| Miraphone 186: Mechanical Overhaul |
This tuba had
some major dents in the bottom and top bows. In order to remove them,
we had first had to remove the bow-guards. Once they were removed, we
were able to use the dent magnets.
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The bell to top bow brace had been pushed into the bell, making it necessary to remove the bell. With the bell off, it is far easier to remove this and other dents.
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Along with the bell, we removed the main tuning slide branch and leadpipe. These were both severely dented, so we needed to take them off to get rid of the dents. We also took dents out of many of the tuning slides and rolled out the bell dents. With the instrument cleaned and all dent removal completed, we began the process of putting the instrument back together. First, we needed to put new bowguards on the top and bottom bow.
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After the bowguards were soldered on, Merlin buffed the bottom and top bows in preparation for lacquering.
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After buffing, Merlin used a baked on epoxy lacquer on the bottom and top bows. We then soldered the bell, tuning slide branch, and leadpipe back on. After buffing and lacquering all the solder joints, we were ready to assemble the instrument. The rotors were also swedged and lapped to reduce noise and improve the action. We replaced all springs, corks, and aligned the rotors.
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