King sousaphones rumor quashed


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Posted by bloke on January 28, 2004 at 14:35:39:

I was very surprised to read in a thread here that King and Conn "14K" sousaphones are now made in China by Jupiter.

I called the King plant in Eastlake, Ohio and spoke to Sonia in the Parts Department. Sonia was surprised to hear that and assured me that King (American) sousaphones are coming out of their plant as we spoke and that no "J-make" Chinese sousaphones are leaving their warehouse stamped "KING".

Please note: I am not an "authorized" Conn-Selmer dealer, and have no real monetary interest in this. In fact, as a seller of reconditioned sousaphones, the rumor could actually monetarily benefit me.
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Here are my personal observations (which do not at all contradict the above)

- Since at least the 1980's, King metal sousaphone branches and bells have been made out of much thinner sheet metal than older King sousaphones. Even though these KING American-made instruments are much thinner than they previously were, the valve section workmanship - along with the workability of the sheet metal - is still far superior to that of Chinese sousaphones.

- Over the past several years, the "J-brand" Chinese sousaphones have obviously morphed from being patterned after the California-made OLDS to being more patterned after the Ohio-made KING instruments, though they resembled these brands in appearance only.



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