Re: Miraphone 184's


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Posted by js on April 11, 2003 at 08:33:11:

In Reply to: Miraphone 184's posted by Larry Zaidan on April 11, 2003 at 07:37:51:

I'll have a nice shiny used one (Mirafone 184-5U-CC) for sale very soon. This is the old "professional" (fancy-trim) model and not the "S" (plain) model. I plan to put a new finish on the bell (the rest of the original lacquer is gleaming), remove all dents (minor dents in this instrument currently) and shorten the 5th valve to long whole-step. It has a Reunion Blues leather bag and I think I'll be getting its flight case. The price will be $4200. (I'm quite certain that brand new ones - if purchased with a Reunion Blues leather bag and a flight case - will cost $6000, since Brasswind is advertising the "S" (plain) model 186 with no cases whatsoever for $5000.)

If anyone is interested in buying it for a few less $$$$ (with less stuff done to it) they might wish to let me know now.

I used to own one of these as my personal instrument - for around a decade quite a few years ago. I sold it to one of my students, David Graves (now tuba professor at Baylor), and he later sold it to Ron Bishop (Cleveland Orchestra) who still owns and plays it. Somewhere on the web, there is a picture of Ron Bishop playing my old 184.

Besides Verdi (hmmm, fairly limited applications, there), the 184 is arguable the very best 3/4 CC tuba ever made (thus, it's going back into production due to popular demand). A marvelously agile brass quintet and solo CC tuba with an absolutely poppin' low range, even middle register, and singing high notes...' has an extremely good scale. I remember Warren Deck trying one out in the Mirafone booth at a T.U.B.A. thing in Texas (right after he won the NYP job) saying, "Wow, these always work, don't they?"


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