miraphone 186

[clintontuba2]

can anyone give me the details (measurements, bore, key, pitch tendencys, etc.) of a miraphone 186. I am working on buying 5 or 6 tubas for a high school, any input will be appreciated

[Rick Denney]

can anyone give me the details (measurements, bore, key, pitch tendencys, etc.) of a miraphone 186. I am working on buying 5 or 6 tubas for a high school, any input will be appreciated

A 186 has a bore of .770, an overall length of about 40 inches give or take an inch, and a bell diameter of 17.5 inches.

The key is concert pitch, like all tubas. Oh, you mean the pitch? 186's are available both in Bb and C. The Bb's usually come with four valves, and the C's usually come with five valves, though both are available the other way. The C's now have a flat-whole-step fifth.

Intonation is exceptional with these instruments. The only problem you'd notice in a school setting is a flat fifth partial, and it's customary to push the #1 slide in when playing the staff C with first valve, and to play the staff D with 1 and 2 instead of open. This is pretty common.

Miraphones make a strong sound, not dark like many rotary tubas. When played without a good air supply, they can peel paint. But they have lots of color for players who use lots of the free stuff. They are easy to play with a good scale and a consistent sound. They are not terribly sensitive to mouthpieces, and are about as versatile as it gets.

Repair parts are very easy to get even if you are not a repair shop.

Like all rotary and top-action piston tubas, if they fall over the valve might get tweaked, requiring an expensive repair. They tip fairly easily compared to tubas with a really wide bell.

They hold value just about as well as any tuba made, and they are priced pretty well even considering the inflated Euro. They come in two trim levels. The pro model includes engraving on the valve casings and more nickel-silver parts than the S model, but they play identically.

Rick "who thinks a school kid would be lucky to have access to a tuba as good as a Mirphone 186, but who also suspect he won't appreciate it and will tear it up anyway" Denney

[Uncle Buck]

I played a Mirafone 186 exclusively through high school (except for marching band). I was a pretty advanced player for my age, performing in a lot of solo and concerto situations.

I never had any point in high school when I felt limited by the instrument.

[scottw]

The only negative I can think of is that the Mirafones are actually too good an instrument to be abused by the "typical" H.S. player.Maybe the good, conscientious student, but I really hate to see such a nice horn get kicked around.They play superbly across the line (as Rick enumerated above) and their build quality is equally good too. I suggest you get ( or have the woodshop teacher make) tuba pallets to help prevent tubas falling over while standing on the bells, or even tuba tamers for all of them. Lucky students!

[Charlie Goodman]

The only negative I can think of is that the Mirafones are actually too good an instrument to be abused by the "typical" H.S. player.

Ain't that the truth... my school has a set, and though I don't normally use them since I switched to CC, I pulled on out today just for fun (this is a horn we got halfway through last year) and on the side of the bell near the thumb ring, there was a dent about three inches long, an inch and a half wide, and about three quarters of an inch deep. Looks like somebody hit it with a baseball bat. Makes me proud to be a high school musician....

[manatee]

The 186 was THE horn when I was in high school and college in the 70's. I have always entertained the thought of buying a brand new one now. Good idea? Bad idea?

[windshieldbug]

The 186 was THE horn when I was in high school and college in the 70's.

My HS had a set in the 70's, and made at least 2 working pro's that I know of.

[TubaSteve]

I agree with the others who may suggest that a Mirafone or a Meinl-Weston are too good of a horn for high school. That said, I did play a used Meinl Model 20 in high school, but we purchased that used. We had 4 Reynolds Contempora recording bases and one Holton as the other horns. They were all rebuilt over the summer before my sophmore year. I took it upon myself to oversee them and make sure that the other players took great care of them. Before they had been sent out to be rebuilt, you couldn't believe the damage. There were dents the size of watermellons and everything was crushed. I still can't believe that they were rebuildable. Anyway, when I was a senior, the salesman from the rebuilder came back to see if we wanted them overhauled again. The director said "What for, they still look great". There were probably less than 5 dents total for all the horns there, with the largest being about the size of an egg on the Holton. The salesman ended up taking photos of them and stated that he had never seen horns look that good after 3 years of high school use. He had fully expected them to be used up by then. I guess if you have carefull students and staff that can supervise the horns, and a school board that will go along with the cost, go ahead, but I would look for good used horns that would cut the costs down and still give a quality horn for the students to play on. my $.02
Steve

[Tabor]

I think that when it comes to overall sound, finish work, quality and ease of playing it just doesn't get much better than the 186 (at least for the money). If I weren't looking in particular for something more expensive, heavier and possibly uncomfortable I'd keep my 186 until I died or couldn't play anymore...and maybe even then.

They are popular and repair people know how to fix them. The paddles are wide and fit most hands, but could be easily modified to accomodate smaller or larger hands. (not as easy with a piston horn)

The 186 in a high school would be a great horn, although I think that the durablity factor and experience in a rough school would make me lean toward the old Conns 2xJ horns for all but my best students. I like how the front facing bells, the tubing coming out front and the large branches and wrap protected the valves. Those heavy beasts could be thrown across the room (but only if the kid was strong enough) into a wall, picked up and played.

My 186 plays well, seems to sound better each time I pick it up and it works in almost any size group. I played it in a quintet..even a trio this year with one trumpet and one horn and also with symphonic band. It worked very well. I would have been spoiled to have a horn this nice in High School.

Just an unrelated side note or shameless plug... If you're (or anyone is, for that matter) looking for a BBb 186 and considering new, I'd check out mine..which is for sale. It is in remarkable condition, has some cool advantages over the new ones and will come with a Mirafone hard case and PT-88. Photos should be coming soon.

[tofu]

I think abuse of HS horns depends on the general community, school, quality of the music program within the school and the director. My HS bought it's first 4/4 Rudy Meinl in 1970. It is still there and in relatively good shape for being in in a lot of different hands for 35 years.

They bought the second one in 1974 and gave it to me as a junior. It is still there after 31 years and in relatively good shape. They bought a third one in the mid 80's and it is still there and in relatively good shape after 20 plus years. The schools other horns were/are Conn 20j's. I'd say the school as gotten it's money out of the Rudy's.

Admittedly this is a school with a great music program and while when I was there the band director was a drummer the orchestra director was a tuba player and the jazz band director was also a tuba player. We also had a separate room for the tuba's and separate bays for all the horns and we really looked after the horn we were assigned. The program usually had 10 players in the tuba studio.

I think it's unfair to paint all HS students as instrument abusers or unworthy of excellent horns like the Miraphones in question here.

Just my 2 cents.