Conn job

[highpitch]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWk0XHRCl5E

Highpitch

[aroberts781]

Very cool, thanks for sharing! It is fun to imagine all the instruments that came out of that factory and those who played them, both the famous and the random kids that played them in happy obscurity for years and years, just like so many of us!

[euphdude]

Amazing, thanks so much for sharing!

As a result of all the management changes, Conn is now manufacturing out of Elkhart again right now (they had been made previously at the old King plant in Eastlake, OH). I know the current management have faced much criticism because of a number of controversial decisions that may have contributed to worse quality control. But after seeing this video, it is a sad reminder that no American company is making top line professional euphoniums, and only Conn/King are producing an American made line of tubas. I don't know why this is the case - you certainly don't see that on the trumpet, trombone, cornet, or french horn markets - plenty of American manufacturing there, and the number of imports for those instruments is a small fraction compared to what we have in the tuba/euph world - I mean for top line euphoniums, imports make up 100% of the new marketplace now, and it is probably at least 80% for tubas as well. For euphoniums, the British style instruments proved to be more popular than the American designs for top level players, but what is surprising to me is that no major American manufacturer ever tried to get into that market save for Kanstul for just a few years (and the Kanstul euphs never seemed to catch on). But I think it is even harder to explain in the tuba world. The famous York instruments were American, and are now copied by many imports across the globe - but you don't see great manufacturers like Schilke/Getzen/Edwards/or pre-Eastman Shires making American made tubas, and I don't know why. Again, Kanstul made some fine US made tubas for just a few short years, but they were not on the market long enough to come close to matching the popularity of brands like Meinl Weston, Miraphone, and Yamaha. And all this certainly trickles down to the used marketplace - you don't need to buy some clone made out of the USA to get a really nice used instrument from a well known brand. For example, today you can easily land a used Bach 42B, one of the most legendary US made trombone models, for under $1500 - fat chance landing a legendary euphonium/tuba brand for that kind of money.

My theory is that the tuba/euph marketplace is so small compared to these other markets that American manufacturers didn't think it was worth their time and investment to make them. Other thoughts?

[John Morgan]

Thanks for sharing that video, Dennis. Very interesting. The good old days, no doubt. It really would be nice to see Bach or Conn or other US manufacturers making top line euphoniums that could compete with Besson, Miraphone, Yamaha, Adams and others. It sure seems if foreign manufacturers can be profitable with euphoniums and tubas (I am assuming they are), why not US manufacturers?

[DaveBj]

Conn in back in my home town? Way cool! I grew up less than a mile from their factory, which, of course, no longer exists.