1963 Miraphone 186 or 187 Vermont

[York-aholic]

Pretty low serial number, looks in pretty good shape ($3500):

https://vermont.craigslist.org/msg/d/ar ... 08462.html

[bort2.0]

How much?

[KingTuba1241X]

$3000 and it's a 186. Nice patina for sure..

[the elephant]

Link to the ad? (Yours is only to the photo.)

[York-aholic]

Link to the ad? (Yours is only to the photo.)

Whoops... Fixed it in the top post, but:
https://vermont.craigslist.org/msg/d/ar ... 08462.html

Its listed at $3500

[the elephant]

Please note that the ENTIRE transmission system of the machine has been updated to the modern Minibal system, to include the paddle rack, paddles, linkage arms, eight Minibal links (@$25+ each!) as well as the stop arms and stop arm screws. It looks like the little silencers (nickel silver disc impregnated with a but of Buna N as a bumper). This looks to have been done at home or at a shop as the lacquer is wearing off the paddles just like Nikolas rattle can lacquer does for a lot of non-factory lacquer work. All this stuff is VERY expensive. Does it add to the value of the horn? I say that the original S arms, with their heavy duty pivot rods are more quiet, run faster, and last longer, WHEN KEPT IN TIP-TOP CONDITION. A lot of techs do not know how to fix these and will encourage an owner to "upgrade" to ball and socket (using hobby shop RC car parts) or Minibal or Unibal linkages, which are expensive as all get out. These work just about as well as S arms, but wear out faster. There is a special tool to tighten these links up when the start clicking, but I have never see it and have never heard of anyone in the US using it. (I plan on getting one for my personal use, FWIW.)

I like the appearance of the Minibal links far more than the much more clunky-looking Unibal ones. I think Miraphone does, too, and in the numbers they order I am sure they get them for a very decent price, but that the maker has an agreement to not undersell his price on his own site, and that is pretty dang high.

The old S arms with a Minibal on the stop arm end would be ideal for me, as I have never liked the metal bearing disc or its modern nylon "upgrade" on the shoulder screw on the stop arm. I really prefer the paddle end, though. Maybe I will remake my links to be like this. Who knows or even cares, though? HA!

I would guess that there are about $800 to $1,000 in parts in that valve section's transmission.

Just putting that out there.

If that 1963 BBb plays well and all slides and valves work as well as I would expect (since the owner liked this tuba enough to drop a lot of money on the valves) I would say that despite the tarnish that this horn looks to be in very nice condition. If you want to drop three and a half large on a very old BBb tuba this would not be a bad horn. It all depends on the intonation. These horns were not quite dialed in at this point in history. The leadpipes were bigger, too, so they tend to play very loudly without the infamous "tearing metal" sound later 186s were known for.

This could be a very nice tuba if it checks out and worth the money. It also could be a pimped-out cuspidor. I would not bother with it unless a play test can be arranged. Something like this has too many questions to just buy sight unseen.

Good luck to the buyer. I wish I could make the drive to play on it for an hour or so.