TubaForum.net

I see there is a Conn 2J for sale at Baltimore Brass....fyi...

dp wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2023 6:48 pm The only tuba I ever bought new was a 184

unless you count having my Holton restored

me: ALMOST
I bought a new 184 in 1976 when Wichita Band was trying to attract attention to themselves by offering them for $1400.
I had a two-lengths (G semitone and G whole-tone) 5th valve put on it within the next year (just in time to perform the complete opera, "Love Of Three Oranges" in the pit - very low range)...IMSLP only shows a bass trombone part, but (yep - same manuscript/edition) there is ALSO a tuba part. That was the 184 that Ron Bishop ended up owning.
...but I bought my 186 (grey market - NYC 1974 - no serial # - "MIRAPHONE" engraved on the bell)
but also my 188 gold brass (c. 1980) which was a stinker, and my B&S Symphonie (which is a treasure).

Stryk wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2023 6:07 pm

windshieldbug wrote: ↑Sun Nov 26, 2023 10:00 am My first tuba was a 184-4U CC Miraphone that I got in college.
Now it's the only horn I still use.

I am playing my 184 more and more because it's easy. Easy to play and easy to schlep around. I'm getting old!

I sold my 4/4 and got a 184 this year for the same reasons, and I'm older than you. In my 70s, I have no desire nor need for anything bigger ever again. It works just fine for community band, brass quintet, and tuba ensemble.

I'm prepping for two performances at present, a holiday concert with the Symphonic Winds and a couple of quintet gigs this weekend. The three instruments next to my practice chair are the Hirsbrunner 193 (kaiser), Miraphone 184 (Bb), and Yamaha 621 F tuba. I'm using two instruments for the quintet gig for a couple of reasons. One is that the program has a mix of long-hair music and more jazzy holiday stuff, and some of the former is high stuff written more for bass trombone than for tuba. It needs a lighter, cleaner sound plus more secure landing zones up high. And, I already know the music with F tuba fingerings. But a lot of the latter is written for contrabass and sits near the bottom of the staff with some going much lower. The Bb tuba is just easier to manage down there.

And, if the trumpet players are going to have several instruments on stands at their feet, I can't see why I shouldn't. People hear with their eyes as much as with their ears.

I can't use the B&S F tuba with the Mirafone 184 for a simple reason: It sounds bigger. Both of what I am using blend easily with the trombone sound in the quintet. But there was a time not that long ago when the B&S F tuba was the only instrument I took to quintet rehearsals and gigs.

Every time I bring something smaller than huge to the Symphonic Winds, the conductor asks me to bring the big tuba. He's a retired premiere-band military tuba player and it's the quality of sound he wants to hear. (I'm not sure he has a preference between the Hirsbrunner and the Holton, though.)

The one tuba size that is an orphan for me at present is the standard 4/4 do-all tuba, and I have two good ones. (Well, one that looks good and two that sound good.) But that is just an accident of my current situation. I lived long and happy years playing only a 4/4 instrument in community bands, first a Sanders (Cerveny) and then a 186. And that is the instrument I would recommend as a first tuba for anybody.

While I enjoy playing my 184, I have to say that I would never use it for a large ensemble. I lack the air power to drive it to loud levels without going laser-like. I bought it for quintet use.

Rick "knows his limitations" Denney

For a long time my only tuba was a 3/4 Weril CC. I was a poor post doc with one kid and another on the way. I needed a tuba and had about $5 and some pocket lint to my name and lucked into a very motivated seller. It has been a fantastic tuba for me. Someone once told me it is the perfect beer hall tuba and I agree. It is great on crowded stages like Tuba Christmas or in cramped pits. Sings in the medium to upper range, stuffy and muted low register though. Even though I am mostly playing street band stuff and dixieland on the sousaphones now, I like to practice with it whenever I can. Never had the urge to buy a bigger CC.

I owned a Weril 3/4 CC. Terrific horns, light weight, good intonation, and a sweet voice beyond belief. Built like a tank. Low C# seemed to be nonexistent even with slide pulls. But, how often, if ever, is that note called for.

Ace

I owned a Weril 3/4 CC. Terrific horns, light weight, good intonation, and a sweet voice beyond belief. Built like a tank. Low C# seemed to be nonexistent even with slide pulls. But, how often, if ever, is that note called for.

Ace