A History of the K-90 (long)

[fat, sweaty, contra guy]

I hope that some of you find this information interesting. And I hope that any mistakes on my part will be corrected. (I am fairly sure that this is all correct, but it was a long time ago . . . )

I posted this in the wrong forum yesterday and am attempting to correct that today. I had forgotten about this forum – err – sorry!

Sorry about the length.

And now for a short history of the King K-90 GG Contrabass Bugle.

Many of you are unaware of the impact that this fine old instrument had on DCI hornlines back in the heady days of the early 1980's. All of the information is based on memories. So some of it might be off a bit. If anyone here knows more or can make corrections to this tale, then add to the thread, by all means!

All of the following was from a thread that I joined one day on my favorite tuba and euphonium BBS. I was searching the archives there today and stumbled across my old words. I thought they might make a nice post for the DCP community. I will post in the DCA section since I am in a Senior Corps (and hoping that we earn DCA membership soon) and because there are few in the world of DCI that would remember how revolutionary these contras were at the time that they first made it onto the field (1981).

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The K-90 started as a set of eight King 2341 tubas purchased from Dennis Fisher (now asst. band dir. at UNT) at Hutchinson High School in Kansas. These tubas were bought by the Sky Ryders in 1980 and sent to the King factory to be made into a prototype GG Contrabass with the then-new-ish two piston configuration. I am unsure whether this R&D project was part of a deal between Rainbow Boosters and the King company, but the Ryders ended up with a full set of new Kings for the other sections as well.

The corps first showed up with these new horns in the summer of 1981 and blew everyone away with the sound quality, which was excellent when compared to the Olds and Dynasty "instruments" everywhere else.

The problem was that these instruments were prototypes. That means that each one was very different from the other. Pistons were at differing angles, braces were in different places, and the bows were wrapped by hand, leading to differences in height of nearly two inches from horn to horn. But they all played MUCH better than any other contra made at the time, and were the only alternative to the Dynasty hegemony (unless you wanted late-1960s Olds Ultratones and Duratones).

I played on several of the Blue Devils contras in 1984. They were from the first production run of the K-90 in 1982, and they were mediocre compared to ours. They were lighter and smaller, and the 9" half-step throw slide (while having a better stop) did not function properly. Don't get me wrong; that first production run produced some very nice horns. But ours were just a bit better. I believe that this was because the tubing used from the old 2341 tubas was thicker than that used in the newer bugles, as was some of the hardware. Ours were just heavier, which can make for a little bit darker tone color. Our eight prototypes were also heavier, had better intonation, and made a much more even sound. Larry Kirschner liked the functionality of our Ab (half step) slides and used to write for it a lot. You can see the things moving in and out in some videos from that period.

The introduction of the King K-90 GG Contrabass Bugle marked the first time that a tubist could march in DCI and feel that he or she was playing a musical instrument rather than a "bugle".

Wade "had to do some serious brain dredging for that information" Rackley

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Wade, your memory serves you well. In May 1981 I was one of the contra players with SR that pulled the first K-90's out of the factory shipping crates. All eight of us about collapsed the first time we picked those monsters up and tried to play. I had just graduated from HS and had never played on such a nice instrument, and had never seen such a beautiful silver plated horn. I remember sitting for hours during off times in Hutch trying to get the valves and half slide "broken in" before leaving on tour. During that summer we were the envey of all DCI contra players. Everywhere we went people wanted to try them out. I specifically remember us trading horns with the Bridgemen guys one night in a parking lot impromptu joint hornline rendition of Rainbow. They were just awestruck. Of course, you would understand the expletives that came from John Simpson when he saw others holding our horns; quite comical to everyone but us!

We treated those horns with kid gloves that first year and I know I left mine virtually unscratched. In 1982, I moved on to march with Garfield and played a 2-valve chrome DEG. I enjoyed winning with the Cadets after that, but I'll never forget the awesome sound and looks of those first K-90's in SkyRyders. I got a chance to play on one of the originals again back in 1998. The Shriners D&B Corps in Austin bought 3 or 4 of the original SR horns and our Shriner Corps in Dallas borrowed one from them for me to play. It was a great reunion with a wonderful contra.

