New Tuba at Last!
Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 8:09 pm
Well, my old Holton 345 is now in Germany, soon to be in the stable of Daniel Ridder, and now that gaping empty space in my den has been filled. On Saturday my wife and I made the nearly 1000 mile round trip to see Lee Stofer, and we came back to MN with a trunk full of the gorgeous Miraphone 191 gold brass, 5 valve, w 3rd valve kicker that has been on Lee's site, and it was a real adventure. Here's a brief summary.
First of all, it was a pleasure to meet Lee and spend a couple of hours with him. He's a good visit. After chatting outdoors for nearly an hour we entered his shop so he could inspect the 100+ yr old Conn C-Melody sax that was a small part of the deal; then he showed us the Lee Stofer #7 and #8 custom CC/BBb tubas that were nearing completion. Finally we got to the 191. After opening the MTS case and admiring it's gleaming beauty I picked it up and started playing a bit. I used the new Miraphone mouthpiece that came with the horn, after warming up on mid-range stuff I went low and was happy to hear the low F pop right out. I did some more low stuff, and told Lee that I liked the low range; he said, "Yeah, but I think it could sound better, try this" and handed me a new PT-88 mouthpiece. I put it in, went right for the low F and POW - like it was shot out of a cannon. Lee said, "Well, I guess that'll have to go home with you too", and it did. After playing a while I set her back in the case and told Lee that I'd never owned a rotary tuba before, could he take a minute and point out all the lube points. That turned into a 20 minute lube and valve job. He took out every rotor, cleaned and lubed them all, re-assembled it of course, demo'ed how to lube the linkage, then handed me a bag with all 3 needed oils w needle oilers. They went right in the case, too.
All in all, buying from Lee was a great experience, and I hope to bump into him again.
Now, about the horn, after playing her for a couple of hours last night.
My goal in selling the 345 was to downsize a bit. The 191 does certainly feel smaller to handle and is handier in my lap, and it's about 2 inches shorter than the 345, but it's no small horn, for sure. With the 5th valve equipment and the 3rd valve slide kicker I doubt it weighs more than a couple of pounds less than the 345, but it does feel lighter. The rotary valves are quick and silent, and I love the single spit valve. I'm not sold on the 3rd valve kicker, yet - neither Lee nor I noticed any pitch difference until I got down to low Gb, and then it was obvious. I'll have to get used to that. I like having that 5th valve, and the 191 plays all the pedal range nicely and solidly with fewer facial gymnastics than I'd needed on my Holton. I find that I do still play sharp, as I do on most tubas, and am working on deliberately relaxing my embouchure to bring things down to pitch.
So, that's it, except for a couple photos below. I'm anxious to get busy playing this beauty in the locals bands. I think they'll all like it, and I'm hoping it has close to the power of the 345, as it seems to have.
I'm really happy to have this horn.
Tim
First of all, it was a pleasure to meet Lee and spend a couple of hours with him. He's a good visit. After chatting outdoors for nearly an hour we entered his shop so he could inspect the 100+ yr old Conn C-Melody sax that was a small part of the deal; then he showed us the Lee Stofer #7 and #8 custom CC/BBb tubas that were nearing completion. Finally we got to the 191. After opening the MTS case and admiring it's gleaming beauty I picked it up and started playing a bit. I used the new Miraphone mouthpiece that came with the horn, after warming up on mid-range stuff I went low and was happy to hear the low F pop right out. I did some more low stuff, and told Lee that I liked the low range; he said, "Yeah, but I think it could sound better, try this" and handed me a new PT-88 mouthpiece. I put it in, went right for the low F and POW - like it was shot out of a cannon. Lee said, "Well, I guess that'll have to go home with you too", and it did. After playing a while I set her back in the case and told Lee that I'd never owned a rotary tuba before, could he take a minute and point out all the lube points. That turned into a 20 minute lube and valve job. He took out every rotor, cleaned and lubed them all, re-assembled it of course, demo'ed how to lube the linkage, then handed me a bag with all 3 needed oils w needle oilers. They went right in the case, too.
All in all, buying from Lee was a great experience, and I hope to bump into him again.
Now, about the horn, after playing her for a couple of hours last night.
My goal in selling the 345 was to downsize a bit. The 191 does certainly feel smaller to handle and is handier in my lap, and it's about 2 inches shorter than the 345, but it's no small horn, for sure. With the 5th valve equipment and the 3rd valve slide kicker I doubt it weighs more than a couple of pounds less than the 345, but it does feel lighter. The rotary valves are quick and silent, and I love the single spit valve. I'm not sold on the 3rd valve kicker, yet - neither Lee nor I noticed any pitch difference until I got down to low Gb, and then it was obvious. I'll have to get used to that. I like having that 5th valve, and the 191 plays all the pedal range nicely and solidly with fewer facial gymnastics than I'd needed on my Holton. I find that I do still play sharp, as I do on most tubas, and am working on deliberately relaxing my embouchure to bring things down to pitch.
So, that's it, except for a couple photos below. I'm anxious to get busy playing this beauty in the locals bands. I think they'll all like it, and I'm hoping it has close to the power of the 345, as it seems to have.
I'm really happy to have this horn.
Tim
- Sandy and Lee.jpg (125.42 KiB) Viewed 1330 times
- Miraphone 191.jpg (63.9 KiB) Viewed 1330 times
- Lesson in Rotors.jpg (141.63 KiB) Viewed 1330 times
- A Done Deal.jpg (128.95 KiB) Viewed 1330 times
