Mirafone and Miraphone Confusion

mTaUrBkA · Post by **mTaUrBkA** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 2:38 am

Alright.... I have a MiraFone 186 that came with a MiraPHone TU29 mouthpiece. Why is the brand name spelled differently if it came from the same place? That has been a question that has been bothering me lately.

J.Harris · Post by **J.Harris** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 10:19 am

As far as I know Miraphones were NEVER made in the U.S. The spelling was changed for a time to differentiate the horns made for the U.S. market. It was supposedly a more "American" spelling or some such nonsense.

mTaUrBkA · Post by **mTaUrBkA** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 12:02 pm

They have always been made in Germany haven't they?

mTaUrBkA · Post by **mTaUrBkA** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 3:11 pm

My horn is a Mirafone 186 that has minibal linkage.....but one of my school's tubas is a Miraphone (i dunno the model, but it's smaller than my 186. The linkage on the school horn is terrible. It is the older style, fancy decorated linkage that look kind of like "S"s.

CJ Krause · Post by **CJ Krause** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 3:39 pm

I have

mTaUrBkA · Post by **mTaUrBkA** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 10:08 pm

if thats the story......why is the mouthpiece that came with my tuba that was maunfactured about the same time have miraphone on it...but the horn has mirafone?

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 10:40 pm

mTaUrBkA wrote:if thats the story......why is the mouthpiece that came with my tuba that was maunfactured about the same time have miraphone on it...but the horn has mirafone?

You obvously got a European mouthpiece with it... send it back!

Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 11:13 pm

windshieldbug wrote:
mTaUrBkA wrote:if thats the story......why is the mouthpiece that came with my tuba that was maunfactured about the same time have miraphone on it...but the horn has mirafone?
You obvously got a European mouthpiece with it... send it back!

OR.... it's one of those cheap Chinese copies

RUN!

SplatterTone · Post by **SplatterTone** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 11:27 pm

OR.... it's one of those cheap Chinese copies

Nah. I'm pretty sure those come with a genuine Rolex watch.

CJ Krause · Post by **CJ Krause** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 1:07 am

[quote

mTaUrBkA · Post by **mTaUrBkA** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 3:38 pm

so is one or the other spellings lacking quality?

Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 4:43 pm

mTaUrBkA wrote:so is one or the other spellings lacking quality?

NO! As has been explained in previous replies, they are the same horns. However, Mirafone/Miraphone has made manufacturing changes in their products over the years that may give the appearance that the quality has changed. They've fiddled with bell sizes and linkage mechanisms (including the thickness of the old 'S' links and levers), but to my knowledge, the basic horn has remained the same... except for normal manufacturing variances, of course.

Hmmmm.... manufacturing variances/tolerances. Now... THERE's a subject to kick around. Ever wonder why one horn is awesome and the next one off the production line is mediocre

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 4:52 pm

I have a case that has both Mirafone and Miraphone on it. Does that mean it was a cheap Chinese manufactured case that was actually being sold by Miraphone for import into a German-American community in the United States?

mTaUrBkA · Post by **mTaUrBkA** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 5:02 pm

Thank you very much for the explanation Mr. Schultz! haha I couldn't tell which replies were serious and which ones were sarcastic and jokes due to lack of tuba knowledge, and just a little bit of stupidity! I am better at reading that when actually hearing voices!

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 7:32 pm

TubaTinker wrote:Hmmmm.... manufacturing variances/tolerances. Now... THERE's a subject to kick around. Ever wonder why one horn is awesome and the next one off the production line is mediocre

Are English tolerances any better/worse than metric ones?

Teubonium · Post by **Teubonium** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 7:40 pm

TubaTinker wrote:

Ever wonder why one horn is awesome and the next one off the production line is mediocre

[/quote]

Prolly cuz one is SILVER and the other is LACQUER !

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 7:48 pm

I'm my own Mira-phone.
I'm my own Mira-fone..
It sounds funny, I know,
But it really is so,
Oh, I'm my own Mira-pfone.

Now many, many years ago, when I was twenty-three,
I bought a horn that was pretty as could be.
This horn had a valve block which had valves of four,
My tech put on another, and soon it had more.

Oh, I'm my own Mira-phone.
I'm my own Mira-fone..
It sounds funny, I know,
But it really is so,
Oh, I'm my own Mira-pfone.