King 2265

[jacobcasas99]

Hello everyone! I am seeking the wisdom of the older players who have a well rounded knowledge of American Style Euphoniums.
So after years of buying, selling, and trading to amass a collection of various instruments, I have decided to start collecting euphoniums. This week, I was fortunate to pick up both a King curved bell euphonium, and a Conn curved bell. I immediately recognized the Conn as a Conn 20I, and I assumed the King was just a normal 625. Both horns are in really good shape, and are silver plated. Today, I was noodling around on the King, and looking it over. Upon inspection, I noticed that something seemed slightly different about this horn. It is only a small thing, but I noticed that there is an extra set of bracing on the main tuning slide, that I don't recall seeing on any 625. I looked up pictures of the 2265, and saw that my horn matches the one in the pictures. If my horn really is a 2265, what is the story behind these horns? I know there is the straight bell version which is the 2267, and I know that King only still produces the 4 valve variants, the 2266 and 2268.
Were these horns just step-ups?

[davewerden]

King had two lines that I knew of when I was in the CG Band - the cheaper was the King Cleveland, which is what we used for marching gigs. The reason we chose that one is that it had a little less bracing (making it lighter).

I know that the upscale Conns had a more elaborate bracing look, with a series of "ridges" near each end. I think King did the same thing. King offered the upscale version in 3- or 4-valve.

Maybe a photo of your horn would help.

[davewerden]

Ah, now I remember! The upscale kings had a recess in the top valve cap, so the finger button's edges could fit into it. The Cleveland had a raised center to the cap, but no recess (or channel) in that top cap.

[jacobcasas99]

This is the horn, hopefully I uploaded it correctly.

[davewerden]

This is the horn, hopefully I uploaded it correctly.

Definitely the upscale model!