Here is the skinny on my finished conversion project:
I less than happy with some of the characteristics of my Mirafone 184 C tuba
1. Stuffy at high volumes
2. Small reciever limited MP choices
3. Bark vs. muddy with certain MP choices
As you may have guessed from my sig, I like a germanic albeit slightly more rounded sounding tubas that the miraphone sound. I also like large bore instruments. My thought was to try to recreate an Alexander 166 (3/4 C). In my failed search to purchase one, I discovered it was effectively a C tuba with the F bell, although I did not know the bore size, I would assume it was made from mostly 155 stock. The infamous Ted Cox post about the Alexander double tuba (F/C, 3/4ish) seemed to confirm these suspisions. Since I had a very good 184 that was in nearly perfect working order, I started looking at ways to mod it. A friendly tubnetter suggested putting a 155 bell on a 185. A quick measure of one that was recently for sale showed it to be a poor match - the bell/bow match was too big for the bell, and the tuba would have been terribly sharp. It was also made known to me that the 2182 prototype bells for sale here by a westcoast 'netter were made from the same mandrel as the 155's... Alexander had sold them to Meinel Weston. A quick acquisition, and I was off the the races. I was able to book some time with Matt Walters to pitch the idea to him, and he was able to procure a donor "adapter" segment from a Conn to match the 184 to the "155" bell. Thus concluded the majority of the problem solving bit... it was possible! The rest of the story was just waiting for the guy with the knack to find the time do it.
The horn played a ~15c flat after the bell swap, so some of the main was cut, in addition to a small amount out of the leadpipe to fit a larger reciever. It is in tune, and plays great. I am having fun with a mouthpiece search now.
I have attached some images!
The horn from the front....
the horn next to the old 184 bell (for sale).
This
