Question about King tuba

Calinours89 · Post by **Calinours89** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 10:53 am

Hi I'm asking some question and maybe ou can help me !!!!

I,m about to sell my Cerveny 5v cc tuba for a new King tuba

Can you tell me more about the king tuba (is History). is it good or not ... the intonation ............

tank you (french canadian)

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BONJOUR je me pose certaine question et jespere que vous aller pouvoir m'aider !!!

Je suis sur le point de vendre mon tuba cerveny avec 5v en do (cc) pour un tuba de la compagnie King

Pouvez-vous maider en me disant d'avantage sur cette compagnie (son Histoire......). Esce une bonne compagnie ou non. Leur tuba on il un beau son une belle intonation.

Merci

The Big Ben · Post by **The Big Ben** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:40 am

If you are speaking of the King 2341, it is an all around good tuba.

The 2341 has been made in one form or another for 75-80 years (or more). It is an easy horn to play and the intonation is good.

I play the 2340 3 valve model and I do not have one of the problems of the 2341. Due to the design, water gathers in the 4th valve slide and is difficult to remove. One technique is to spin the horn, depress the valves and pour the water out of the lead pipe. Others have a water key installed in the 4th slide.

There have been some quality control problems with the King horns so I would suggest purchasing from an established dealer who checks the horn out before purchase and makes sure things are as they should be.

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 1:25 pm

We had them in my high school. Get a 4-valve unless you prefer to play trombone with the 1st valve slide all day for the 1-3 & 123 combinations. Other than that, great for what they were designed for: smaller BBb 4/4 body with a .687 bore and a large "American" bell and tone to match, for mid sized concert bands in section.

Why the switch, not only from rotors to pistons, but from CC to BBb as well?

CTAYLOR · Post by **CTAYLOR** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 1:31 pm

The new 2341's are great. They respond really well. The low register is really big and open. They are based on the designed of the Conn 52,54,and 56J tubas. So you know they must be good!

Yosef: Tubist · Post by **Yosef: Tubist** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 1:50 pm

As with any tuba,

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY!!!!

the only way to know if the new instrument is going to have good intonation or not is to try it with a tuner. Buy from a shop if you can, where you can go in and try lots of tubas in your price range and then have a trial period. You may find that you like your Cerveny better....

that being said,

The experience I've had with the King 2341 (new model-fixed bell) is with one that a section mate in wind ensemble had. His was a good example and played pretty well in tune, but last year one of my other sectionmates was playing one of the school's and he had some problems with intonnation, could have been a lemon, could have been the player... but as far as the negatives of the instrument, spit does collect in weird places on this horn and you will have to spin the horn to find it, no biggie, if you figure out how to get it out.

Oh and as far as being modeled after the Conn 5xJ.. all that really means is it is shaped a lot like the conn 5xj it is the same basic body, but it doesn't sound the same, you won't find a BBb that sounds like a CC and this one is definately no exception. But if you like the way the Conn 5xj feels and you prefer BBb then you might like the way this one feels. The valve section isn't as big and the valves are in a different place. The only things I would compare are the Bell and the Bows.

Like I said, the only way to know whether or not you'll like it is to try it!!!

-dan

Yosef: Tubist · Post by **Yosef: Tubist** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 1:55 pm

People have talked about the old King 2341 and have discussed some of its problems(I can't recall them right now), but I know that most of those problems were fixed with the new one! I'm sure somebody knows more about the History of the model.

It is a great American BBb tuba!

The Big Ben · Post by **The Big Ben** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:13 pm

CTAYLOR wrote:The new 2341's are great. They respond really well. The low register is really big and open. They are based on the designed of the Conn 52,54,and 56J tubas. So you know they must be good!

Well, no. The newest model 2341 are basically the old tallboy 2341 with a Eb Monster bell substituted for the tall recording/upright bell. It is much more compact than the tallboy.

TUbajohn20J · Post by **TUbajohn20J** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:27 pm

CTAYLOR and Yosef:Tubist are right. The new King is based off of the Conn 52,56j tubas. Here is the new King compared to the old one. King based this new design from the Conn tubas.

CTAYLOR · Post by **CTAYLOR** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:36 pm

enough said..

TUbajohn20J · Post by **TUbajohn20J** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:43 pm

Yes, but the point is King designed the new horn to look like the Conn horns, not the old 2341.

