Posted by Lee Stofer on July 12, 2003 at 09:41:59:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Miraphone history posted by Sorry. on July 07, 2003 at 14:33:55:
With the exception of Gebr. Alexander in Mainz, German tuba makers all seem to have roots in the Czech Republic (Bohemia), for the most part in and around Graslitz. At the conclusion of WWII, there were many music instrument craftsmen who emigrated to Germany, settling in Bavaria. One group of craftsmen settled in Waldkraiburg in Eastern Bavaria, started making instruments in the Graslitz tradition, and labeled some of their earliest instruments "Graslitz". The older, traditional Mirafone models such as the 186 are made basically from the same patterns as the Amati/Cerveny instruments. Rudolf Meinl, located near Nurenburg, and Anton Meinl(Melton/Meinl-Weston) have tended to build heavier-braced instruments with heavier-duty rotors, but the tubing patterns were all quite similar until the advent of computer-aided testing for intonation purposes.
The earliest example of a Mirafone-looking instrument (Graslitz) I've seen was probably made between 1946 and the very early 1950's.
For what it is worth, Mirafone did not use serial numbers on their instruments before 1960. Some makes still do not use serial numbers.
Lee Stofer