Tubas at the 2007 NAMM Show

[Bandmaster]

OK, now that I have the time I will post the photos I took of interesting tubas that I saw and played at the 2007 NAMM Show last Saturday. Sadly Willson/DEG only had their marching BBb tuba on display and Dalyan only had a couple of tubas, not the whole line like they had last year. There were many Chinese manufacturers present but most of their tubas did not empress me much. Kanstul had the same horns out as the last couple of years and again they didn't tweak the valves so they responded very slow, but had a nice sound.

My Favorite that needs no explaination: (Ok... the Yamaha 826)

They were not so over protective of the horn this year, so I got a chance to play it.

The best playing BBb tubas at the Show were the 25 and th 18 from Meinl Weston:


Another nice playing BBb was the King 2341:

They also had the brand new, re-designed King Marching BBb tuba which plays pretty nice. They wrapped the branches and slides so you can look left while marching, no marching blind, what a concept!


I also really liked how the Besson 994 Compensating BBb tuba played:


I have already posted this one in another thread. Jupiter's new 584 CC tuba that I think plays really nice:


And again, my pick for most over-rated tuba, because I just don't like how it plays, for the third year in a row... the Conn 56J:




Unfortunately I didn't have as much time to wander around this year, I performed with the Kingsmen Alumni Corps on Saturday morning which took up most of my time at the Show that day. 100 horns sure can make a lot of noise!

[Dylan King]

Does anyone know about how much this horn cost.

Just slightly less than the Yami 826.

[Bandmaster]

I want that K-90 on the end of your line! Man, that is in nice shape! Leland would probably have a baby to get that horn. I know that I would too.

(Need a baby, Dave? )

The right side of the contra line is all K-90s, but the left side is Kanstul and DEG 3v GG horns. A couple of the K-90s are in excellent condition and a few have definately seen better days. I never liked the intonation of the K-90 but I do like the sound, even though I could over-blow it too easy. The Kanstul sucks the air out of you but when you let loose the horn can take it. Plus the tune-any-note feature allows you to zero in on the pitch.

Great post, BTW. Good photos and nice information. I also have never really liked the Conn CC's, but, like you, really think that the King is a pretty decent player. If I were looking for an american-toned, piston BBb, that is the horn that I would get. I just can't put my finger on why I dislike the 56J so much. The pitch on the ones that I have played was not all that great, but I am an Alex player and tend to far too easygoing about intonation faults in horns since most are a snap to play after years on a 163!

Since I have never played the King and the Conn at the same sitting, could it be an ergonomic issue that I am not remembering? The Conn sat funny in my lap while the King seemed to be easier to hold/control, etc. Maybe that is it. Maybe it was just a response thing. I just know that I am a fan of the King and not of the Conn. And that is weird to me, since they are nearly the same instrument and made by more of less the same people. Go figure.

I played them both while standing up, but they were both comfortable to hold. I think it is "a response thing" myself.

Thanks for this thread. Any more photos?

Wade

What, of tubas or the Kingsmen?

http://perc-photos.com/KAC-NAMM07/

[trseaman]

Great post and pictures! Any recordings of your performance out there??? Thanks Dave...

Tim

[Bandmaster]

TUBAS! Photos of TUBAS! AKA – horn dorn . . .

(Go, Kingsmen!)

OK,OK.... I didn't take very many photos because there wasn't really very much there this year. So I just took photos of what I thought was good or new.

The Jupiter 582 BBb... I liked the one they had out this year:


This 4 valve Jupiter sousaphone sure looks pretty:


Here is the Kanstul line up, if only they hadn't oiled the valves with molasis:

3/4 BBb - 3/4 CC - 5/4 BBb

Here are some of the better Chinese tubas, BBb on the table, CC on the floor. The CC played fairly well, the BBb didn't:

Sorry, I didn't write down the name of this Chinese Company but "Calent" is engraved on the bell.

[PKeen]

I have to agree with Dave. The Jupiter was a nice playing horn. And the little Kanstul CC was very even and easy to get around on. The suprise was the Talent (Calent) CC that he shows at the bottom of his post. Not a bad playing horn for a ridiculous price of $1100. I loved the badge on the main tuning slide cross bar. Printed: Tuba Yah think?
There was also a non comp 3+1 euphonium that was a decent player shown at the booth. Price.......$250. I fear for the major manufacturers if this keeps up. Just like Yamaha did many years ago, they eventually got better and better. Its only a matter of time.
No one so far has commented on the Kanstul Euphoniums which are just great. The copper belled one had the deepest, darkest tone but wasn't woofy. You could push on it with some serious volume and it never got edgy. A wonderful horn to play.

[TubaRay]

I loved the badge on the main tuning slide cross bar. Printed: Tuba Yah think?

Perhaps this will be of value some day when someone wishes to sell it on
Ebay, and doesn't "know anything about instruments."

[Bandmaster]

I loved the badge on the main tuning slide cross bar. Printed: Tuba Yah think?

Perhaps this will be of value some day when someone wishes to sell it on
Ebay, and doesn't "know anything about instruments."

Yes, I did notice that cute little badge...

I have never played a MW 18, but they sure look interesting. I read that they are coming with a 17" bell now instead of the former 15" and that one sure looks a bigger. Did you notice any difference in playing?

Well, I had never played one before either, they didn't have them at the show last year. Both the MW25 and the MW18 played very similar, and very good. They really had a nice solid bottom end. I liked how horns vibrated in your hands when you hit a big pedal F.

[Alex F]

Dave,

Nice work. Thanks.

Did MW have any of the HoJo Tubas on display (MW2011TA,FA, or RA)?

[Bandmaster]

Dave,

Nice work. Thanks.

Did MW have any of the HoJo Tubas on display (MW2011TA,FA, or RA)?

What you see is all they had on display. Very few tubas on display anywhere. Conn/King, Jupiter and Kanstul had the largest selection available. B&S only had the two MW BBb tubas, Willson/DEG only had their 4v marching BBb, Besson only one BBb, Yamaha only the 826, all the Chinese companies only had two tubas each, Cerveny only the same little CC that they had last year, no Miraphones, no anything else.

Some day we will have a conference here on the west coast and we will actually get to see all the horns available. We never get to see all the good stuff out here. One can only hope.

[Leland]

Kingsmen Alumni... no kiddin'... Will we ever see the corps on Sunday at DCA Finals?

[Bandmaster]

Kingsmen Alumni... no kiddin'... Will we ever see the corps on Sunday at DCA Finals?

No unfortunately. But you can see the Kingsmen Alumni Corps perform an exhibition in full uniform at the end of DCI Semi-Finals for DCI Championships at Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California this coming August 10th. We are planning to march a corps of about 350 members. We had over 200 members at the NAMM Show, and that was without the out-of-state members. We hope to march 24 contras for the performance. We have already learned the drill for the opener and the first drum solo.