Miraphone made a helluva lot better knockoffs than Jinbao.

[bloke]

Back in the 1960's Miraphone made knockoffs of two American trombones: a Conn 72H and a Bach 16 (or 16M...I can't remember which).

Miraphone EVEN copied those instruments' CASES (!?!?!) as can be seen below.

My buddy/section-mate picked up this Miraphone copy of a Conn 72H (made in 1968) for a really low price on fleaBay. Predictably, it was in California.

It had been badly abused throughout (apparent school use)...required a complete disassembly/lathe-straightening playing slide overhaul, un-smashing of the playing slide crook, un-cockeyeing of the bell section (whereby the ends of the two side of outside main tuning slide tubes were 1/4" off from each other), etc., etc., etc., etc...

...so - after our gig last night - he stayed here overnight, and we got to this c. 10 A.M. (having done SOME "make-do" stuff to it on Friday, so that it would be "just" good enough for him to use on the rehearsals and the gig...but now, it's rockin' and rollin').

Here's the thing: It ABSOLUTELY SOUNDS LIKE an Elkhart Conn 72H, and - when he plays it - I'm ACTUALLY reminded of bass trombonists with whom I worked decades ago (one - who comes to mind - having been a remarkable player, Eastman alum, and Remington student), along with some of the gigs I played with them...stuff about which I haven't thought of in MANY years.

It did not come with a mouthpiece, but - oddly - he was already using the long-long-discontinued "stock" mouthpiece that obviously was supplied with it: a "Mirafone 562".

I was pushing myself - just a bit - to stand up for all the time it took to address all the issues this instrument previously suffered (surgery recovery, combined with horrible digestive tract distress...never really having used ibuprofen, before - having now discovered that I'm one of the c. 50% of people who really shouldn't be using ibuprofen ), but it was GOOD to push myself, because today's "hard" becomes next week's "easy" (etc.)

bloke "He's headed home, and I now need to lay down for a while."

[bloke]

here I thought this thread was going to be about the fact that the miraphone 186 is a copy of the cerveny 68

[bloke]

Many of my thread titles are intentionally misleading, if not provocative...though there ain't too much that's too provocative about tubers.

[Stryk]

Back in the 1960's Miraphone made knockoffs of two American trombones: a Conn 72H and a Bach 16 (or 16M...I can't remember which).

And probably with better workmanship and material than Conn.

[bloke]

I would say that it’s all very close to equal to the quality of Elkhart production - except for the Miraphone’s playing slide lock, which sucks:

It parks at the wrong place in its rotation - down around where it would hit the cross-brace, it’s too long, and the slide lock ring thread tolerances are too loose.

Making the assumption that the “Mirafone 562” mouthpiece was indeed the stock mouthpiece, it’s a marvelous mouthpiece. This same friend had actually previously already bought one off of eBay and have been using it with his other bass trombone. Me? I asked Christian Niedermayer if any were left. He told that they had ONE, and sold it to me. I use it with my Meinl-Weston euphonium, and love it.

Back in the 1960's Miraphone made knockoffs of two American trombones: a Conn 72H and a Bach 16 (or 16M...I can't remember which).

And probably with better workmanship and material than Conn.

[bloke]

DAMN, it looks GOOD in their studio, doesn't it?

[bloke]

my first "nice" trombone I ever owned was a Conn 72H. hell of an instrument. With a mouthpiece change it could be either a nice bass or a plus sized tenor.

[bloke]

Much less nasal - ie. "bigger footprint" - than many currently-made, including some of the new zillion-dahlah "boutique-y" ones.

The Miraphone sounds scary-close to a genuine Elkhart 72H.