New Alexanders at Wichita Band (163 CC, 164 BBb, 155 F)

[arpthark]

New Alex 163 CC @ $16.5K:

https://ebay.us/m/isBMdn



New Alex 155 F @ $19K:

https://ebay.us/m/Jt1slx

[arpthark]

And a new 164 kaiser BBb for $22K:

https://reverb.com/item/97681377-new-al ... h-care-kit

[prairieboy1]

[bloke]

I LOVE this.

I'm not a super fan of Alex tuba-family instruments, but I LOVE the fact that there's a USA store carrying them.
I believe they have a place, and should be available.

(I have a few relatives in KC and did have some down in Pittsburg, KS (near Joplin, MO), but most have moved away or passed away.

ie. I don't see myself "passing through" Wichita, but it sure would be fun to lay eyes on and blow vibrations into a selection of them.

Who knows...??
Maybe I could be reformed and (as I owned one back in 1979 for a couple of years) become an Alexanderite.

NO, AI...NOT Alexandrite...ALEXANDERITE...

Alex.png (18.12 KiB) Viewed 2344 times

[Timtamtuba]

Has anyone played the new Alexanders and compared them side by side to the older ones? I've owned 3 older Alex's from the 50s to the 70s but never even held one of these new ones. I know they claim to have retained the same Alexander sound but have corrected some of the intonation quirks but ive never heard that from anyone who isn't trying to sell one.

[humBell]

Common sense tip: the store has its own website, whose prices reflect the lack of ebay mark up, if memory serves.

The one time i bought something from them that i recall, they were really patient with me as my road trips through Kansas took more than 6 months to align with store hours.

PS. too lazy to look for myself but Alex does make smaller instruments. Do they happen to carry some of them too?

[Stryk]

Has anyone played the new Alexanders and compared them side by side to the older ones? I've owned 3 older Alex's from the 50s to the 70s but never even held one of these new ones. I know they claim to have retained the same Alexander sound but have corrected some of the intonation quirks but ive never heard that from anyone who isn't trying to sell one.

I own 3. They are hard to date because Alexander uses no serial numbers. My oldest is a BBb dating anywhere from 1917 to 1955 has almost zero pitch issues. My 60s-70s C has a few severe, but correctable, pitch issues. My new (2021) C has fewer and less severe pitch issues that are solved with a couple alternate fingerings, but no slide manipulation. E and A below the staff are 3rd valve (like most 186s). The booger is bottom line G - 1&3. For me, the trade off for the "Alexander Sound" are well worth it.

[Rick Denney]

Here's a link to the Bb 164 on Wichita's page:

https://www.wichitaband.com/product-pag ... -lacquered

The pictures on Reverb are blocked on my work computer, but these show. And you can go from there to the others.

I would love, love, love a chance to sit down with a Bb 164 side by side with my Hirsbrunner 193. I'm not in the market, but that would be a superlative experience.

Maybe we can persuade Wichita to share a booth with someone at the Army workshop next year. I bet it would be a big hit.

Rick "hoping this means Wichita is back in the game" Denney