Miraphone S 186 5-Valve Rotary CC Tuba Used A

Item Details

This is a classic Miraphone 186 CC tuba made in Waldkraiberg, Germany, with some interesting differences.  Sometime in the last 2+ decades, Miraphone got concerned about inflation and added a less expensive tuba option to keep their prices lower.  For a while their 186 tubas in BBb and CC were offered in regular or "S" version, for "Standard".  The only differences in the "S" version were simpler trim and fewer nickel components on it.  The rotor casings are brass with nickel knuckles and un-engraved brass caps, the tuning slide sleeves are made of brass instead of nickel, and the "beauty marks", or extra engraving on the connecting ferrules, is simplified.  The large ferrules connecting the large tapered bows are still nickel.  The difference is subtle, not really even enough to tell unless you look with your best evil-eye.  Bell is engraved "Miraphone" with no other markings.

Miraphone found the extra effort to build both the standard and "deluxe" models, plus keeping two sets of parts on hand, didn't really save any money, so they went back to the older way and have offered only one version since then, price be damned.

Further inspection suggests to me the year of manufacture.  The gig bag says "Reunion Blues" and is the latest Glenn Cronkhite design with the zipper going all the way around the bell.  It also has a logo patch for "The Brasswind".  That would be about 2001 at latest, because RB closed its San Francisco shop then and made similar (lesser) bags in Asia for several years after that before their demise.  If the tuba and bag were purchased together, it's likely made around 2000.

This tuba has the modern Miraphone style of large bow fabrication.  They are made from tubes that are hydraulically shaped.  It's heavier than the classic sheet brass bows, so this tuba has some weight to it compared to the other older used 186 CC here.  On the upside, this newer style of fabrication seems to project well and feel stable without getting overly bright when you push the volume.  Besides the weight, you can tell in the down-the-bell photo because no seam is visible inside the bottom bow.

I just received this back from Brass Mavens, who did a full cleaning and tune-up.  The last thing I need to do is replace the plastic linkages with metal minibal parts.  Those are on order.  When those arrive it'll be ready to ship.

Photos are taken May 28 after return from tune-up and cleaning except for the last photo, which is as it arrived here.  Not too different, but before, inside the tuba was fairly tarnished and dirty, overdue for service.  It's nice to begin anew with a clean tuba.  I had hoped to take photos with the new linkage parts, but they  have not yet arrived.  See the detail photos for the difference in plastic vs metal minibal.  It'll get all metal before sale.

Details

• A443 tuning
• US size mouthpiece receiver (like King, Yamaha)
• 5 rotary valves, all right hand
• 5th rotor is long 2 whole-step tuning
• Gold brass leadpipe
• New thumb ring is included
• Linkages as pictured will be replaced with new modern Miraphone minibal parts
• We see several very tiny dents in the bell area, but nothing serious and there's no other damage or wear. 
• Lacquer is about 100%, minus a few marks on the bottom bow guard from resting it on the ground.
• Freshly cleaned by Brass Mavens in Whittier, CA
• Includes nice condition Reunion Blues USA soft case in black nylon.
• Mouthpiece sold separately

This is a very nice tuba that's close to new condition.  You should have it.

Shipping within the US is about $300.  Likely no sales tax is charged for sales outside of CA unless you use the Shop app or similar.  :-/