meant taller bows instead of shorter bell.

Sounds like a pig would be a better fit to you...

J.c.S.

[Dan Schultz]

A few small improvements are in order. However... it's my opinion that the 'stovepipe' (long) bell is what makes the 186 what it is. A shorter, compact wrap would mean a totally different horn... and end to the great 186 as we know it.

The same basic design is what's made this horn the most consistent tuba on the market for over 50 years. LEAVE IT ALONE!

[UDELBR]

A shorter, compact wrap would mean a totally different horn... and end to the great 186 as we know it.

No real reason they couldn't make both models.

[UDELBR]

Isn't something like this already available?

Not really interested in a Hirsbrunner (or its Chinese clone). Anyways, isn't the 192 only in BBb?

[bort]

PT-3 or PT-4?

[eupher61]

Beer, since a short stack 186 is no longer a 186, something like a rotary 1291, but with the valve section of a 186, right?
A further question, just thinking way outside the box that I've never been in...what if a side/front loaded tuba had the bell on the OPPOSITE side? Would another wrap be possible somewhere to make the same valve section usable but on a shorter bell? Would that so completely change acoustically that it is unplayable?

Or, even, physically change so much that it's unholdable?

[kathott]

Hello,
Don't change this tuba. There are lots of choices these days if you want a different style of sound. The 186 has great sound and pitch, lots of personality, records well, and for ergonomics can't be beat. I have seen many different sized performers use this model. Mirafone has sat back and smiled over the years, as performers have tried to pressure them
to adapt the 186 to the current trend. Even repairmen seem to like them.
A funny thing though - although everybody refers to this tuba as a "classic model" along the lines of Conn 8H or a Bach #37, nobody seems to play one!
A few years ago my former teacher borrowed it, later saying "how can you play this thing?".

[Bob Kolada]

I'd like an optional 2nd valve kicker.

[UDELBR]

...off-topic...

My apologies for posting in your thread, Bloke.

[Stefan]

If you are sending that to Miraphone, in Germany, than I recommend you rewrite it without all the parenthesis. As a natural english speaker, I had to slow down and think about your words to understand. I am not trying to be a smart *** here. Even though some of the employees understand english, this will be tough. Keep it simple if you want to get somewhere with this. I went to the Meinl Weston Factory back in 2005 for a tour and the person who spoke the best english was very weak.

Stefan

[Bob Kolada]

I emailed Miraphone a few years ago and they also have a 4th valve tubing kit for the 191 (same problem).

[J.c. Sherman]

Do they make that kit for the 183 Eb? The third valve on there is too flat to tune sharp for 1&4 Es, and too sharp to tune down at all for E... and it's not really long enough for a solid F either.

J.c.S. (who's looking for a .709 bore rotor to fix the above problem...)

[Dan Schultz]

⇧
bloke

Are you related to Bello?

[ralphbsz]

Isn't the MW 25 a very close "clone" of the 186, but with the 1, 2 and 4 valve loops at the top?

Matter-of-fact, out of curiosity: Other than the valve loop placement, the lack of nickel-silver "kranz" around the bell (which isn't present on the student model of the 186), what are the difference between the 186 and the MW 25?

[Wyvern]

The Meinl-Weston repositioning (quite a few years ago) of the models 20/25 4th slide location is clever.

Do you really mean the 4th slide and not the 3rd? The latter which looks cleaver to me.

[J.c. Sherman]

When they re-wrapped the 4th, they put, 3,1, and 4 (in that order) all accessible to the left hand. I actually prefer that slightly over the Yamaha 4 and 1 at top, with 3 in the back, since the MW25 allows a 2-step pull on the 3rd and quickly - solid low C on the fly!

Now if only I liked the instrument as much as the 641...

J.c.S.