Re: king 2341 or meinl winston 25


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by GC on April 27, 2003 at 12:17:58:

In Reply to: king 2341 or meinl winston 25 posted by jack on April 25, 2003 at 21:32:29:

I currently own a King and owned a MW 25 in college. I have played on 25's a few times since I sold my horn in the late '70's, and they all seemed consistent with the horn I owned then.

The MW is finished better; its construction was impeccable. My King has solder splatters in several places. Both have reasonably thick brass. The valves on the MW were the best I've encountered outside of Rudy Meinls. The King's valves were raspy and sticky for about 9 months, but are quick and slick after break-in.

The 25 was a bit stuffy in all registers, but became a real problem with 1-3-4 and 1-2-3-4 valve fingerings; it almost wouldn't respond at all. When using a false low Eb for the low-Eb-to-Cb pedal register, it played well. I had a 5 octave range on that horn, and it could play smoothly and sing beautifully. The open D in the staff was quite flat. I could play the high A and B in the treble clef, but could never play the Bb between them no matter what fingering combination I tried. Pitches were so centered on the horn that it was difficult to lip notes up or down.

My King is open in most registers, but all 4th valve combinations below 2-4 are extremely stuffy and difficult to focus and intonate; low 4th valve combination notes just seem to slide around instead of slot. I do much better using the open pedal Eb for low notes, same as with the MW. I find it difficult to play very high or in the extreme pedal register with control or fluidity. It's a bit more difficult to make this horn sing. Notes above the staff are difficult to control, in particular. Intonation is plenty flexible, but all of the valve slides are cut a little too long, especially the 2nd valve slide. However, I have an early series 2341, and a lot of the early horns' problems have been corrected in later instruments.

The MW has a dark, focused, almost clarion tone that blends well; the sound shoots straight up from the bell and rattles around in the rafters. For a rotary horn, its attacks are pretty clean and sharp-edged. The King has a broader sound, with more depth and more brilliance at the same time (German vs. American tone). Its attacks are softer, and its sound tends to spread, like most American horns. Both horns can be played softly or with lots of volume.

Even though I complain about my King, there are things I really like about it, and there are things I didn't like about my MW 25. However, if I had my horn purchase to do all over again, I'd buy the MW again over the King. And I'd probably still complain afterward.


Follow Ups: