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Meehaphone Sighting!


Scooter Pirtle

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I'm guessing MFL is Marching Flugelhorn, but I like the first guess as well.

That's what I guessed, too. I believe it referenced many groupings of terminology:

"Mother F^%$ing Loud

MuFfLhorn"

Ziggy was kind enough to let me test his original prototype that he still had at the shop in '93. It was an uplated original. It had the serial number 14. Which I thought was an inside joke. I think I had read somewhere that Vincent Bach used the serial number 14 for his first instrument. I may be wrong, though.

Zig also sent one of the original fleet (s/n 1036) to test. Although, he didn't have the Warburton mouthpiece to send with it.

Personally, the Meehaphones played so stuffy for me above the staff, I kept looking inside the bell for some foreign object (like a Nerf football or a dead rat). It's possible the mouthpieces they used made the horn a bit more playable, but I don't know how the section was able to do what they did with those things. Truly remarkable players.

Any Meehaphone pilots out there got a good story to tell about these rascals?

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I have #1028. It is not for sale.

The mouthpiece is stamped BURBANK F and has a "cylindrical taper" shank.

Essentially, the horn is a 2 valved .415" bore flugel body with an 8" French Horn bell. The bell flare is identical to the Conn 92L and the Olds BU-10.

Not really "stuffy" - it just has no pitch centers above the 5th partials. This happens when a bell is too big for the rest of the horn. Like the Smith mellophone.

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Not really "stuffy" - it just has no pitch centers above the 5th partials. This happens when a bell is too big for the rest of the horn. Like the Smith mellophone.

The perfect horn to play the theme from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" along with the original Whaley Royce Mellophone. :thumbup:

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Not really "stuffy" - it just has no pitch centers above the 5th partials. This happens when a bell is too big for the rest of the horn. Like the Smith mellophone.

Thank you for finding a much more intelligent and eloquent way of saying "They sucked".

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Thank you for finding a much more intelligent and eloquent way of saying "They sucked".

It only makes it a greater accomplishment for those Blue Devils performers who were able to inflict some heavy damage with those things.

It's sort of sad to consider that we'll probably never see a corps innovate in this manner again because of the contracts signed with the major brass manufacturers and the preponderance of stock instruments. I'm not bashing the B-flat/F concept, it was inevitable. But, I still miss the old days when some of the corps (either by choice or necessity) did a little "home cookin'" with their hornlines.

BTW, the Meehaphone at Marian College is s/n 1037. It's missing a valve button and the brace that connected the flare and the tube exiting the second valve. The tubing has also separated from the first valve slide. Otherwise, there are not dents on the rascal and the pistons seem to move pretty freely. I'm hoping I might be able to persuade the college to let me undertake a restoration project on this critter.

It's also real #### cool to see some of the Meehaphone pilots chiming in.

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It's sort of sad to consider that we'll probably never see a corps innovate in this manner again because of the contracts signed with the major brass manufacturers and the preponderance of stock instruments. I'm not bashing the B-flat/F concept, it was inevitable. But, I still miss the old days when some of the corps (either by choice or necessity) did a little "home cookin'" with their hornlines.

Agreed. But never say never. Someday, someone will grow a pair and go against the tyranny of the 4 voice choir (5 if you count Euphs).

I would be interested to hear a Bb/Eb line - that would be cool. Eb tubas would add a great low end. Of maybe I am just geeking out because I am playing in a brass band. Here's a wacky thought:

4 Bb Piccolo

4 Eb Trumpet

16 Bb Trumpet (or 8 Bb Trumpets and 8 Bb Cornets)

6 Eb Mellophones (I know, they don't exist - would need a custom slide)

10 Bb French Horns

12 Bb Baritones

12 Bb Euphoniums

8 Bb Tubas

8 Eb Tubas

80 Brass Total

Edited by randomnoise
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  • 2 weeks later...
It's sort of sad to consider that we'll probably never see a corps innovate in this manner again because of the contracts signed with the major brass manufacturers and the preponderance of stock instruments. I'm not bashing the B-flat/F concept, it was inevitable. But, I still miss the old days when some of the corps (either by choice or necessity) did a little "home cookin'" with their hornlines.

Drum Corps instructors have been a resourceful lot, especially back in the days of Schlecta and the G/D bugle. I have been entertained many times with the stories of what Keith Markey and Mike Duffy would do to horns up here in the northwest just to fill out a couple chords in a song.

At the other end of the spectrum....don't you think now that there are 5 instrument manufacturers in the game that they will want to/are set(ting) themselves apart with innovation (new products), and customer service? I just got a new Bb baritone (King, not Jupiter), and as much as I like this horn, I see a lot of room for improvement. Isn't Drum Corps sort of the NASCAR of the marching arts? Won't they be looking to us for the next step, or am I just delusional? I would love to help them produce a better product. I think we all would.

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