I am only in the early research stage of this one, though, so it is mainly drawings, photos, and a lot of measuring.
The old, detachable-bell King 2341 with the 19" bell was the genesis of this instrument. In 1980 John Simpson and George Tuthill of the Sky Ryders Drum & Bugle Corps (Hutchinson, KS) worked with designers on the King PowerBore bugle series to produce a large contra. My corps owned the original eight hand-built prototypes. They were built in pairs, each horn differing from one another in small ways (mostly in braces) with each pair of the eight differing in many ways from each other pair.
The production horns were very good, especially the early ones that were closer to our prototypes. They became less good over time as King sought cost-saving measures. These mostly were to use more off-the-shelf parts and fewer parts specific to these horns. Every generation was more compromised than the previous one, except the final gen, where they figured out some things that not only saved a few bucks but improved ergonomics and playability.
Then they stopped making two-valved G bugles. Zig Kanstul had designed (or contributed to the design of) all the horns except for these contras. It is a pretty interesting story that I may tell some other time.
I have two of these horns, one having been traced back to the Blue Devils (the horn was built in 1989) and the other was built in 1981, which was the very first production year. Only 16 of these horns were produced and sold between the 1981 and 1982 seasons, and this one was one of them. It probably was not one of the eight (or ten - I think they had two backups) owned by BD because it lacks the Minick-made "spring braces" that kept the bells from snapping off. It does have what looks like a reinforcement brace from his shop, however, and the only other corps to buy these that first year was from San Jose (the Raiders). I think mine may have been one of those horns. If so, I have a few photos that I took at a show that would have to have this horn in them, which is a fun idea for me.
The two differ, as I said, by generational upgrades (downgrades) that King introduced every couple of years. For one, the valve sections of the two horns are mounted at different angles to the horns.
The *main* difference—IMHO—is that the older horn uses a much heavier bell, which was the stock 19" 2341 bell. It has thicker brass and a steel rim wire. The later horn uses a special "lightweight" bell with thinner brass and no wire. (The K-90 is a very bell-heavy horn, and this was a way to make them more attractive to the players, but they are not very strong and the horns seem to suffer from less projection in a stadium.)
The third difference was more esoteric, but it affected the playability of these horns. The King .687" bore valves are at the end of a very long run of cylindrical tubing. The neck tapers from the receiver up to .687" in just nine inches (or less) and then it stays at that bore for about SEVEN AND A HALF FEET! Upon exiting the 2nd valve there is a crook that expands a small amount, then there is the small end of the bugle, the first component of which is a straight tube about 20" long. It tapers up from about .708" up to .840" (or thereabouts) — or it was SUPPOSED to. All eight prototype contras had this tube.
The first few changes the production horns had involved braces placement, and the angle of the valve set. But also, this nicely tapered tube was swapped out for a long piece of outer slide tubing with a big-ass flare at the last inch to fit the much larger ferrule. The tube, in the course of three millimeters, goes from .708" to .840" ID. Three millimeters! Tell me removing that nicely tapered, 20" long tube and replacing it with *that* won't make the horn feel stuffy to the player.
I can confirm: this horn plays great, but you have to push to get the sound out.
The newer horn had come after all the screwing around. In those in-between generations, the 2341 bottom bow was introduced, as was a wider top (front) bow. This shortened the horn and made it taller. This made it even harder to hold the bell up and they felt "floppier" due to the added height above the player's head. Further, the 2341 bottom bow made the centerlines of both sides of the horn parallel, so the bell pointed straight ahead, rather than up 10º when held flat on the shoulder. BOOOO!!! You have screwed this horn up, King!
Luckily, they got it together after a few more years and the last generation of the K090s used the narrower bottom and top bows, stretched the horn back to its original length, and pushed the valve set forward by two inches, shifting the balance point which lowered the apparent weight of the bell that the player had to hold up. It also restored the upward cant of the bell, so it was physically easier to keep it pointed where it needed to be.
Today I did some measuring and then taped some parts together. I discovered how much I need to modify the bugle to get it to play in CC. I had already done this, but I eyeballed it, underestimating for safety. And I missed the mark so badly, too! What my tuner told me was that I had a robust, FAT sounding, tuba in B that was 25¢ flat. The open intonation at that pitch level was nicely accurate. (I did not use valves in this mockup.) To move the horn up to the key of C I had to remove about ten inches. If I can figure out how to do this *for real* it will allow me to use my nice, nickel silver 188 leadpipe I took off the CC 186.
I measured the taper through that 20" long pipe (I have both the tapered and the flared-end versions) every two inches (roughly where the rotary valve knuckles would end) and have discovered that I could install five rotors from Miraphone. They would be in three sizes, starting with the 186 valves (2) and ending with a 191 valve for 5th. The 3rd and 4th would have to be this in-between valve that they make, but that no horn uses exclusively. It is one of the in-between sizes in graduated bore horns. This would give the horn a taper rate very close to that original tube with bores of
1 - .769"
2 - .769"
3 - .803"
4 - .803"
5 - .835"
I have been sharing my early doodlings on Facebook. I can build a pretty standard Miraphone 18X series valve section and place 5th on the bottom where I prefer it. If I do that the layout of this horn could be built as it appears in the illustration below.
The contra (moved up in pitch from G to a flat B natural) was very robust and full sounding. (I didn't lay into it, though. But this horn played well at a high volume as a contra, so I am sure this will not change. The intonation was surprisingly accurate. I was very pleased. HOWEVER, when I got it up to the key of C the pitch became distressingly bad. I had to fake it on the connection points of the leadpipe and the bugle end. I am sure there were leaks, and the taper was all screwed up. I only did that to see how much would have to be removed to get it up to pitch. Once I have a setup that will allow me to test it at that length with a good taper and no leaks I am sure the pitch will be pretty darned good. (Finger crossed.)
I am about to post this and go back to the shop to take some pics for me to study. If I post them here tomorrow, there will be tape measures and rulers and annotations in the pics.
Sorry about that. You get what you pay for, here.
From this drawing, I need to cut out about ten inches, which will come from the 4th and 5th branches (the skinniest ones). This will be from the backside, so I need to take my measurements and my pics and get to work. I will probably get them posted tomorrow. I have to get back to my other three horns after this post, so it is sort of a placeholder for this new project. This one is purely experimental and solely for entertainment and education. I have learned a lot about cutting horns after figuring out my Rusk-cut Holton's hidden secrets. Cutting the BBb 186 to CC was stressful but fun. This should be much easier as I can make this be anything I want in any form that will work. The Holton had to fit back together. The 186 had to look as much like a factory 186 as I could manage. This old contra just wants some love and to once again be able to make music.
