Bb flat Concert Tuba for Sale $1,300 Alex, VA “ German made, in the Miraphone style.” ???

[Three Valves]

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 838e1f0dbb

4 valve concert tube in Bb flat (concert key). Excellent operational condition with great tone; holds tuning exceptionally well. This is a very easy to play horn.
Comes with mouthpiece. Comes with new Protec gig bag with backpack style carry straps and lots of storage.

Height: 44 inches
Bell diameter: 17 inches

[hrender]

It looks worth checking out. No kranz, but you can't have everything.

[bloke]

Bag is worth $100.
Valves are always a wildcard, but usually OK on these.
‘ very likely that they are noisy, but not necessarily.
Nice instruments.

[Three Valves]

Even if the bell were replaced, the price is right!!

[LeMark]

Looks like a VMI to me. Good deal

[bloke]

Quite a few of the German bells featured no krantz… In other words a “French“ rim.
The ones with no krantz were a cheaper grade, but played just as well, brand names like Weltklang, Sonora, etc.
… but the Chinese knock off bells, of course, are the same style.
I’m not sure that I saw the VMI brand pre-unification; I think that’s a GDR instrument.

[Three Valves]

The bell appears to have nothing on it. The seller appears European.

May have brought it with him and doesn’t want to bring it back.

I’m not a buyer of course, but it sure is interesting….

[DonO.]

The “Germany” marking should mean either pre-WW2 or post-Unification. In between it should either say “West Germany” or “GDR”. But that being said, to my eyes the “Germany” marking looks rather crude, like it was done by hand with one of those vibrating carbide engraving pens. Wouldn’t a factory marking be more likely to be cleaner, and stamped?

[bort2.0]

45 degree into the 1st valve and outta the 4th valve = legit

Also, that looks like legit "Germany" engraving too. My old Miraphone 188 was engraved like that on the bell rim near the Kranz.

Which is weird to me, that Germans would write "Germany" and not Deutschland

[jtm]

Also, Bort’s 188 said just “Germany” even though it was pre-unification (early 1980s).

My non-Miraphone says “W. Germany” on the receiver, but “Augsburg” on the krantz.

[bloke]

Wasn’t Dan Schultz receiving some Jinbao 200 and 410 bells from that older “MM” guy in Florida - who used to sell Jinbao, in exchange for doing repairs for him ?

The guts really look GDR. Could the bell be a model 200 Jinbao bell ?

Also, I’m seeing a reinforcing ring that is plated with chrome or stainless nickel over what looks to be the receiver. Scraps such as that are only laying around in the USA, and are left over from American marching instruments, yes? Also, if the receiver was damaged and repaired with that ring of plated material, that could explain why anything previously in front of the word “Germany“ is not there.

bloke “only suppositions in this post…no facts”

[DonO.]

When something is marked “Germany” rather than “Deutschland”, all that means is that it’s a product for export, not designated for domestic sale.