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OK, Yesterday was the actual new tuba day....but the King Giant 1271 I "won" on eBay (as Bloke says...I was first loser) actually came unscathed from NY to IL. I was going to have too many sousaphones at my place this weekend so, I wanted to take some pics. Unfortunately, my photo session ended early when the rains came...I was even going to get some photo comparisons of my ancient sousaphone stand and compare them to a Hercules stand and a Yamaha airlift....some other time I guess. So from left to right:
* Unknown (to me) manufacturer...maybe a Holton...24in bell and body are not matched...smaller than the 40K/20K/1271 sized body
* 1931 Conn 40K with 24in bell
* 1935 King Giant 1271 with 28in bell
* 1925 King Jumbo with 32in Bell

The brass horn is destined to be a decoration, but the three silver horns are all awesome. I gave the Giant a 30 minute polish job....which made me realize...I should have done that to the others.

I used to think the King Giant was a big horn when I played one....when you spend a little time with a jumbo.....everything else is tiny.

Now I just need to find the 40K a new home...

jc

Nice family you've got there!

KiltieTuba wrote:NICE

+1
Mark

How does the new (to you) King Giant play?

Z-Tuba Dude wrote:How does the new (to you) King Giant play?

I think it plays great! To be fair, I can compare it to the 40K which is a very similar instrument.

The King plays like a badass sousaphone. It is nice and big with a beefy low range and a free flowing 4th valve. It gets loud really quick. It breaks up fairly easily if you push it, but even that isn't a horrible sound.

On the other hand the Conn plays like a wrap around tuba. It has a big nice sound. It also can get loud, but it stays solid and focused longer than the king. You can get it to go crazy, but it takes a lot of air. In all honesty, the Conn is a better horn of you want a carry around tuba.

However, the King wins the intangibles here. First off, that 28in bell is awesome. It does ring though (the Conn's bell does not). Also the King just sounds like a sousaphone...and belches nasty-awesomeness when you play it. The low notes really get the whole instrument rumbling when you get it warmed up.

The King's valves are really nice. I had the Jumbo valves replayed last year, and these are almost as good. This particular horn is in good shape. There are no major dents in any important areas, and what is there should be easy to remove. There are some road rash scuffs on the back side, but that is to be expected. The bracing seems solid, but there was some work done on the lead pipe that look a little questionable. After I gave the horn a good polish, it just looks fantastic. The engraving on the bell is great! I consider myself lucky to have acquired this horn. Along with the jumbo, I believe my sousaphone acquisition days are over....for now!

jc

KiltieTuba wrote:You still need a 1250 or 1251. And then you have to find a Symphony and a cadet

Noted...I do take donations