Your post brought back great memories of those horns and their unique homemade packing crates (remember those 2-horn wooden boxes?) Your memory was right on target!

Chris "1981 SkyRyder K-90 lugger" Boyd

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Oh, god, those dang two-horn coffins!! I detested having to unload them from our 18 wheeler before use, but repacking and reloading them was even worse after a 16 hour day on the field.

I "rode" on top of mine down a nice, grassy hill once by accident. Getting it back up was not very easy.

We kept those contras in pretty decent shape, as well. But touring is very rough on horns. They had some dents and dings in '84, but still looked great and played quite well. I saw them a few years later and they were pretty beat up; it was a sad sight. I chose to march with SR specifically because I wanted to play those horns. I would kill to own one of the original eight; big old heavy things. What a great sound!

The hornline used to shower with our bugles every day in order to wash out the collected dust and dirt, then we would relube and polish them before the nightly show. Never seen so many CLEAN brass instruments used by a group of kids.

Nice to meet one of the "Plank Owners" of the K-90. Didn't Mark Searcy march in your section? He was an instructor in '84.

Wade "our prototypes were better than the production model" Rackley

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Man, you sure have stirred up a lot of old memories for me! I marched in the Sky Ryders '82-'84 and fondly remember hauling those puppies around. Weighed as much as a '57 Chevy, but what a great sound. The build quality wasn't real great, along with the lack of uniformity. Remember how those things would pop braces, especially when it got really hot? They should have been beefed up a lot more due to their size and weight. When I first started, the horns were in pretty good condition, even after their first year of use, but after my last year marching, they were showing a lot of battle scars. Nonetheless, nothing else was even in the same league with them. During my first year in 1982, the only other contra section that could match us was BD (and I thought we were better), when the hornline was under John Simpson's direction (if I remember correctly, he was the one that made things happen with first K90's). To his credit, our hornline was even occasionally outscoring the likes of SCV that year, during a California tour. Too bad our marching sucked. I learned more from him that year about music and brass playing than I did my entire time in college. Being able to do all that on the K90 made the experience that much better.

Craig Heinrich

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These eight instruments totally changed the way directors outfitted horn lines, helping to start the trend towards the modern, full-bottomed, warm sound that we all strive for today. These eight bugles helped push the mostly neglected "bottom" into the foreground. Up to that time, sections were mostly 6 players (or fewer) and were relegated to using really lame horns well after two piston horns were legalized (new contras will always cost "too much" for many corps). The incredible potential of outdoor, non-amplified brass sound became much more interesting after the introduction of these wonderful instruments. Corps began to shy away from thin or ratty sounding pea-shooters, realizing that a solid floor really helps a line's sound and impact.

After the Sky Ryders introduced the original eight K-90 contras to the corps world, the Blue Devils showed up with them in 1982. I believe that that set of eight instruments were the very first production version K-90's ever sold.

From that point forward to today the trend towards better balance and warmer tone started, culminating with Star using 16 K-90's in 1992. (Okay, my memory is a bit foggy here, but I am pretty sure of the number and the year – just not totally sure. PLEASE correct me if you know better!) The K-90 changed the way that horn lines sounded forever. The 1981, 17th place Sky Ryders opened that door on the DCI telecast. (Remember? It was the DCI Midwestern Championships that year, and not DCI itself because of some problem about it being in Montreal. The Ryders did not make finals – BUT – they were the first corps off of the starting line on the telecast from Whitewater.) I personally chose to march with SR because of the sound of the line and their very cool-looking horns that made such a big, round sound. Everyone else just seemed to be blasting on my cheap tv/boom box setup that I wired together just for the show. Those Kings were monsters. And I am very glad to own one. (I just wish that I could have one of the eight prototypes that I marched with so long ago.)

If you were a member of the Sky Ryders contra section from 1981 up until they folded, then you too played on a bugle that was important to the history of drum corps. Post here if you can add anything.

I am attempting to locate all eight of these horns. I think that the Shriners D&B Corps in Austin may still have four of them. So where have the other four ended up?

Can anyone help me with this?

Wade Rackley

Jackson Generals

Edited January 17, 2005 by fat, sweaty, contra guy

[BorisTS]

I'm not even a contra player, and that's some interesting stuff. Glassmen marched 10-12 K-90s until we went to B-flat horns in '02, and if I played contra, I'd want one of those. Those things had the bump.

