Posted by Duh! on May 23, 2001 at 10:22:37:
In Reply to: Why did Conn stop making 20Js posted by Jamel Beslow on May 23, 2001 at 09:26:02:
There is really only one reason: economics. What had once been an important and profitable part of the Conn line ceased to be sufficiently profitable to justify the resources it required.
Now, as to why the 2XJ line ceased to be sufficiently profitable, it's hard to say. As a young tuba player in the later 50's through the early 70's, I'd speculate that sales of the big Conns tapered off in the '60s because: (1) most of the schools that had to replace horns either worn out or sent to scrap drives in WWII had replaced them by 1960, (2) many schools on limited budgets tended to buy brass 20K sousaphones (or King 1250 sousaphones) to do double duty for both marching and (after 1947) on a Wenger chair for concert work, and, most importantly (3) at the professional level, a significant change in tuba "taste" as smaller (for the most part) German horns, such as Alexanders and later Mirafones, became popular and as many professionals moved from BBb to CC horns.
Incidentally, much is often made of the difference between BBb and CC horns. There is a difference in response, etc., of course, but that difference is probably greatests between a large 6/4 BBb and a smallish 4/4 CC, which is the way many players moving from a 2XJ Conn to say an Alex 163 would experience the change.