Kalison 2001 F horn?

[WVUtubaman12]

There's been a Kalison 2001 F tuba at the Tuba Exchange for a while now, I was looking at taking it for a teast drive a possibly buying it. I've never played a Kalison, come to think of it I've only ever seen one in person. I was just wondering about the quality of the horn. Any info is greatly appreciated.

[Frank Ortega]

This is a pretty awesome horn for the money.

The intonation is not bad at all and it blows more freely than most large F-tubas.

The reason I didn't buy it was because it was absolutely enormous. It's as big as a 4/4 CC tuba! I'm sure it would be a great quintet/orchestra horn.

I ended up buying a Mirafone Firebird which is a completely different kind of horn.

Hope that helps.
Frank Ortega

[UTSAtuba]

Has anyone played Kalison's other F tubas? Like the 2044?

Thanks!

Joseph

[pierso20]

This is a pretty awesome horn for the money.

The intonation is not bad at all and it blows more freely than most large F-tubas.

The reason I didn't buy it was because it was absolutely enormous. It's as big as a 4/4 CC tuba! I'm sure it would be a great quintet/orchestra horn.

I ended up buying a Mirafone Firebird which is a completely different kind of horn.

Hope that helps.
Frank Ortega

That's an interesting review because a player who browses this forum has tried out this horn and found it very difficult to get to play in tune. Interesting.

[Bob Kolada]

I was under the impression that you don't want a free playing f tuba... my firebird isn't free blowing at all to me.

You are correct sir! One's F tuba shall fall under one of 2.5 categories, but don't worry- you'll get to complain about ANY of them!
-piston F tuba- playable like no other, easy low range, in reality a nice sound BUT doesn't have a "German sound" (never mind that your C tuba probably doesn't either!)
-rotary F tuba- "the sound," translation= 3 or 4 different sounds throughout the horns range, most likely a funny low range, "doesn't play like a C tuba!!"
(the .5)- cool, usually small but not always, F tubas made out of small (usually) York/Conn/... Eb tubas- awesome horns with good intonation, low range, and sound, but not "professional"

[J.c. Sherman]

I was under the impression that you don't want a free playing f tuba... my firebird isn't free blowing at all to me.

You are correct sir! One's F tuba shall fall under one of 2.5 categories, but don't worry- you'll get to complain about ANY of them!
-piston F tuba- playable like no other, easy low range, in reality a nice sound BUT doesn't have a "German sound" (never mind that your C tuba probably doesn't either!)
-rotary F tuba- "the sound," translation= 3 or 4 different sounds throughout the horns range, most likely a funny low range, "doesn't play like a C tuba!!"
(the .5)- cool, usually small but not always, F tubas made out of small (usually) York/Conn/... Eb tubas- awesome horns with good intonation, low range, and sound, but not "professional"

And the MW 2182

[Bob Kolada]

I was under the impression that you don't want a free playing f tuba... my firebird isn't free blowing at all to me.

You are correct sir! One's F tuba shall fall under one of 2.5 categories, but don't worry- you'll get to complain about ANY of them!
-piston F tuba- playable like no other, easy low range, in reality a nice sound BUT doesn't have a "German sound" (never mind that your C tuba probably doesn't either!)
-rotary F tuba- "the sound," translation= 3 or 4 different sounds throughout the horns range, most likely a funny low range, "doesn't play like a C tuba!!"
(the .5)- cool, usually small but not always, F tubas made out of small (usually) York/Conn/... Eb tubas- awesome horns with good intonation, low range, and sound, but not "professional"

And the MW 2182

Bwah?? I did not like the (admittedly only) one that I played. The only thing I remember specifically was that it was too damn tall for such a small horn. Little tubas shouldn't smoke. Don't worry- there WERE other things that I disliked!!


Bob "LIKES the 621, and if he could hold it comfortably would have one already"Kolada

[tubashaman2]

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[jonesbrass]

There's been a Kalison 2001 F tuba at the Tuba Exchange for a while now, I was looking at taking it for a teast drive a possibly buying it. I've never played a Kalison, come to think of it I've only ever seen one in person. I was just wondering about the quality of the horn. Any info is greatly appreciated.

The Kalison 2001 F tuba at the Tuba Exchange . . . if you buy it, they will ship it to you. You then have a trial period of a week or so . . . if you don't like it, you can send it back. At that point, you'll be out the shipping both ways, but you can try it. Best advice: go try it on-site. Bring a good tuner and/or a recording device of some type to see if it's what you want. Yes, it's a HUGE F tuba. Yes, it's 4P/1R in silver plate. Yes, it has a BAT tone (for an F). Yes, you can probably get it at a very good discount.
I had it out on trial. PM me if you'd like to know more.

[WVUtubaman12]

some one asked what CC tuba I play one. The answer is a Conn 52j.

[Uncle Buck]

some one asked what CC tuba I play one. The answer is a Conn 52j.

You might want to consider something else - it is possible the Kalison is too similar to your Conn to expand your tone color palette very far. I have no experience with it, but many individuals on this forum have good things to say about the Cerveny F.

[WVUtubaman12]

Thanks for all of the advice. I'm going to start play testing some horns in the next few weeks. I understand that the materials and the production process are a big part of the quality horn, but when you get to horns that are made of top quality materials, with a fantastic production work (MW, Miraphone, B&S, Yamaha, etc.) does it come down to a matter of personal opinion. I mean, I hear people talking about "that sound." are we just talking about a good tuba sound or what? why do some horns have that sound and others don't. I guess I'm kinda asking for F tuba 101. I know CC horns, I know what I like in a CC horn, I'm just charting new territory here.