In 2005 Zig Kanstul mentioned that had
received some requests for a trombone in the style of some old Conn's and he
was almost finished with the tooling. He had some common parts from his 1570
and 1662 trombones, and a new bell mandrel, and was finishing tooling for a
new tuning slide.
The results of this project include four new trombones, all based on the
same model, but with several options. All four feature an 8.5" one-piece
bell made out of lightweight .020" bronze sheet. This would be a similar
weight bell to a very light vintage Conn 8H, but this one-piece bell has no
seam between bell stem and flare, making for a more even thickness. The
.547" large bore slides are a medium width for a comfortable grip by medium
size hands, and the outer tubes are bronze with extra thin nickel sleeves.
There is a limited availability of wide slides for those who prefer them.
The slides feature three removable leadpipes, modeled after some vintage
pipes made by Vincent Bach and Larry Minick. The main tuning slide is a
reverse design, in brass or bronze.
This new 1588 is the model most players will gravitate towards, which
features the new Kanstul CR rotary valve.
This oversized but otherwise traditional looking rotary valve has a super
short throw, and an adjustable thumb paddle. The rotor is a skeleton-ized
design, made of four separate pieces rather than a milled chunk of solid
brass, and is also vented to reduce popping. This rotor has a very tight
fit, and may need cleaning slightly more often than a traditional rotary
valve. The short throw, open reel, and resonance add up to a horn you can
really breathe into. .562" F-attachment bore.
Also available as the
1508
without F attachment, either complete horn or bell section only.
This horn is custom built in 4-8 weeks.
$2128 in lacquer, includes Protec case and mouthpiece.
