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Back in the spring of 2021 I was on sabbatical from Arizona State, and, as reported here in Horn Matters, my project involved horn building. One of the three main projects was rebuilding a vintage Mirafone single horn into an older, Schmidt-inspired design, one that could also be set up in F or G. The horn as it existed in 2021 is described in more detail here.
It came out well, but there were some details that bothered me, and the E on the top space was rather unstable. Consulting with Rick Seraphinoff later, he suggested a leadpipe change might help (as I had used the original Mirafone pipe). Besides that, there were a couple bracing things I didn’t like and also the slide tube ends were “plain.”
Also, I more recently got inspired by a Kruspe single horn, described further here. I realized that I could bring my Mirafone project horn to a very similar design, and it gave me a clear model on how to rework the bracing.
Updates
Which brings us to March of 2025. This fall I got back into working on this horn, tore it down partially and made/bent a new leadpipe using a Seraphinoff blank.
Backing up a step, the starting point horn was a 1960s Mirafone. When I obtained it, it was a classic “parts horn,” it was missing key parts of the valves. My idea was to use a Yamaha valve section and redesign the body to represent a horn from the early 20th century. I used what was the original Mirafone Eb slide to be the new main slide (the F slide became the G slide), and rebuilt the body to follow photos of instruments with this type of looped main slide.
The underlying Mirafone horn was well built. The bell is of the “hand hammered” type with a V insert, and it has that beautiful nickel silver garland. With other nice details, such as the thumb ring and beautifully made braces.
Details
There were some details I was not happy with though. One key missing detail from my rebuild was that the slide tube ends were plain.
Modern horns normally have slide ends that are rolled out from the tubing itself, although this Yamaha valve section had plain tube ends. But older horns typically have turned pieces which were soldered on. The Mirafone had those turned details, nicely done. But their build quality was a bit too good, as they would not come off. They were made as a tight press fit and then soldered on. I finally figured out a way of cutting the original Mirafone slides ends from the inside (with a jeweler’s saw) so that I could heat and crimp the slide slightly, enough to release the nice turnings. They really help the horn have a classic look.
This final view from the back shows several more details. First, there is the new leadpipe. In my original rebuilding the horn was rather sharp and needed a long slide pull, and with additional calculations I figured that I should make it as long as possible with the blank. Turns out I made it a little too long and had to cut down the main slide slightly. But that helped the overall look, the proportions of the horn are better, and this length of pipe fit the horn body well.
There are two final key details that I’d like to point out, both of which will require zooming in on the photo to see. One is that there is now an angled brace from a first valve slide up to the main slide. This is done in the manner seen on the Kruspe horn mentioned earlier, and hopefully has improved how the horn plays. The look is much better than what I did originally at least. The other detail I’d like to highlight is something Mirafone did originally — look closely at the brace on the bell. Mirafone made it in the shape of a heart, a nice touch that should be seen more often.
How does it play?
It does play better than before for sure, and has a very nice, rich sound. In particular the poor E at the top of the staff is better, but on the other hand, the slot for it is really narrow. That said, I like the slurs and intonation is quite consistent. It’s fun to play, too (horn playing can be fun!). All the work was certainly worth it.
With this all said, this sabbatical horn is now officially done. I have no further updates planned, and it was a great project. On to the next one.
