190 Miraphone Bb

[Eutubabone54]

Ok...
If.. you are playing a 190 miraphone Bb, a 5/4 Rudy Bb or Cc.. a Stofer Geib is the way to go. Better than a Bach 12 mega, better then a PT50. At least, that's what I found , on my recently acquired/ traded 190 Bb for a piggy c. I'm waiting on a Bach 7 mega in the usps mail. I'll let you all (ya'all) know soon, but so far, the Stofer Geib euro shank is very good, almost wonderful, but who knows? I'll let you know about the Bach 7 mega for a true german kaiser tuba

[bort2.0]

Haven't seen you post here very much... You should post more often!

+1 for the Stofer Geib, and the Air Corps is great too (Stofer Geib with larger throat)

[Eutubabone54]

Ok, tried the Bach 7 mega...still like the Stofer Geib.
Thanks Lee!

[Eutubabone54]

I'm also going to put my inexpensive 2nd valve slide kicker on this 190 like I did on the traded Piggy.

[Tubajug]

Haven't seen you post here very much... You should post more often!

+1 for the Stofer Geib, and the Air Corps is great too (Stofer Geib with larger throat)

I might have to get an Air Corps just so I can have a mouthpiece with the stars and bars on it!

[donn]

I suppose you didn't have the opportunity to try a regular Bach 7. I've never played a Mega anything, but I hear they aren't for everyone. When I had a 190, the 7 worked for me and its subsequent owner, but that was a long time ago.

When I got it, the conventional wisdom was C4.

[bort2.0]

My problem is that I typically like large mouthpieces on large tubas. Seems like a lot of people go for smaller mouthpieces for the increased clarity and stuff. I like that too, but I get enough brightness in my sound naturally, and don't really want any extra help from the mouthpiece in that regard.

[bloke]

My problem is that I typically like large mouthpieces on large tubas. Seems like a lot of people go for smaller mouthpieces for the increased clarity and stuff. I like that too, but I get enough brightness in my sound naturally, and don't really want any extra help from the mouthpiece in that regard.

If some mouthpiece is considered to be "mega" anything, I likely won't be playing it.

I was using one of my own extra tall rims (they add 1/8" to cup depth, and change nothing else) when I was playing a tuba that (without that change) sounded too "bright" (to me) when playing low and quite loud, but - well... - I don't own that tuba anymore.


just fwiw...
I don't stick shallow cup mouthpieces on big tubas, but (though no "Hellebergs") nothing that I use is any deeper-cupped than a typical "Helleberg".

My cimbasso mouthpiece is significantly shallower than (familiar to many) a Miraphone TU-23, the cup opening is a (conservative) "tuba" width, YET the throat is about the size of a large (B-flat) bass trombone mouthpiece throat. (not something top secret...I just finished selling several copies of this mpc.)

yeah...As my tubas creep upward in size, so do their mouthpieces.

Deep cups (to cloak a not-particularly-nice-sounding lips vibration) are probably not a particularly good idea.
Shallow cups (to liven up the sound of a woofy-sounding tuba)...maybe the woofy-sounding tuba should be sold to someone who likes woofy sounds (??)

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Miraphone '90 kaiser B-flat...?? (vintage model)
I bought one - in remarkably fine condition (to find out all about them)...Particularly if the 17-1/3" bell version, an absolutely true kaiser, and towering over 44 inches tall.
The model offers some challenges. I believe a re-release would feature an altered body bows taper, which (surely) would offer complete-or-partial solutions to the model 90 B-flat challenges. The 497 is their current kaiser...I've only played on a couple of them (in elephant rooms). My opinion on the 497: undecided, but (as I've now spent hundreds of hours with a fairly similar Miraphone hybrid - blend between kaiser design and a so-called "American" 6/4 design) I'd like to revisit the 497 (now) with more very-large-BB-flat-attuned ears/embouchure/air/etc.

bloke "Just as with those obnoxious people who quit smoking after several decades, and are always lecturing smokers...I'm telling all y'all still-playing-C-peeps-'cause-of-college: Y'all are missing 1/9th of y'all's tubas - as well as 1/9th of the resonance...but I'm sure everyone's tired of hearing that mess from me, so...)