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Hello all,
It is a great week in Frankfurt, Germany! I'm enjoying the food, seeing old friends again, making new ones, and there are some great instruments here. And, riding in a Mercedes C-klasse mit Kompressor from the hotel in the country into Frankfurt is not bad, either.

People are really warming up to the Kanstul York-model tubas, particularly the new CC, 5-valve EEb, and the German BBb players are digging the 5-valve BBb. The euphonium world is really waking up to the Kanstul compensating euphoniums too. I listened to a trombonist with the Conzertgebouw (sp?) play the 975 euphonium yesterday, and it sounded really sweet, not to mention very in-tune.

A German Army quintet played at the opening yesterday, very nice and solid musicianship.

There is a very small Italian company here with a fine handmade F-tuba, but I still prefer Rudolf Meinl's F-tubas, both rotor- and piston. And, Rudi has a 4-front-piston 5/4 BBb that I think is the best 5/4 BBb tuba at the Conference. I would proudly play that big mama anywhere!

Now, if I can figure out how to set a land mine to eliminate the saxophone display next door........... just kidding!

I have limited access to the internet here, but will answer questions/comments as much as possible. Steve Ferguson is here and in the booth, too, so if you have any questions for either of us, feel free to let me know.

Lee Stofer wrote: People are really warming up to the Kanstul York-model tubas, particularly the new CC...

I have limited access to the internet here, but will answer questions/comments as much as possible. Steve Ferguson is here and in the booth, too, so if you have any questions for either of us, feel free to let me know.

Hi Lee,
Thanks for reporting in from the Musikmesse. I'm excited about the new Kanstul CC, and would love a more detailed report when you've had enough time on it, and if you get an opportunity.
Regards,
P

goodgigs wrote:Lee, I have to ask;
Is there a 5/4 CC Jupiter?
Is there a 5/4 CC Jin Bao ?
Is there a 6/4 CC by any make?
Did you bring a camera ?

Thanks!

Until Lee gets back online, I'll throw some info in. Didn't see a 5/4 Jupiter but it could have been hiding. The displays have been getting smaller and less opulent over the last few years, with the exception of Gerhard Meinl's booth. The Melton Quartet was entertaining the crowd several times during Wednesday's fun. They were celebrating 200 years of the company's history.

Didn't even look at the Chinese importers but Lee or Steve may have wandered there yesterday.

The usual suspects for 6/4 CC tubas were there: MW 6450/2 (the best example of that horn yet, IMO), a very used, but still quite playable, first-run 2165 that had a pro owner in the UK (pretty good example of an early Deck-o-phone that would benefit from a smaller, shorter leadpipe; other tweaks like removing metal from other places instead of removing the bell collar) Rudolf Meinl 5/4 CC (I'm biased, I like all his horns). Willson has updated a few things on their horns and introduced a new, more compact-looking EEb. I didn't take the time to play it nor did I ask what the improvements were. They've never been my cup of tea.

Also played the MW 2250 F and the G&P piston F. I didn't care for the 2250 and with the few minutes I had I with it, I can only say that I couldn't reproduce the "sound in my head." Ergonomically it felt great holding and playing but it wasn't the sound I desire. The G&P sounded and felt great and it was constructed well, too. Bright silver with gold slide crooks and trim. Stunning horn that should make its way west soon. I thought I had taken a picture of it but I was mistaken.

Lee does have a camera but doesn't have a laptop to download them. He's probably on his way to the hall now and may chime in later.

Hello Lee,
Wish I could join you in Frankfurt, nice town and impressive Musikmesse.
Very surprisingly, Rudolf Meinl hasn't updated his homesite for years. It still contains the same instrument and pictures as before despite new models are launched as you tell us. When I met him and his son at the Musikmesse a few years ago, I already at that time saw models not in the homesite.
Do you know if a new fresh site is being prepared? I'm looking forward to that.
Thanks for your information,
Lars

That G&P is stunning...

http://www.gp-wind.com/Strumenti.asp?IDCartella=31" target="_blank

J.c.S.

Anyone played the Adams CC-Tuba????

I played two of them, both 4/4 CC with the four piston, one rotor configuration. A four piston CC was displayed higher and I didn't play it. One seemed to be constructed of a thinner metal and that was the only difference. Same size and appearance as an HB-21. Kinda ho-hum to me, but I always qualify my testing statements that the "test booths" are the worst possible place to get an informed impression of an instrument's true qualities. It would be worth sitting down with them in a quiet, acoustically friendly hall, or even a Wenger sound booth.

