Comparing King vs Yamaha

[3rd_Star_Brigade]

King horns are much more free blowing and offer a better tone. Yamahas have a more restrictive feel.

[Shadow_7]

Well, I went to finals and tried a couple King horns out. I wanted to try some others, like that Yamaha Mello, but when I took the time away from finals to do so (during cavaliers) they were already tore down and packed up. And it looked like Kelly mouthpieces didn't make an appearance this year. So I couldn't try out the King 3v BBb tuba since I didn't lug my 3+lbs stainless steel mouthpiece into the stadium. And otherwise destroyed my Kellyberg many moons ago.

Despite that 1st valve trigger thing on the King Euph, the sound of that horn has really grown on me. I absolutely, positively hate that trigger and would rather see a loop or even a half loop on that slide. I mean that trigger only moves the slide 1/2" at best when fully engaged. Anyway, I absolutely loved the sound I was getting on that King Euph with the Kelly 1 1/2G piece that I picked up at last years semi-finals. It could only sound better on the metal pieces I normally use. And I really haven't cared much for the sound of marching Euphoniums since my prototype Deg 2 valve horn from the '80s which had horrible intonation tendencies. But that King Euph has a nice sound. I haven't gotten a chance to play the Kanstul Bb Euph yet, but I think the King has it beat.

[no_itsnotadash]

From my experiance, the Dynasty instruments aren't that bad.

-The trumpets have kind of "hit or miss" about them. My girlfriend loved her Dynasty trumpet but the other trumpets in her section had some flaws.

-To me, I guess there is no great mello since they all sound different to me. Some sound like french horns, some like trumpets, some like altos. I personally like the sound a Dynasty mello.

-The Dynasty baritone and euphonium are pretty good. The baritone is pretty good, great for a second part. Tuning is a pain but once you get that thing in tune, its pretty good. The euphoniums are unbalanced and have a hit or miss thing like the trumpets. We had 3 Dynasty euphoniums and one Kanstul in 2006. One dynasty was stuffy, the other (mine) was kind of in the middle, and the last was very good, great sound.

-The 5/4 contra is by far the best contra base on the market right now. Yamaha makes an ok one, King has a better one, but the 5/4 were designed and made by Wilson (for those who don't know, Wilson is a quality professional tuba and euphonium company). Has a nice sound about it, nice and resonate. As for the 4/4 and 3/4, I have been told the quality was not like the 5/4.

[Shadow_7]

I stopped by the Kanstul showroom this past wednesday. The 5/4 3 valve BBb Marching Tuba played alright. I like the way my King plays better. Not that the Kanstul was a bad horn, it just didn't jump out at me as the best of the best. They didn't have the 4 valve version, which is supposed the same horn with a 4th valve. The Kanstul valves felt a little higher than other contras. A couple inches above the bill of my ball cap. There were plenty of grip points on the Kanstul, unlike my King 1141. Although one of them was a tuning slide. Which the sales rep said he had accidentally grabbed at a show and ended damaging the particular horn that I was sampling. The horn had been fixed, but it may have influenced it's responsiveness.

I played on the two marching Frenchies, the Bb and F. I liked the Bb over the F. A little odd to get used to with the bent lead pipe. But a nice horn. As far as marching french horns go anyway.

I tried a few of the trumpets. The 1600 was good. The 1500-A seemed better matched to me. The Coliseum one didn't really jump out at me as something special, but probably as good as the King I tried some days prior. A good horn.

I played the Kanstul field trumpet valveless bugle in G(or whatever they call it). They had three, one with a Bach 37-ish bell, a powerbore bell and a regular sop bell. I liked the regular sop bell one better. The marines ordered the Bach 37-ish bell ones. And the powerbore bell one is the one that you get if you order them from Kanstul.

I played the Kanstul Bb Marching Euph. It plays good, and has better intonation than the G version. The high C isn't quite as flat, but still seems a hair flat. The sound is still a mix between a Euph sound and a Bass Trombone sound IMO. I don't think it will be my first choice for a Bb Euph, but it is a good horn.

