Rudolph Meinl vs Hirshbrunner vs Miraphone vs ???

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pianolance
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Rudolph Meinl vs Hirshbrunner vs Miraphone vs ???

Post by pianolance »

What's your opinion of these brands or is there another brand that's your favorite? If so, why? :tuba:
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circusboy
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Re: Rudolph Meinl vs Hirshbrunner vs Miraphone vs ???

Post by circusboy »

This question is probably too broad for very clear answers, but here's my attempt to help a little:

Rudolf Meinl makes fantastic, expensive tubas by hand in Germany. I've only ever gotten my hands on one of them (5/4 CC piston), but it blew me away. Just loved it.

Hirsbrunner was another high-end, maker of tubas by hand in Switzerland. They've been out of business for a few years now, though. They're not all that easy to find used.

Miraphone is a larger manufacturer in Germany that makes many different horns at many (more moderate than the above) price points.

Other popular makers on the level of Miraphone are Meinl-Weston (not related to Rudolf Meinl), B&S and Alexander in Germany and Yamaha in Japan. Cerveny is based in Czechia and makes solid horns for a bit less money. Eastman and Wessex are probably the best coming out of China.

I hope that helps. If you're serious, though, you really need to get yourself to a conference or showroom to try several of them yourself. It's likely that one horn or one brand will speak to you. Good luck. Let us know how it goes.
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