half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2" bell

Matt G · Post by **Matt G** » Fri Sep 06, 2019 11:30 am

Those old 16.5" bell 186 CCs are fantastic tubas. Lively sound, darn good intonation, great tonal flexibility, etc. And you're doing a fine job play it as well!

Even the 188 "only" had a 17.5" bell. That was the big horn for the LA scene for quite a while.

I'd be interested in knowing your plans when you've completed the reconditioning on the one you're not going to keep. I'm also guessing you'll be getting similar vibes in your DMs...

bort · Post by **bort** » Fri Sep 06, 2019 11:45 am

Is this the same one you had mentioned giving a satin silver finish?

Yes, these are great, but about 10 years ago I played a ridiculously good 186 at Dillon music. It was a custom-ordered but then cancelled gold brass 4-valve 186. Holy shoo shoo, that tuba was awesome. I was either there to buy something else or not in the market, I forget... but that tuba had it all. Sound, build quality, etc...

groovlow · Post by **groovlow** » Fri Sep 06, 2019 2:36 pm

BAS$ & colour
Absoloutly!!!

timayer · Post by **timayer** » Fri Sep 06, 2019 3:10 pm

You put out a great sound on that horn.

These seem to be swiftly approaching legendary status.

bisontuba · Post by **bisontuba** » Fri Sep 06, 2019 3:22 pm

Old Mirafone CC 16 1/2" bell tubas are truly wonderful horns!!

bone-a-phone · Post by **bone-a-phone** » Fri Sep 06, 2019 4:32 pm

bloke wrote: The dainty-appearance (appearances can be deceiving...a very strong/passionate musician) Prokofiev piano concerto soloist (sitting out in the hall) was also grinning, just fwiw.

Oh, that's fun!

Patrase · Post by **Patrase** » Fri Sep 06, 2019 4:42 pm

Looks like Bloke is going through the ‘I just care about the sound**’ phase everyone claims when they have a beat up raw brass tuba

** and unlike most others intonation and clarity

Sounds great!

Matt G · Post by **Matt G** » Sat Sep 07, 2019 9:02 am

Great playing all around, bloke!

bort · Post by **bort** » Sat Sep 07, 2019 5:25 pm

Half serious... Joe, you didn't have the same "my name is on it!" mouthpiece when you were a young man...

Matt G · Post by **Matt G** » Mon Sep 09, 2019 7:20 am

bloke wrote:...Bach 7...

Anecdotal, but the Bach 7 was the best match for my [very lively] 188.

geomiklas · Post by **geomiklas** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 12:36 am

bloke wrote: plans for both of these:
- 5th lever converted to r.h.

Please keep your parts list handy. I might be interested in doing this to both my 186 and 180.

bloke wrote: - 5th loop converted to G whole tone length

Why, oh why would you do that to a perfectly good old 5th valve loop?

Ken Herrick · Post by **Ken Herrick** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 3:19 am

geomiklas wrote:Why, oh why would you do that to a perfectly good old 5th valve loop?

To paraphrase a song from the 60's (It's My Party)

It's Bloke's tuba so he'll do what he wants to, do what he wants to, do what he wants to. You might do it too if it belonged to you.

geomiklas · Post by **geomiklas** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 12:51 pm

bloke wrote:
geomiklas wrote:Why, oh why would you do that to a perfectly good old 5th valve loop?
...in order to upgrade something... that is considerably better, particularly since I'm the one who will be using it, and because I prefer "considerably better" to "better-than-nothing"....

This picture was taken with these parts only laid together. It's now all soldered in place, and the lower part of the adjustable thumb ring assembly (which I fabricated) has since been trimmed to line up against the top of the bottom bow ferrule.

Joe, I’m curious, more than anything, why a Major 2nd configuration is “considerably better” than a Major 3rd. Was there a design flaw? Or an engineering error? Maybe my curiosity is just due to loving the “old” config more than anything else.

You do extremely fine work. If in the future I want to convert my horns from LH to RH lever, you will have my confidence.... just please don’t touch my 5th valve major 3rd loop

geomiklas · Post by **geomiklas** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 1:37 pm

bloke wrote:(1)The old-style longer circuit is no better in tune,
(2) as the only way to really accomplish closer-to-correct overall lengths below low G (C tuba) is with 6 valves...
(3) Having the entire left hand freed up (to adjust slides, if needed) can be handy...
(4) "low D"
(5) 1/2 lb. less tubing on board (particularly if not needed) can prove to be a bit easier on a player's front thigh muscles.

1. Thank you. I was worried there was an inherent problem.
2. How would you configure 5 and 6? FlatMajor 2nd / FlatMinor 2nd
3. I totally agree! Back in my undergrad, my horn (serial number 12012...if anybody reading this has it and wants to sell it back to me) had the RH Thumb lever and I totally loved that! But that begs the question of what to do if 6 valves were to gain in popularity... I know, leave the RH thumb configured for my Major 3rd

, then add 6th and 7th rotors with LH levers

for Flatmajor 2nd and Flatminor 2nd
4. I finger low D 3-4-5 and pull the 4th slide all the way.
5. Ah... yes the weight of the extra tubing. Now referring to my #3 above, can you imagine a 186 7UCC

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half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2" bell

Re: half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2"

Re: half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2"

Re: half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2"

Re: half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2"

Re: half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2"

Re: half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2"

Re: half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2"

Re: half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2"

Re: half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2"

Re: half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2"

Re: half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2"

Re: half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2"

Re: half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2"

Re: half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2"

Re: half-century-old Miraphone 186 C tubas handmade 16-1/2"