the elephant wrote: Sun Jan 11, 2026 5:26 pm
been saving for a special occasion, heh, heh…
By the way, the mouthpiece I have settled on to break in this tuba at work is my OG Ultimate. It rocks in this tuba!
Please pardon Ginger's tail in the photo. She would not take the hint and go away while I was trying to snap that shot…
A “tail of 2 items on a bed” or is it "which of these items aren’t normally found on a bed?"
I can’t remember is the OG the MP that was designed for his Cimbasso? This is a one piece with a #2 rim and a more shallow cup - is that correct? I had thought of getting one for my 185 although I’m really happy using the Imperial with it. What’s it do better on the 186?
You're thinking of the"Shallowberger" (of which I have an example, too).
This is based on his already good Orchestra Grand, which seems to be like a larger version of the Solo made for 6/4 tubas, which, in general, do not do well with really deep pieces. The OG was his attempt to produce something specifically for most people who use 345s or 2165s and get that hooty effect (covered articulation and such). The OG Ultimate was the result of him scrwing around with one of them and his lathe and having a sort of Eureka! moment. It is really an excellent mouthpiece.
I did not like the Shallowberger at first blush, but have come to see its benefits over time and now use it on my Kurath F tuba for some things. It is also a well-thought-out mouthpiece.
Any of his mputhpieces with this specific shell shape are one-piece affairs, mostly made of silver-plated brass.
For the already-barky 185, I would get a larger/deeper mouthpiece if you need to play "big" in anything other than a quintet. On my previous 186, I used the very deep Symphony model, but now I have this "smaller" 186 and am using the OGU quite happily. I have not used this tuba in an ensemble, though, and will likely switch again, once I better know what the horn needs to project clearly. (Reac: It may already be fine.)
If your horn has been in carbonite, it might take a long warmup time. Quote from my kids after watching the Empire Strikes Back.
I guess it hasn't aged much, though.
I tried to bid on a 60s B-flat on ebay a couple weeks ago, and lost at the last second...Grrr! I'm trying to get a good 4/4 BBb for my son down the road.
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I used it on the prelude to Parsifal last night. I was generally *very* pleased. It is more appropriate for this piece than the YamaYork. The YamaYork would be a great choice, but the sound of the old Mirafone sounds *right* on the two brass chorales.
It is not an overtly loud tuba. Again, the cut BBb inner branches are smaller in diameter than the ones designed for the CC, so it makes a slightly smaller sound, and might be a little more resistant/less open than that tuba is. So far, with this little seat time in the orchestra with this tuba, I have not yet decided on whether this is a good thing.
I might opt to move to the Yamaha for the concert. We have rehearsals tonight, Thursday, and Friday. The concert is on Saturday night. We have Wednesday off. So I will use this tuba tonight for sure, but I can easily switch over during the break, and no one will really notice or care.
We have a run of youth concerts coming up where we play some excerpts from "The Pines of Rome" and the overture to "The Cowboys" for little kids, so that would also be a good time to test this tuba out in the group. I plan on using it for that, too.
I have fixed the Eb just below the staff, the Db in the staff has to be played 3, the bottom line Gb has to be played 24, and the third space E has to be played 12. Nothing weird, and zero slide pulling… so far.
I like the sound and feel of the horn, but again, it is smaller than I want it to be.
Which is great, as I was hoping to use this in quintet. I can't believe I bought the horn (as a box of parts) for $400. You can save a lot of money if you can silver solder cracks and holes shut and do a full rebuild yourself…
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arpthark (Tue Jan 20, 2026 9:34 am) • prodigal (Thu Jan 22, 2026 7:55 am)
I really love seeing things that someone deemed as junk/trash being successfully resurrected rather than tossed out/scrapped. Even being used as parts to resurrect something else is good. Putting in effort and elbow grease builds character. Great work.
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Meinl Weston 2145 CC
King Symphonic BBb circa 1936ish
Pre H.N.White, Cleveland Eb 1924ish (project)
Conn Sousaphone, fiberglass 1960s? (Project)
Olds Baritone 1960s?
Hoping to find a dirt cheap Flugabone
A new thread on this tuba is coming up. I have decided to fully rebuild this horn as I did with the other 186. This one was hastily slapped together to test out whether cutting it to CC would net me a usable instrument. It has, so now I want to make it a nice instrument. And there will be a little musical lagniappe in there, too.
The major work will happen this summer. Be sure to tune in. Things might get a little weird, heh, heh…
These users thanked the author the elephant for the post (total 4):
arpthark (Thu Jan 22, 2026 9:10 am) • prodigal (Thu Jan 22, 2026 1:23 pm) • Casca Grossa (Thu Jan 22, 2026 5:13 pm) • prairieboy1 (Thu Jan 22, 2026 10:19 pm)
