Hooray for New Horns

[swinger_006]

Hooray!
Went to Kanstul on Monday and picked up my new ZKT-1500 from the showroom, thanks to some very generous parents who decided to give me an early 21st birthday present. After almost a week of school playing/gigging I thought I'd post my impressions.

First off, the horn is heavy. The big copper bell is demanding on your chops, but that luscious, rich sound it definitely worth it. Acclimation to this didn't take too long, though I had initial fears of weeks of acclimation time and totally beat up chops. As a matter of fact, this has stepped up my endurance in the last week to a noticable degree (the first day with the 1500 I played four rehearsals and a three-hour bar gig...)

There is a slight wall of resistance to the blow, but not in the way a Bach pushes back at you (at least to me). The resistance is more like a cushion that engages itself above the staff more, and I've found it helps me retain the integrity of core to my sound at higher volumes. I don't find the horn too stuffy. I am planning to experiment with a rounded tuning slide as well.

Projection and sheer size of sound are huge. This horn projects forward agressively, but not in the manner of most ultra-heavyweights I've played; in other words, I can hear myself more accurately from behind the bell. When I want to be big, loud, and fat, the sound expands with with an even bigger core than at softer volumes. I played some easy lead in big band the other day- our regular lead player said while the sound wasn't a bright one, it projected so well that I nearly buried the saxes!

On my combo gig with my trio (me, bass, and guitar) I explored the more intimate side of the horn (sounds like a lingerie advertisement!). This horn speaks with the same dark, rich voice at lower volume levels, with an added "fluffiness" to the sound. I felt like I could let the horn do the work of creating the sound I wanted, and focus more on my ideas, etc.

Overall, I am extremely pleased. Zig and Charles over at Kanstul were very helpful in helping me try and select one of their horns, and the overall process was a breeze. Hornmakers who go to the trouble of going one on one with their customers (read: Kanstul, Flip Oakes, Andy Taylor, etc) always have an A in my book.

Hopefully this post is of interest to someone, otherwise I justwasted about 15 minutes of my life.
_________________
-Tim Gill

"Love yourself- and make your instrument sing about it." -Kurt Vonnegut
"If you can't swing, get weird!" -Billy Byers
www.timgillmusic.com

[music matters]

Enjoy your new horn Tim! I agree it's lovely buying from a manafacturer that cares and you can meet/talk to the makers of the instrument.

Happy playing - sounds like it will be great for jazz soloing.

MM

PS Happy 21st Birthday!!

[Dick S]

Hi Tim,
Greetings from up the I15.

Sorry about your bad experience with Kanstul.

Yes, they are a class act and verrrry accommodating. I've bought 5 of 'em in the past 1 1/2+ yrs. & had three vintage ones rebuilt or relacquered.

OK, you didn't even know you had a bad experience. You dealt with just Zig, the owner & Chas. the sales mgr. This is not to say that they are not nice, helpful & knowledgeable BUT----

You really want to deal with Laura B and/or Carrie. Believe me they are a whole bunch and I mean a whole bunch better looking than either Zig or Chas.

Oh well you'll know better the next time.

Congrats & enjoy the new ax.
_________________
Dick S
Temecula, CA
Holton "Don Ellis" Quarter tone