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Here is a photo shoot I did today of my two Mirafone BBb tubas.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/S9aUH42oFNUuPiMS9

These are younger siblings of the 186 BBb. They are a 185 (from 1975) on the left and a 184 (1973) on the right. They play similarly but with the 185 producing a bigger sound. Intonation is very good on both, and both have excellent valves that move with a light touch and that are silent. They are both about 39.5" tall and the bells are 15" and 14.25", respectively. The difference in dimensions that really stands out the width. The 184 is 2" narrower and it is really noticeable when playing. That is probably my only complaint about the 184 - and it is not a deal-breaker. Oh, and the slides don't move very well on the 184; they glide on the 185.

The last photos show the 184 next to a tuba I just picked up (on the left). A VMI-made BBb that seems somewhat 101-ish but is *much* shorter than a 101 - and overall size is about the same. A very good player with great intonation (but overall flat-ish until warmed up) but with a couple of poorly-moving slides and funky valve linkages (a work in progress). But the valves are excellent and the horn sounds great.

That VMI does have a familiar look to it...

Is the VMI marked VMI or does it have a stencil name?

It is a "Sanders Etude." Apparently, there are also some Chinese copies of this model floating around.

greenbean wrote: ↑Sun Oct 23, 2022 11:27 pm It is a "Sanders Etude." Apparently, there are also some Chinese copies of this model floating around.

I was a hair's breadth away from buying a "Hans Mueller" tuba this past spring, as I assumed it was -- like Meister Gerhard Schneider, Musica, et al -- a B&S/VMI stencil. Luckily I checked with Bob Tucci and he informed me that it was in fact a Chinese tuba and I would have been overpaying significantly. It did have B&S unibal linkages and the signature inverse-quatrefoil thumbring flange, so I was duped.

I may have bought and sold the very first one of the Chinese copies that ever came into the USA.
No brand name.
Jim Gavigan (exclusive MiraFone USA distributor at the time) bought a sample collection of Jinbao instruments that were not ready for prime time.
That tuba had a brown homespun hard case, an open seam on the mouthpipe, “sandy” valves, and a sort of shiny finish (looked like tripoli or Brasso) with lacquer over it
I fixed the mouthpipe, lapped the valves, and sold it to a school.
There was also one of those short-action sousaphones, a Mark VI tenor knockoff, an unsellable F attachment trombone, a little baritone horn, and a compensating double horn. I had Dave Secrist rebuild those sousaphone valves and sold it to a school. We re-padded the tenor - after correcting its bell orientation - and rented it to students.

bloke wrote: ↑Mon Oct 24, 2022 7:32 am I may have bought and sold the very first one of the Chinese copies that ever came into the USA.
No brand name.
Jim Gavigan (exclusive MiraFone USA distributor at the time) bought a sample collection of Jinbao instruments that were not ready for prime time.
That tuba had a brown homespun hard case, an open seam on the mouthpipe, “sandy” valves, and a sort of shiny finish (looked like tripoli or Brasso) with lacquer over it
I fixed the mouthpipe, lapped the valves, and sold it to a school.
There was also one of those short-action sousaphones, a Mark VI tenor knockoff, an unsellable F attachment trombone, a little baritone horn, and a compensating double horn. I had Dave Secrist rebuild those sousaphone valves and sold it to a school. We re-padded the tenor - after correcting its bell orientation - and rented it to students.

What year, approx.? 90s-00s? Just curious when they first started coming over.

possibly around 1990…??