Posted by Joseph on March 01, 2001 at 23:51:55:
In Reply to: Re: Miraphone F at Dillon's posted by Joe S. on March 01, 2001 at 20:52:45:
Just writing a long winded note of agreement with Joe:
It is the older style Miraphone F. I too have spent too much time on one of these horns. I actually found the one I played(for about 6 months total) to be easier to play in tune than the PT-10 I learned to play F tuba on. The Miraphone I played was very stuffy and that was reflected in the sound I was able to create with it. It was not a horn that was conducive to learning to play with good habits. However, I never felt that there was anything that I would be limited from doing technique-wise by the horn. The main limiter was definitely the smallish, less than exciting sound that emanated from my bell. That horn was never fun to play.
For the same kind of money(if not less), Dave Fedderly has a Graslitz F that I still liked(a year later) when I honked a few notes on it at this years D.C. conference. The Graslitz seemed(as well as one can tell against the competing noise) to have a very nice sound that would be very functional in many situations.. and the response seemed pretty even top to bottom. The only slight negative regarding that horn might be the small reciever. In general I though it competed very well against many larger more expensive horns.
fwiw-opinions subject to change at my discretion,
joseph