Posted by Lee Stofer on March 17, 2003 at 08:58:19:
In Reply to: rhetoric posted by blah-blah man on March 14, 2003 at 14:19:28:
This may be written elsewhere already, but the reason they used the King valve section was that it is easier (cheaper) to produce than the Conn short-action "Clickless valves", both because of the expense of the actual construction, and the fact that they have not had a 4-short-action valve cluster in production for a long time. The King 4-valve cluster was right there, on the shelf. Now, if people had wanted a 3-valve horn, they could have offered the short-action version easily, since the 20K cluster is readily available, if more expensive to make. And, I think that that option, with the .730" bore,
would probably have made the better-playing instrument. If people were willing to pay $9,000.00 to $10,000.00 for a Conn, they'd offer a 4-short-action-valve model with a nice 5th rotor valve, and it'd be a very nice instrument.
Lee Stofer