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Just spent the evening ragging out the Hirsbrunner. This is the first full rag job I’ve done since buying it six years ago. Pretty, ain’t she?



And despite that it was made in the 90’s, I noted the triangular bell gusset through the silver—but of course the 193 is hand-hammered.

I also serviced the valves, scrubbing the calcium deposits off and making them just right. But it’s about time for a chemical dip.

Rick “they play better when they are shiny” Denney

Very nice.
The second thing I noticed was how the styling so much matches that of the somewhat-short Hb rotary B-flat 4/4 model 192.

… whereas so many Kaiser B-flats’ mouthpipe tubes loop way up and then loop way down, that one just cuts across to the players mouth, totally “ignoring” the upper bow… so the mouthpipe tube on that particular Kaiser is less of the instrument than with most of them.
… and the positioning of the horizontal tuning slide reminds me of the model 192 as well.

Too cool

What's the bell diameter? Actually looks a little wider than I might have expected.


^ This fresh Polish is for you, @Three Valves

bort2.0 wrote:Too cool

What's the bell diameter? Actually looks a little wider than I might have expected.

480mm—19”. 1120mm—44”—tall. The 20.5mm bore is smallish, but as Joe pointed out, it’s earlier in the bugle.

This one is #17.

Rick “needs a bottom nut on the paddle shaft and the ball joints really need to be replaced” Denney

Gorgeous. Can't believe it's been 6 years already. Hope you have 40 more years with it. :) (Yes, I can do the math)

This thread ain't about me...so I'm only posting a LINK (instead of "popping" a picture).
https://i.imgur.com/aZEKTIR.jpg
Mine seems to be more towards the "old school" kaiser (though still affected by the manufacturer's trademark styling - just as with yours).
Though the bell isn't as small as those double-take-causing 1930's B&F things, it's only 440mm (17-5/16"),
and it's about as tall as an average first-grader.
It also has the long-snaking mouthpipe and the nearly-crazy-large bore size.
That all having been said, the small end of the mouthpipe tube is not very large.
Otherwise, it's got some sort of newfangled finish, which doesn't seem to tarnish very quickly...
...but - sadly - it has an epic effect on the sound.

I can tell you which Minibal links to order...(I'm assuming the large size, and the 3mm female threading...??)
You'll only need the links, and not the screws that go with them...unless you have a clicking problem, caused by tilting.
They make some lightweight aluminum-body ones (JP uses those), but
I suspect (??) that they regular ones may stay tight/quiet for a few more years.
If your paddles feature strong-ish springs, the lighter-weight aluminum ones would be difficult to detect.
If your instrument only uses four (and - at that time - clung to the traditional handmade T-joints on the paddle end), your T-joints may possibly (??) be making more racket than your links, and might (simply) need to have the steel ends tapped down tight, again...
(slowly, carefully, as over-tightening takes considerable "working" to re-loosen).
...You can actually do that against the anvil part of a regular vice, and without even removing the spatulas from the carriage bar.

It’s the balls that are a bit loose. That’s where application of oil makes them quiet for a time.

The springs are stiff—one thing I don’t like about it. But the instrument allows better technique than my other tubas, even so. But aluminum ball joints would be wasted effort. The screws and locknuts are fine.

I’d have to measure the threads. Here’s a closer view of the linkages, if you can tell by looking. If so, sell me some. If not, I’ll measure them.



Rick “send me a PayPal invoice” Denney

I just ordered a few extra springs from Miraphone (with an significant order of junk from them). You could measure the width of one of the pairs of lever coil sets (to check compatibility of springs) if you wanted to.
A half century ago, Miraphone springs were thick gauge and stiff… They may have been made of nickel silver (??), but for quite a few years they’ve been steel - I believe, which means that they can be adjusted from light touch to whatever touch someone wants.
It’s surely mostly psychological, but I find that I approach playing differently with instruments that require a lot of muscle to move the valves up and down… I’m fairly sure that with strong springs, my playing sounds more like work, whereas - with light touch springs - my playing sounds a little bit more like music.

I get me some fresh Polish every Christmas and Easter!!

With the supply chain crisis, you might later find that you’re in a pickle.

Three Valves wrote: ↑Thu Sep 30, 2021 7:16 am I get me some fresh Polish every Christmas and Easter!!

I could’ve stolen a higher resolution version of this picture on my laptop, but I’m using my crappy phone…utilizing shortcuts (and the idea of the picture is not to stare at tiny details)

…but my point is that – other than bell diameter extension and linkage – this nomenclature of instruments has not changed much in over a century, as this is a 1908 B&F kaiser:

She's a beauty for sure!