Here you'll find pictures of Kingtuba's
with their serial numbers. It's about the many lives a tuba can live.
I started collecting them when I bought an old
King 1240 tuba, some years ago. A wonderful instrument.
The
King Bbb 1240 is the older style of the
2340 three valve tuba. 1241 and 2341 are the corresponding four valve types.
Henderson N. White started building trombones in
Detroit in 1894. In 1909 he moved to Cleveland. The name 'King' came from the then well known trombonist Thomas King, who
participated in the development of the new instruments.
The 1240/1241 production ceased at serial number 780899;
2340/2341 production started at serial number 780901, in June 1980. At least, that's what
Conn-Selmer authorities told
Dan
Schulz. From 1987 to 1995, the serial numbers have a
prefix: the prefix number plus 50 gives you the year of manufacture. From 1996
to 2000, '5' preceeded the serial number. From 2001 onwards the prefix was
dropped. More serial numbers at
Musictrader.
Early instruments have a lion's head near the serial numbers
and are marked The King. Before 1918 the engraving read simply as 'H. N. White'. In
1918 the company was incorporated and 'Co' was added to the engraving. In September 1964 the King logo
was updated to the
crown that is still used today. After
1965 (from number 426000 onwards) all horns were made in Eastlake, Ohio and engraved King Musical Instruments.
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