Miraphone 185 5V Rotary CC Tuba Used

Item Details

- This instrument is on hold for a local player -

This is a used Miraphone 185 CC tuba imported to the USA some decades ago by "Mirafone USA" and Steve Yerkes.  The tuba's most recent owner was Hollywood studio player George Thatcher, who has departed.  The first owner was Tommy Johnson, who traded it to Norm Pearson for a 186.  Norm sold it to George around 1988.  Yes really.

The tuba is currently out for repair at Paul Klintworth's, and the idea is to give it a full cleaning and tune-up, tighten the rotors, remove all dents as possible, add a new second slide ring, and replace the missing slide-stop hardware rods for the first and fifth slides.

Note: A local friend said he might need this tuba to play Kraft Encounters or some shiat, so it's off the for sale list at the moment.

This older Miraphone has large bows made of sheet brass, making them a little lighter.  The linkages feature nylon sockets with adjustment screws to keep them tight and silent.  The fifth rotor is tuned to two whole steps, old style.

The slide stops on the first and fifth slides are being modernized with a better design, and a pull handle for the fifth I believe.  (The new way will let you quickly dump the fifth slide water.)

New Miraphones are slightly heavier than this one due to the large bows being made from brass tubes, and the fifth rotors are usually 1-1/4 steps unless requested otherwise.

Includes a used Marcinkiewicz N2 mouthpiece and a new Miraphone 481 gig bag.

The photos show the "before" condition.  We'll get it sorted shortly, like April.

If you'd like to make an offer for the 185 tuba, please email.

Biography of George Thatcher

George Thatcher, 1953-2024, trombonist, performed as a Hollywood freelance recording and symphonic musician, whose career has transverses a wide variety of styles as well as a number of continents. Since returning to Los Angeles in 1988, Thatcher has recorded for such motion picture luminaries as John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Randy Newman, Thomas Newman and Danny Elfman, on such film as Jurassic Park, Anastasia, Men in Black and the Shawshank Redemption. He records for television, advertising and records, having performed with such artist as Barbara Streisand, Natalie Cole, Neil Diamond, and Frank Sinatra. Thatcher's orchestral associations include performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Long Beach Opera, the Los Angeles Opera, Opera Pacific, the Pacific Symphony, and @the American Ballet Theater, San Francisco and Kirov ballet companies. His work abroad includes positions of principal bass trombone with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, principal bass trombone with the National Symphony Orchestra of the S.A.B.C., and principal bass trombone with the Orchestra Sinfonica Municipal de Caracas. Thatcher records for Raptoria Caam Records as a solo artist and as principal bass trombone of the Viklarbo Chamber Symphony. An active symphonic soloist, Thatcher recently performed Maria Newman's Concerto for Bass trombone and Orchestra (Peccavi) with both the Viklarbo Chamber Symphony and the Occidental-Caltech Orchestra in Los Angeles. He also appeared as soloist with the Eastern Sierra Symphony Orchestra, the Palisades Symphony and the Chamber George Thatcher Orchestra at St. Matthew's, and has been featured at many well known music festivals nationwide. On the jazz scene, Thatcher has toured extensively with famed trumpeters Harry James and Al Hirt. While residing in Johannesburg, South Africa he recorded two original solo albums for the S.A.B.C. Thatcher's later compact discs include "Even Call Girls Get the Blues" and "Terrorist".

-Rene Laanen