CTAYLOR · Post by **CTAYLOR** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:45 pm

Now..back to the original question haha!! Yes, The new King tuba is a great all around tuba to have. I'd go with your decision of trading in your Cerveny for it.

Yosef: Tubist · Post by **Yosef: Tubist** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:47 pm

I really didn't mean to start this conversation, sorry Calinours, this is going the direction of a new thread(or old thread??) I think the guy that started the thread was more intrested in a comparison of his Cerveny CC and the King 2341, and how the King 2341 plays and has changed and what not, I was just trying to clarify that the king 2341, is similar, but not really laid out the same as the Conn 5xj series, so that the poster wouldn't be confused.

TUbajohn20J · Post by **TUbajohn20J** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:57 pm

Our Wind Ensemble always got compliments about how big the tuba sound was. and there was only 3 of us in there. We played on the new Kings of course. I loved that horn. It is a full-size tuba with a centeredâ€š rich tone. But they DO fill up with water fast, but thats not really a problem. I always just pulled the slides out and dumped them every 10-15 minutes. But another plus is that it has a hand-adjustable 1st valve slide so you can move it while you're playing. You can probably do more with it than your Cerveny. We had the satin silver ones, which looked beautiful! I miss that horn

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:59 pm

TUbajohn20J wrote:CTAYLOR and Yosef:Tubist are right. The new King is based off of the Conn 52,56j tubas. Here is the new King compared to the old one. King based this new design from the Conn tubas.

Both look nearly identical to me, except for the bell stack. On the other hand the Conn, though it is the same overall size and height, looks quite a bit different. More importantly, it also plays quite differently, while the new King is very similar to the best of the old 1241's that preceded the tall-bell 2341's.

I think it would be more accurate to say that the Conn 5xJ derives from King rather than saying that the new 2341 derives from the Conn. As I understand it, the Conn is made in the King factory at Eastlake using King parts, and the decision to use the Conn brand instead of King was based on marketing.

Even so, the King has a different taper profile through the valves than does the Conn, and they do not play or sound the same to me. The Conn is more open-blowing, but not easier to play. I think the 2341 more resembles the Getzen G50 in how it plays and feels, and that is high praise from me.

The 2341 is just about the only new tuba in BBb that really captures a traditional American approach. Pay attention to valve alignments and general fit. I've seen one early one that looked like they used four-foot pry bars to make it squeeze together during assembly. And by my experience, some of those in the first batch had fourth valve branches that didn't resonate well; this was generally corrected in later models, of which I've not yet played a bad one.

Rick "thinking it would be hard to do better in a new 4/4 BBb tuba" Denney

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 7:52 pm

CTAYLOR wrote:The new 2341's are great. They respond really well. The low register is really big and open. They are based on the designed of the Conn 52,54,and 56J tubas. So you know they must be good!

No, let's get that turned around correctly: the Conn 5XJ series is based on the King design, with the prototype having been made by Matt @ Dillons, and which the production arguably screwed up by not having some very important details that the prototype has that greatly affect intonation, flow, and overall playability.

CTAYLOR · Post by **CTAYLOR** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:48 pm

point is..buy the new King tuba! (getting back to the original question) anyways, i think the king is based on the 5xJ tubas because the Conns were made way before they even started making the King.

The Big Ben · Post by **The Big Ben** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 9:08 pm

CTAYLOR wrote:point is..buy the new King tuba! (getting back to the original question) anyways, i think the king is based on the 5xJ tubas because the Conns were made way before they even started making the King.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink...

Normal · Post by **Normal** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 9:50 pm

I've been playing a newer King 2341 for the last year and a half. It is a nice sized, well balanced tuba. This horn catches the eye of many tuba players. The intonation is pretty good, once I got the valve slides tuned. I only have to regularly pull a valve slide for the bottom of the staff F sharp, and then only when playing sustained notes.

I really like the sound I can get with this horn. There is some sensitivity to the type of mouthpiece. I've been using a Laskey 30He with a 40 piece orchestra. When I want to sound more powerful, I use a MF3H. The throat size seems to make a big difference in volume I can get with this horn.

I do collect water in some of the slides. I give it "a spin" after a couple hours of playing, and it gets rid of water that that won't come out of the spit valves.

This horn replaced a King 1241. There are a lot of similarities. I do though prefer the sound and size of the 2341.

eupher61 · Post by **eupher61** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 10:12 pm

The Big Ben wrote:
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink...

but why not ride it?

tofu · Post by **tofu** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 2:48 am