CrunchyTenor Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 (edited) The ultimate issue is cost and consistency. IF ABC horn company builds a good Bb Euph they can plan on selling 10000 units, maybe more. R/D gets dispersed over that whole run and more units built means more units on spec. There wasn't demand for 10000 G Euphs in the whole history of the activity. R&D costs the same no matter how many units, so it drives up the price point. Sure, you can have Zig Kanstul build you a line of G's, on spec, and intonation and playability won't be an isue....but at what COST? Kanstul Marching G bugles Soprano $950.00 Mellophone $1,085.00 French Horn $1,425.00 Baritone $1,465.00 Euphonium $2,500.00 Contrabass $6,835.00 Kanstul Marching Brass Trumpet $1,700.00 Mellophone $2,185.00 French Horn $2,695.00 Baritone $2,880.00 Euphonium $3,395.00 Tuba $8,120.00 Garry in Vegas PS FWIW, Dynasty prices are higher on G bugles across the board and are comparable to their marching brass, some higher and some lower. But if you're going to buy a line in G, Kanstul is the better deal. Edited June 23, 2011 by CrunchyTenor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thirdcoast Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 THE KILTIES march a full line of G's. I will bet money that they get some serious deals on the price of there horns. Scott S. is a very generous man, I am sure he would pass on his deals to another Drum and Bugle Corps that was playing a full line of Gs. You all should hook up with him, could'nt hurt to try. Cant wait to see PLATINUM live this summer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mello Dude Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 Kanstul Marching G bugles Soprano $950.00 Mellophone $1,085.00 French Horn $1,425.00 Baritone $1,465.00 Euphonium $2,500.00 Contrabass $6,835.00 Kanstul Marching Brass Trumpet $1,700.00 Mellophone $2,185.00 French Horn $2,695.00 Baritone $2,880.00 Euphonium $3,395.00 Tuba $8,120.00 Garry in Vegas PS FWIW, Dynasty prices are higher on G bugles across the board and are comparable to their marching brass, some higher and some lower. But if you're going to buy a line in G, Kanstul is the better deal. Wow, from a numbers standpoint it sure is hard NOT to go with the G's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noneofyourbusiness Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Wow, from a numbers standpoint it sure is hard NOT to go with the G's. The problem is this: How many HS bands, etc. can you re-sell the G's to in order to consistently refresh your line, versus how many can you sell the Bb's to? There are many corps out there that have been able to re-sell their Bb instruments year after year for close to the price they pay for the instruments from the manufacyurers due to the discounts they get when buying a line. BUT, there is virtually no re-sale market for G's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mello Dude Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 The problem is this: How many HS bands, etc. can you re-sell the G's to in order to consistently refresh your line, versus how many can you sell the Bb's to? There are many corps out there that have been able to re-sell their Bb instruments year after year for close to the price they pay for the instruments from the manufacyurers due to the discounts they get when buying a line. BUT, there is virtually no re-sale market for G's. Why would you not hang on to your horns for more than a year? Are they that poorly made anymore? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeme70 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 The problem is this: How many HS bands, etc. can you re-sell the G's to in order to consistently refresh your line, versus how many can you sell the Bb's to? There are many corps out there that have been able to re-sell their Bb instruments year after year for close to the price they pay for the instruments from the manufacyurers due to the discounts they get when buying a line. BUT, there is virtually no re-sale market for G's. I never quite understood this line of reasoning...why not plan on keeping your brand new line of less expensive horns (G bugles) for the life expectancy of the horn, instead of dumping them year after year? There are still P/R horns in regular use...There may not be a huge market for the used Gs, but to say there is no resale market isn't exactly true either - any time they come up in the DCP Marketplace or on ebay, they seem to get sold pretty quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchyTenor Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 There's still a market for G's, albeit a smaller one than in the past. But, to be honest, I don't remember there being as huge after-market for G's BITD, either. You either played the snot out of them, or handed them down to your feeder corps...or both! In the current market, the buyers are going to be senior corps members who often own their own horns. So, it's there. Just smaller. Plus, because the whole line was in G, we only replaced horns as needed. Granted, we had a distinct advantage being the "test corps" for Olds, then American Heritage/King due to Zig Kanstul's relationship to VK. That just meant our feeder corps, the Squires, had better horns than your typical feeder corps. It wasn't until the change to "any key" brass (aka, switch or expect lower scores) that corps found themselves replacing the whole choir. Not everyone got the sweetheart deals Blue Devils (Dynasty) and Cadets (Yamaha) got the first year as a reward for development and testing. Garry in Vegas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 (edited) I never quite understood this line of reasoning...why not plan on keeping your brand new line of less expensive horns (G bugles) for the life expectancy of the horn, instead of dumping them year after year? There are still P/R horns in regular use...There may not be a huge market for the used Gs, but to say there is no resale market isn't exactly true either - any time they come up in the DCP Marketplace or on ebay, they seem to get sold pretty quick. Same here, unless it's some kind of accounting thing with depreciation and yearly resale. Plus the better corps might get a break on the purchase price. Horns I've use (and still use) have been around for years. Just see the repair shop about every other year for maintainance and take it easy on cleaning (no hard polishing). One of the reasons given for allowing Bb was to allow members to bring their own horn and make it easier for starts ups to .... well start up. Too bad that never worked as thought.... Edited June 28, 2011 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crfrey71 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Why would you not hang on to your horns for more than a year? Are they that poorly made anymore? Exactly! Star of Indiana played with the same horns their entire drum corps existence . Even when corps switched to 3-valved horns, they stayed on the 2-valve horns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crfrey71 Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 For me, switching to G bugles makes sense. What didn't make sense was switching to Bb horns and then amping the pits. By switching back to G bugles, there might be a better balance now between the pit and the hornline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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