[GeneralTsoChicken]

I'm not even a contra player, and that's some interesting stuff.  Glassmen marched 10-12 K-90s until we went to B-flat horns in '02, and if I played contra, I'd want one of those.  Those things had the bump.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

sorry...you were right

Edited January 19, 2005 by GeneralTsoChicken

[Kamarag]

The King K-90 was without a doubt the single best instrument created for the activity. Nothing else ever came close.

[bd5times]

I marched in Blue Devils during that time Sky Ryders had those horns. The Sky Ryders horn line had a deep gorgeous sound that we loved listening too. They were one of three corps that we routinely applauded while they played at reteat.

I remember when SR beat SCV in brass....several times during the 82 season. Vanguard had a fine horn line, but SKy Ryders had a sound that not many corps back then were able to achieve.......let alone from a corps that had yet to make finals.....says something.

Imagine what SCV's rehearsals must've been like. Defending DCI Champion losing brass to corps that had yet to make finals.

[Euphscott]

Contra Guy - what BBS would that be where you found the replies regarding teh K-90? I am a Euph player and woudl be interested in another instrument specific board.

Thanks!

[Tuba1919]

I spent all of my camps in 1995 on a K-90 and it was an awesome horn. I recieved a brand new Dynasty Super-Mag (3-valve) right after move-ins. Sometimes I longed for the K-90 that season, but it just wasn't meant to be I guess.

On another note, Future Corps recieved all of their horns from Dynasty, but took two K-90's and had special 4-valve cluster and tubing built to create the best G-contra ever. Had the privelege of playing on one because Mike Roylance was an instructor of mine, and that thing was awesome.

[Russell]

I marched both my years at Star on the same K-90. We all loved our horns, still. Many are still sick that the horn line was seperated and sold.

In 92, I got lucky because a vet who liked me shared the horn until he decided not to march. No one asked to take the horn back. I got one of the best horns in the line. We got some real dogs from SCV to make the total 16, but the low C still sounded great on all horns in the line. The horns were relatively consistant. The 16 in 1992 was beefy, but I liked the line of 14 from 1993 a little more.

The K-90 is balanced well enough to be played without hands. The high range, never used, sounded clear as a bell. One could really make the horn sound like a mello in the upper range. Listen to the end of the Chester Chorale from 92 to hear a good low C. With the flip of the right hand, the horn is at eye level and the left hand easily fits in the valve case. The best part of the K-90 was the way it land in your hands at carry. No parking that big bell on your belly in circle drill, so the ballance of the hands from left to right makes a huge difference. The K-90 kept the hands more together than anything I have played since.

I teach a school that has 4 Bb Kanstuls and Marion has G Kanstuls. I like to play the horns because of the sound and the third valve, but the K-90 is the marching horn of choice. I would love to talk to King about the new construction versus the K-90. If you look at the new horns closly and remember the K-90, there is no comparrison.

Russell

[Leland]

I was sitting on the bus with my K-90 during a ride to a show while marching Empire in 2000, and Jerry Kelsey, sitting a couple rows back, says, "How can you manage to carry that thing everywhere?"

I said, "Every time I make a noise on it, I feel justified."

The big Kanstul is a kick, the DEG supermags are pretty good, the smaller DEGs are an exercise in restraint, our custom Kanstul 2p/1r contras sound better in ensemble than by themselves, and the Duratones were actually pretty good, considering their size.

But, man, that K-90... It's like it's the voice of God.

Edited April 7, 2005 by Leland

[Phirefenix]

I marched both my years at Star on the same K-90.  We all loved our horns, still. Many are still sick that the horn line was seperated and sold. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Teal may have bought one in 2000. It had stains on the bells in the silver that closely mimicked the way those ropes were tied on them in the 91 show I think. I always wondered about it, never asked the staff who they bought it from. It's been sold since then when we went Bb. I have no clue where it is now, though I hope it's in good hands. I loved the K-90 even though I never got ot march it. I had to put up with an old DEG two banger. I'd pick up the K-90 on breaks to play it though, ###### off my section leader all the time.