Kanstul 90 CC Review w/ Sound Clips

[Bob Kolada]

I'm on my tablet now so I'll listen later, after the bar.
Any chance you have any 1291 recordings? I still curse you for selling that.
Yes, Lee sure is a cool, personable fellow.

[Tom Coffey]

Good review. And, I really liked "Walkin' My Baby Back Home."

[Steve Marcus]

Doc,

I couldn't get your AcidPlanet.com recordings to play. The screen appeared with the words, "Waiting for Video." Nothing happened.

Suggestion to get them to play?

Thanks.

[Steve Marcus]

Thanks for the check up, Doc. (no pun intended)

No luck. I even manually opened Windows Media Player and dragged the song title from the AcidPlanet window to the Playlist area of the Media Player. Nuthin'.

Of course, merely clicking on "play" in the AcidPlanet window didn't work either. It has worked for other people's AcidPlanet recordings.

[Steve Marcus]

Doc,

Thanks for trying again. However, I still could not open these .asf files.

At first when clicking on "Download," Firefox provides a dialog box that says, "Open with Windows Media Player (Default)." But after I click on that, a DivX box takes over. After it attempts to open the file, the message reads, "This video is an unsupported format and cannot be played without installing additional DirectShow filters."

Grrr.

I suppose that I could close Firefox and open IE, but I fear the higher risk of bugs, viruses, pop ups, etc. on that browser.

I could also try my wife's Mac.

But these should open on Firefox.

Any other ideas?

Thanks,

Steve

[GC]

Try simply saving the file to the desktop (or wherever you prefer) and don't try to open or run it within Internet Explorer. Once you have the file on the desktop (or wherever), just double click it and it should start Windows Media Player. There's really no reason to involve the browser in playback.

[Steve Marcus]

GC and Doc,

I right-clicked on any of the file links. The only save option that appears is "Save Link As." I named it and saved it to my desktop.

When I clicked on the desktop icon to open the file, the same screen appeared as before, with the same DivX sequence preventing me from opening the file.

Left-clicking simply makes the same screen appear.

Please don't spend much more time on this on my behalf. I'd like to hear Doc's performances, but it's OK if they just won't work on my computer.

Thanks again,

Steve

[GC]

Doc,

The SR-506 is a lot of fun. I had a Modulus Quantum 6 bass previously, but the longer scale and neck profile were wearing my hands out, so the 506 was a decent-sounding cheap bass that takes much less physical effort to play. I can play it for hours without a lot of fatigue. It sounds as good as the Modulus, and the neck is extremely stable. It has NO dead spots.

A couple of issues: it came with a light-gauge Elixir set, and they're expensive to replace and don't last that long. D'Addarios that I'd used on other basses for years never worked well on this one, so I've recently switched to Rotosound R-66s, and they sound and feel great. The pickups are single-coil and the electronic compartment isn't shielded, so I occasionally pick up transformer noises or hum from dimmer packs. The bridge adjustments don't lock, so I have to lower the saddles occasionally.

All in all, though, I plan to stick with this bass as long as possible. For my requirements and the money, it's hard to beat. I've never seen another cheap 6-string with this combination of tone, stability, and ease of playing.

[GC]

Steve,

When you right-click one of the file icons, one of the choices on the pop-up menu should be "open with". Look down the list of files it gives you and see if Media Player is there. Select it and see if it plays. If it doesn't, you might try downloading VLC Player and dropping the .asf file directly on the program icon after VLC is installed. I also get great results with MPlayerClassic.

If you don't have a specific need for DivX, you might also try uninstalling it to keep it from interfering with file type associations. You can always bring it back later if you need it.

Best of luck.

[Steve Marcus]

The VLC Player appeared as a choice when I right-clicked on the DivX icon. I dragged the file name to the VLC Player and...I finally can hear Doc's performances.

Thanks, guys, for your patience.

Steve

[Toobist]

Hey Steve,

Don't go buying a Kanstul! You and I both already have the perfect horn!!!! (Steve's the only other player I've heard of who has the same model Nirschl as me.)

If you trade over to the Kanstul, you'll tempt me. I played one of these at last NAMM last year and I found all of those positive points above to be true.

I enjoyed the EEb as well. A super do-it-all horn.

[Steve Marcus]

Al,

Don't worry. I've learned my lesson. My Nirschl CC is staying. The gentleman with whom I've studied tuba roundly and correctly chided me when I was entertaining the notion of trading my 4/4 Nirschl for a rebuilt 6/4 York CC and later for a 5/4 Rudolf Meinl CC. While a 6/4 Nirschl would be nice, the 4/4 held its own pretty darn well this past weekend in Prokofieff Romeo & Juliet.

Now, if Kanstul one-ups its 5/4 Grand CC/BBb and comes out with its own true 6/4 tuba...

FWIW, Al, my Eb is a 983.