Miraphone 1291 BB vs Kanstul 33S

The bulk of the musical talk
Post Reply
drboyblue
lurker
lurker
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Dec 29, 2017 10:28 pm

Miraphone 1291 BB vs Kanstul 33S

Post by drboyblue »

I am looking to purchase one of these two horns in the future. If anyone has had an opportunity to play both and/or just give feedback to having played one, I would appreciate the feedback. If this information helps, I have and play a King 2341 with Upright bell and an old Miraphone BB 186 with the stove top bell. Thank you in advance for any information given!

Kary
User avatar
Sousaswag
3 valves
3 valves
Posts: 317
Joined: Sat Oct 14, 2017 6:12 pm

Re: Miraphone 1291 BB vs Kanstul 33S

Post by Sousaswag »

The 1291 is a very nice horn. Large bore and bows, it takes some air. It will surely be a different blow than a smaller bore horn such as the King. I've never tried the Kanstul, but have played some horns with a .687 bore like the King. According to the Kanstul website the 33s has a .656" bore with a .687 4th valve. That would be what would make me hesitate. I would take a wild guess and say the 1291 will be easier to project and be heard. But try both horns before you buy. Form your own opinions. Don't let people on the internet steer you away from a great horn!
Meinl Weston 5450RA Tuono
Willson 3200RZ-5
User avatar
Ken Crawford
4 valves
4 valves
Posts: 722
Joined: Sat Jun 23, 2012 10:45 am
Location: Rexburg, ID

Re: Miraphone 1291 BB vs Kanstul 33S

Post by Ken Crawford »

The Kanstul will be more like the King. The Miraphone is a more modern instrument. There are so many great BBb tubas out there nowadays, I wouldn't limit myself to these two options...
PlayTheTuba
bugler
bugler
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 7:01 pm

Re: Miraphone 1291 BB vs Kanstul 33S

Post by PlayTheTuba »

Both tubas are really nice and I like both. The smaller bore is going to be noticeable even compared with the modern King 2341 / Eastman EBB534. Depending on what you want or what your needs are if you want a nimble tuba go with the Kanstul 33t I mean 33s... Thanks to the large bore of the Miraphone 1291 you can play as loud as you can dream of, if you need to play loud a lot for some reason. If memory serves me right the valves on the Kanstuls are lighter. The Miraphone despite being bigger sounds a little brighter to me, which I find a bit odd since the bore is as large as it is. The Miraphone 1291 (original not a Chinese copy) also to me sounds different from other tubas, not to bright or woofey but still has a nice color, not bland like a Wilson, vanilla like a Yamaha, or a bit bright like a B&S.

If I were in you shoes I'd go for a 33t (top-action), unless Miraphone makes a top-action Miraphone 1291 that is as comfortable to hold as the Kanstul. Miraphones Eb 3+1 comp (which is my favorite 3+1 Eb closely followed by the John Packer 377) has poor ergonomics unlike other top action Eb tubas, so I hope if Miraphone decided to make a top-action 1291 it is not modeled after their Eb's ergonomics. One can dream of a top-action 1291...

It sounds like you play an older style King, try the modern King 2341 or Eastman 534 and see if you like them better. Those tubas are very similar in size and shape to the Kanstul and I think (more like guessing) more people like them. The nice thing about those tubas that they are cheaper both new and used. If you're buying a new King/Eastman I'd go with the Eastman. You will also have a much easier time finding and trying a King/Eastman than the Kanstul. Sadly the last time I saw a Kanstul 33t or s is at the Army Band Conference in 2010. I haven't seen them since then to play them again... :(
PlayTheTuba
bugler
bugler
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2017 7:01 pm

Re: Miraphone 1291 BB vs Kanstul 33S

Post by PlayTheTuba »

Oh forgot to note but even though the 33t has a .656 bore on all four valves the C's and B's felt better to me. For some reason on the 33s there was some kind of extra resistance when using 2 and 3 for B natural. My theory is it has something to with the position of the valves and braces or the weight of the Fifth valve plus tubing, something something nodes anti-nodes something something.
Post Reply