I was mainly there to sample trombones. Unfortunately I was only expecting to play marching brass while out here, so I didn't pack my full assortment of mouthpieces. A lot of their tenor bones are large shank. So I tried them with an LM-20 and LM-35. With those pieces they were just alright, nothing really jamp out at me. I also played the Bass Trombones with the LM-35. Not my favorite bass piece, but the Bass Trombones seemed good. Nothing really jamp out at me, but I wasn't using my usual mouthpiece(s). Well made and well designed, but I think I like my F. Schmidt better. At least in terms of how it plays. I like the Kanstul triggers better than my troublesome Schmidt rotors.

I'll probably be back on Monday on my way out of town to sample the 1606 Tenor Trombone that wasn't in stock in the showroom on Wednesday. And pick up a few more M6's while I'm there.

[Euphanasia]

Ibelieve that Kings have a darker sound than Yamahas. However, ergonomics, intonation, and durability are all better on yamaha horns from my observations. I much prefer Yamahas to Kings. A colleague recently asked me what marching baritones he should get for his school's band and immediately said Yamaha. Later in the week he had me test a Dynasty sousaphone for his group. I found that the dynasty sousaphone was well built, played pretty well in tune, and has 4 valves. (all for much less $ than one would spend on a Yamaha, King, or Conn 3 valve sousaphone) However, I also played the Dynasty contra on display as well as the marching euphonium and much prefer Yamaha for those items.

[JonnyMo]

I've played with both horns. I feel that both have their good and bad points.

King: The king horn is definetly heavier. It sticks out two steps in front of the player which can make some marching and manuvering difficult, especially durring passthroughs. The front-heavyness of the king horn makes horn moves easyer and faster, especially a horns down. The tone I feel is bigger than the yamaha, but has a little more raspy tone to it. The first valuve slide with the trigger can be through to opperate at times also.

Yamaha: The yamaha horns are better balanced than the kings, being niether front heavy or back heavy. This makes holding the horn easier, but makes horn moves more aukward. The tunning on the yammi's is wierd, but the horn has a softer, deeper, and more rounded tone too it.

[mchromik]

I am not going to make any broad generalizations for each voice/horn is different. But having just spent a weekend rehearsal on a Yamaha 204 mello, I have to say I came away very impressed. People have been singing it's praises the past few years and now I would have to agree. Much improved over the 203. Very free blowing, responsive, and not as easily overblown in comparison to the Kanstul I have owned the last four years. The slotting of the notes on the 204 is a bit tighter then the current King, Kanstul, and Dynasty mellos. This makes it very responsive and helps when the arrangements get 'busy'. I've never really liked the 'cornet-on-steroids' look of the tightly wrapped Yamaha mellos, but I have to say it fits the hands well after getting used to its unusual weight balance.

Staying on topic, the current King mello is free blowing and has a wonderful dark tone. But intonation can be tricky, which of course is not unusual for any mello. Pretty much a refined version of the classic mello except for the pitched up leadpipe. The responsive Yamaha might be a tad bit brighter but still produces wonderful brassy french-horn like tone. All and all I am impressed with the Yama and I may just have found a new mello love.

[s3si1u]

i'm going off topic here... but i want to know, has anyone played on Jupiter's new Quantum marching brass? I'm curious as to how they compare against the other manufacturers.

[Euphanasia]

I did play the new Jupiter marching euphonium. I (being silly) did not play it side-by-side with any of the other horns, but it looks (and if memory serves plays) very much like the king. Overall... not bad, but not up to the level of Yamaha. But then again I despise King marching brass for many reasons. (intonation, being made of pudding, etc.)

Edited January 23, 2008 by Euphanasia

[Shadow_7]

I plan on hitting up Jupiter this coming week. Turns out their US base of operations is in Austin, Texas. I've been wanting to get one of their soprano trombones for a while anyway. And there's been some hype on the trombone forum about some of their pro model horns. So it looks like they're finally making the move out of student only models. Or at least trying to.