OK, Guys,
I'm starting to drag a little (although I'm wide awake at 3:00AM!), but here's what I saw today;

The G&P F-tuba is a visually stunning instrument. If you're looking for a small, lightweight F-tuba with handmade branches, bell, and Bauerfind valves (same supplier as for Hirsbrunner, now owned by Adams), this little F would make a wonderful solo instrument, but the emphasis is on "solo" and "small". Of normal F-tubas, The Mirafone Petrouschka is really good, the new Melton (Meinl-Weston) 2250 piston F is somewhat larger and a little more secure for me intonation-wise, but I think that Rudi Meinl's piston F, version 2.0 beats all of them. The Rudi is more in-tune than any of them, and commands all ranges. This would be my pick if I had an orchestral gig or brass quintet job tonight. If someone in the US is serious about getting the Rudi piston F, let me know in the next 12 hzours or so and I'll try to bring it back with me. Thein is offering simply wonderful F-tuba, if you have €20,000 or $30,000US. I will check out the Alexander F tuba and some other instruments tomorrow. The exhibits are smaller than in former years.

Kanstul is talking about building a piston F-tuba, as his two BB's, two monster Eb's (EEb) and the tricked-out CC are all being very well-received. The Kanstul CC, with the light-wall construction and graduated bore through the valveset seems to causing quite a stir. (Technical data- valves 1 and 2, .656" bore, 3rd, .689" bore, 4th .712" bore, and rotor .727" bore, making it quite conical through the valves. The response is like butter. That instrument, the 5-front-valve Eb and the 4-top piston BBb are emerging as the favorite three of the five tubas on display.

I did play the Adams CC tubas this afternoon, all three of them. I first played the heavyweight model, and it was good. Then, I played the medium-weight model, and it was better. When I played the thin-wall model with more bracing, I knew he had a winner, and offered him my enthusiastic congratulations.

What I have seen of Chinese instruments are copies of established western instruments. I would rather not see American and European jobs exported to the Far East, so I am really not interested in them. Some of the copies are fairly impressive, some are just pitiful. What I also did see was representatives of manufacturers coming to check out Kanstul, incredulous that Kanstul imports no parts whatsoever. In addition to making their own pistons and rotors, making branches and bells, Kanstul workers even wind their own valve springs, so the instruments are totally American-made, and I'm quite proud to see them doing so well on the World Stage this week. Kanstul's F contrabass trombone is also well-received, and Steve Ferguson and I are conspiring to get Zig Kanstul to build a cimbasso, too.

Well, I'd better get back to work!

Lee and Chris, thanks for the reports.

Guten Morgen von Deutschland!
As time permits, I will wander from the Kanstul booth at times today to try other instruments and hopefully be able to report intellignetly on them.

I will mention that Rudi is showing a one-of-a kind BBb tuba this year, a prototype 5/4 (6/4) piston BBb tuba. I would love to get this instrument to my shop, as Americans would really dig this instrument. It is close to the size of a Holton, even closer to the York in size, and is simply wonderful. I have not managed to get a definite price quote from Rudi for it yet, but I'll keep after him!

I'll try the Alex tubas today, and vist the Cerveny booth as well, and see what else is out there.

Hi fellow tubists,
The show is over, and all that is left is flying the "milk route" from Germany through Canada to the American Midwest.

Chris Hite and his wife Barbara are keeping me overnight in Heidelberg, and we're cruising TubeNet, and talking about what we saw.

There were no Asian-made 5/4 or 6/4 anything that we saw. Alexander had an F-tuba that I played today. It is not nearly intonationally perfect, but a really good, workable player. Alex also had another tuba that did not look like a 163, but was smaller. Mirafone had a 5/4 there. Rudi was showing the King of all beasts 6/4, piccolo trumpets, and every size brass instrument in-between. The Chinese makers are an interesting lot. There were different brand names for their booths, and there were traditional brand names that were stenciled on Chinese-made instruments, and I got the strong impression that all of these instruments are made in one huge factory in the East. It all basically looked the same. You may know that Yamaha has been outsourcing some of its production to China. Some of the best quality Chinese instruments are Yamaha clones. I saw perfect clones of the Yamaha YBB-105 tuba, the 321 euphonium and the 642 euphonium - EXCEPT that the internal quality, mostly what people don't look at, was not like a real Yamaha.
I'll write more when I'm conscious,