Tubas available from Lee Stofer

[Conn 2J CC]

Hello, Everyone -

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting Lee Stofer's shop in Iowa to try some Tubas he has for sale. Here's my review of horns I tried -

Conn 3J CC - This was the primary horn I went to see, since when I bought my .656" bore 2J through eBay I thought I was getting a .689" 3J. The 3J at Lee's shop was built with a .656/.660" valveset instead. It's showing it's age, but still plays quite nicely. Someone who wants a good, smaller bore classic American Tuba needs to buy this horn.

Weril WNTU3CL0 (or earlier?) CC - I understand this is a copy of a Yamaha CC Charles Dallenbach played in Canadian Brass for a while. This is a nice compact horn with a focused sound. It's in great condition, and the valves are really smooth. If someone has trouble lugging around a larger horn, they might find this one a treat to play. If I had mobility issues and still wanted to play, I'd consider one of these.

Kanstul 900-4B BBb - This was the horn I was most impressed with. It's in great condition, and plays beautifully. Gold lacquer, 4 vented pistons (.689" bore) that feel great, both the valve set and bell are removeable for servicing, and it has a tune-any-note slide in the back (I loved that). It has a really nice sound that didn't take a lot of effort with that .689" bore.

All three of those horns are mentioned in Lee's "Summer Tuba Deals" thread in the TubeNet Sponsors section. I also tried two other very nice large bore BBb four rotary horns, but alas, I can't remember what makes and models they were (contact Lee for info on them). Both were great horns, though. All five horns have hard cases that are in great shape too.

I also want to thank Lee for the excellent repair work he's done on my 2J. He's removed a bunch of small dents, buffed and vented the valves (which completely changed articulating on this horn for the better, and they're very smooth), changed the corks and felts to re-align them, and expanded the main tuning slide (which fell out during a performance). This gentleman definately knows what he's doing. I also bought a Stofer Geib copy mouthpiece from him, which has been a much better choice for this horn than the one I had been using (something similar to a Perantucci M1).

Lee, thanks again for your hospitality and service. I look forward to doing more business with you in the future.

[MartyNeilan]

They never made a .689 3J from the factory.

The 2J, 3J, 5J, and 12J were all .656 (or thereabouts)

Lee is a great guy.

[Billy M.]

Kanstul 900-4B BBb - This was the horn I was most impressed with. It's in great condition, and plays beautifully. Gold lacquer, 4 vented pistons (.689" bore) that feel great, both the valve set and bell are removeable for servicing, and it has a tune-any-note slide in the back (I loved that). It has a really nice sound that didn't take a lot of effort with that .689" bore.

I still remember trying one of these out years ago and thinking it was a mighty fine instrument. If I remember correctly it was modeled from an old Martin Mammoth with some clever tweaks added in by Kanstul. Nice 5/4 BBb with some of the best pistons I've ever had the pleasure of playing.

[TubaSteve]

Did you happen to see my 6/4 Holton in process while you were at Lee's place? I talked to Lee last night, and he thinks it may be ready in a few weeks.

Steve

[Billy M.]

Hate to be the board twit today, but in my humble opinion, Kanstul may have been inspired by the Martin Renowned tuba, but maybe not a mammoth. Hard to tell from pictures but the tapers of the Kanstul 900 4b don't say mammoth to me. Since there isn't any definite Martin history written down, I think people might confuse the renowned/mammoth designations.

2 cents!

Even if I don't remember what it was modeled from correctly, the thing I do remember correctly and most importantly, was that the Kanstul played very well. When I decided to return to playing a few years ago, had I not gotten a CC (to force me to actually practice) the Kanstul would have been my primary choice for a BBb. I really enjoyed it and thought it that good.

(Less concerned about what it was modeled from than how it played.)

BTW, you did a fine job cleaning up that big ol' Conn.

[mlorrison]

Hi, did you also happen to see the Conn 25J that he has of mine he is working on? I met him a couple weeks ago so I'm sure there is others in front of me, which is completely fine. But was just wondering. Lee does amazing work and he and his wife are great people to talk with!


Matt

[Conn 2J CC]

Matt -

Lee may have mentioned a Conn 25J (we talked about a lot of stuff while I was there), but I don't know the status of it.