Kanstul 5480 F

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BassBass
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Kanstul 5480 F

Post by BassBass »

Hello,

I'm interested in know if someone have the experience in play this Tuba.
How it's play and how it's sing. Have a good intonation?

Could you compare with a MW 45 LP?

Thanks
ColeGAnderson
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Re: Kanstul 5480 F

Post by ColeGAnderson »

I have never had the pleasure of playing the grand F, but I recently had the chance to go tour their factory in California and got to play on the grand CC, the grand BBb and their 3/4 5V F.

Both of the 5/4 grand tubas were an absolute joy to play and their huge sound was intoxicating. The response was sluggish but that may not be as big of a problem on the F. I didn't have a tuner with me but they both sounded in tune (i don't have perfect pitch unfortunately). The little F was very nimble and easy to play, with a lovely tone, it sings even if you don't have much experience with F tubas. The tone was lovely and the low range was nice, not quite as good as a Yamaha 621 but it made up for it in the high range.

All the tubas had excellent craftsmanship and tone. Plus they could even fill up the factory with sound. I would definitely recomend going to the factory if you have a chance, they are very nice and love to show you around. Even if they don't have the tuba you're looking for it's a real treat to try out their other tubas.

Hope this helps,
Cole
Miraphone 186 5V CC (1983)
B and H Imperial Eb 4V (1963)
Marzan Euphonium (1970s?)
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Ken Crawford
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Re: Kanstul 5480 F

Post by Ken Crawford »

It's been two years since the last activity on this thread...

Anyone have any experience with the 5480 or are they unicorns that nobody actually plays?
Lee Stofer
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Re: Kanstul 5480 F

Post by Lee Stofer »

I don't think the Kanstul Company is doing much with tubas these days. My understanding is that they are primarily making their trumpets, trombones and marching brass, and shipping a lot of it to customers overseas. That business is much more profitable than trying to deal with the American tuba market.

I played a prototype of the 5480 that I thought had massive problems. I felt that they would have done better to further develop the model 80 F. I tweaked two of those, and the model 80 F-tuba could have potentially been the definitive American F-tuba. The model 80 is the closest thing to a York F-tuba yet made. The sound was extremely clear and focused, and people constantly remarked about the beauty of tone when I took it into an ensemble. The pitch tendencies were only minor, and could have been ironed out with further development. I played a concert with a full wind ensemble as the only tuba, using the model 80 F, and I was able to balance the entire wind ensemble in any register with that instrument. The 5480 struck me as ergonomically odd, and unlike the model 80, the 5480 that I played had uneven response. I've been told that a few much-better 5480's were made, but I've not seen or heard them.
Lee A. Stofer, Jr.
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