Yamaha, Jupiter, or King?

[dasboot]

Of all of the choices listed, I voted King. That being said, my favorite brand for brass is, surprisingly, Dynasty. I admit that their horns are finicky, but I find them easy to play, once you are used to their little quirks.

[mjm207]

I've updated the poll to include Dynasty and Kanstul.

[kanstulbrass]

I've updated the poll to include Dynasty and Kanstul.

Thank you for including Kanstul.

Not surprisingly, Kanstul has few votes. As sales manager, the answer was obvious to me: not many people here are familiar with the brand, or simply have never played one.

As a small company, we have fewer resources for marketing our brand, so we are not as recognizable as our competition. As well, we have never participated in any sponsorship / endorsement programs, therefore not as many bands or corps play our horns. And until recently, we have been perceived as being more expensive than other brands.

I think that if you ask students and members who have actually played Kanstul marching horns you'd find that, overwhelmingly, they prefer Kanstul over other brands. If you ask brass caption heads and techs who have stood in front of Kanstul horns, they would tell you that they prefer Kanstul for better projection and quality of sound. If you ask techs and repairmen about Kanstul horns, they will tell you that they are the best built in the industry. If you ask directors and boosters who purchase Kanstul horns, they would tell you that they last longer and have lower maintenance costs - because Kanstul horns are built right and are built to last. Also, our pricing is unchanged since 2009.

Remember that King, Yamaha, Jupiter, Dynasty, Blessing and anyone else in this game all owe their designs to Zig Kanstul, who has been the innovator in marching brass since his days at Olds.

Finally, I have been playing Kanstul marching brass (and bugles) since the early '80's - decades before I began working for Zig. I have worked with a number of bands and corps over the years and have seen and played all of these horns at trade shows. I say with confidence that Kanstul horns are very likely the best available.

[danielray]

Kanstul; so I did not vote

Kanstul used to be far ahead of the rest. I played on them back in my day. They have really fallen behind though, and don't really hold up to some of the newer horns out there.

[Mello Dude]

Kanstul used to be far ahead of the rest. I played on them back in my day. They have really fallen behind though, and don't really hold up to some of the newer horns out there.

Actually you are entitled to you opinion but IMHO they (Kanstul) actually "hold up" as a marching brass instrument should and play well. The others have a LONG way to actually prove they hold up (jury has been out on this). Rotating your horn stock every year or two years...why if they hold up and play so well?

[danielray]

Rotating your horn stock every year or two years...why if they hold up and play so well?

Horns are rotated out for 1 of 2 reasons.

1) Manufacturer request

2) Deal structure allows corps to purchase at a low enough rate where if they sold them within 1-2 years they could actually make a profit.

Let's use Bluecoats as an example.

Here is a list of horns they are selling.

Let's take their tubas... which they are selling for $3,900 a piece (a steal, actually), which WWBW is selling new for $6,100.

No idea how much they are able to get them for from Yamaha, exactly, but let's say $3,600 for the sake of argument.

At that price.... they make a little bit of money on the horns, get new ones the next year, and bands or smaller drum corps are able to get great, lightly used horns at a hell of a price.

EVERYONE wins.

[kickhaltsforlife]

Have you ever seen what some of the horns look like after one season?? THey need a complete overhaul most the time. Not to mention if the person who used the horn all summer was a sweaty person.....

These horns barely hold up after two seasons. Sure they are a good buy for high schools who need horns.. and they will work.. but if the corps didn't do maintenance (cleaning, valve guides, felts, springs, dent removal, soldering braces) then they will have to do it themselves. These horns are used 14 hours a day 7 days a week for 3 months straight in harsh conditions. Doesn't matter how much effort members put into their horns, they get used and abused. I took great care of my horn... I was a very sweaty person though..... doesn't matter how hard you try.. it will get on the horn.. my horn could not be sold, in it's third year of usage.. it developed a hole.

[Mello Dude]

Horns are rotated out for 1 of 2 reasons.

1) Manufacturer request

2) Deal structure allows corps to purchase at a low enough rate where if they sold them within 1-2 years they could actually make a profit.

Let's use Bluecoats as an example.

Here is a list of horns they are selling.

Let's take their tubas... which they are selling for $3,900 a piece (a steal, actually), which WWBW is selling new for $6,100.

No idea how much they are able to get them for from Yamaha, exactly, but let's say $3,600 for the sake of argument.

At that price.... they make a little bit of money on the horns, get new ones the next year, and bands or smaller drum corps are able to get great, lightly used horns at a hell of a price.

EVERYONE wins.

I understand that. But, if you are TRULY to test the horns they need to be in real world where you don't rotate every year or so. It would be INTERESTING to see how they are holding up. Toting the top corps, whom get new instruments about every year/two years isn't testing anything as far as marching brass is concerned. There is a world MUCH larger outside top 10 drum and bugle corps where the real world use these instruments for decades.

[kickhaltsforlife]

I understand that. But, if you are TRULY to test the horns they need to be in real world where you don't rotate every year or so. It would be INTERESTING to see how they are holding up. Toting the top corps, whom get new instruments about every year/two years isn't testing anything as far as marching brass is concerned. There is a world MUCH larger outside top 10 drum and bugle corps where the real world use these instruments for decades.

My university has horns they've had for under 10 years. Mix of King Ultimate series and Yamaha marching brass... they are all crap. They have Tubas from Crown and Cadets from recent years.. we got the horns with issues. The valves are a mess.. braces broken. I think the 201 convertible tubas we have have held up better considering how old they are... but even they are constantly being worked on.

The King stuff has held up better. Baris/euphs and mellos. I believe the mellos had to be retired over the past year though. But the Yamaha stuff is just not built to last.

[danielray]

Have you ever seen what some of the horns look like after one season?? THey need a complete overhaul most the time. Not to mention if the person who used the horn all summer was a sweaty person.....

These horns barely hold up after two seasons. Sure they are a good buy for high schools who need horns.. and they will work.. but if the corps didn't do maintenance (cleaning, valve guides, felts, springs, dent removal, soldering braces) then they will have to do it themselves. These horns are used 14 hours a day 7 days a week for 3 months straight in harsh conditions. Doesn't matter how much effort members put into their horns, they get used and abused. I took great care of my horn... I was a very sweaty person though..... doesn't matter how hard you try.. it will get on the horn.. my horn could not be sold, in it's third year of usage.. it developed a hole.

Star marching 9 years with the same horns and somehow they managed. Those horns were even worse horns than what are out there now.