The Lineage of the King 1120 Mellophone

The King 1120 is a marching mellophone that has been one of the most popular since its introduction. While the Yamaha YMP-204M is the current standard of the mellophone world, the 1120 still sees a lot of use in marching bands, most notably HBCUs. The current version of this model is the 1121, which has an angled leadpipe, re-wrapped 3rd valve slide, and other small changes.

But the 1120 was not designed in a vacuum. In fact, the design has direct ancestry back to the bad old days of the drum corps G bugle.

All three of these instruments have the same wrap, and all three were designed by the same person: Zig Kanstul.

The instrument on the left is the genesis of this mellophone design, the King K-50 mellophone bugle in G. This was the best of the 2-valve mellophones, and it is an absolute screamer.

When three valves were legalized in DCI in 1990, Zig Kanstul came back to the K-50’s basic design and updated it for the 3rd valve, but this time under his own brand. Pictured in the middle is an early pattern Kanstul KAB-175 alto bugle in G. Sadly I have never seen an early pattern KMB-180 mellophone bugle for sale, or else I would have used that in this photo comparison. But the KAB-175’s noticeably smaller bell diameter is the only difference between it and the KMB-180.

You’ll notice that the 175 deviated slightly from the K-50 design by having the leadpipe enter the 1st valve from the other side, rather than angling to get around the 1st valve slide and entering the valve from that side. The leadpipe is also shorter than the K-50’s, with that length moved to the taper after the valves. The two instruments do not play the same (impossible when adding a 3rd valve), but they do have a similar feel and great slotting all the way up into the highest register.

On the right in the pictures above is the King 1120. This was also designed for King by Zig Kanstul, after the Kanstul company had moved on to a different design for their mellophones and alto bugles. The older design clearly still had life left though, as Zig stuck very closely to the K-50/early Kanstul design. It is most similar to the K-50, sharing its longer leadpipe and leadpipe routing. But it also copies the 3rd valve design of the KMB-180/KAB-175, with that unmistakable 3rd valve slide wrap.

KAB-175 (top) and 1120 (bottom) 3rd valve slides

The King 1120, then, is essentially an updated version of both the K-50 and KMB-180 designs, lengthened to play in F. It plays great, as a Kanstul should.

P.S. As an interesting final note, the Yamaha line of marching mellophones was based on the preceding Olds marching mellophone wrap (which was stenciled by quite a few makers including Bach, Blessing, and Reynolds). The Olds marching mellophone was the first F marching mellophone, derived from the G mellophone bugle and designed by…you guessed it…Zig Kanstul!

So, the two mellophones that have dominated the marching arts for years are either an actual Zig design or a derivative of one. In fact, as the Jupiter mellophone is also essentially the same design as the Yamaha, the only current marching mellophone that isn’t a Kanstul derivative is the Adams MM-1, which bears a closer resemblance to the Dynasty mellophones.

Nirschl Mellophone

You’d be forgiven if you didn’t know that Nirschl, the esteemed German brass instrument manufacturer responsible for lots of enormous 6/4 CC tubas, once sold a marching mellophone. There is very little record of the instrument on the Internet; its entire presence consists of a Middle Horn Leader review, a discussion in episode 73 of the MelloCast podcast, an old Reverb listing, and a couple of derelict shells of online store pages for the instrument from over a decade ago (listed price was $899!).

The instrument is called the E-102 (E-102SP in silver plate), and while it was not actually built by Walter Nirschl, it is still an intriguing nstrument. Even among mellophone enthusiasts this instrument is usually forgotten, if it was ever known about to begin with. It might as well not exist…right?

Nirschl E-102SP

Well, I suspect the primary reason it gets forgotten as a mellophone is because it’s not very good at being one. In fact, it’s so bad at being a mellophone that I think it being marketed as one was a mistake. The reason for this deficiency is the bell; one of the mellophone’s defining features both visually and sonically is the massive 10” or larger bell. Nirschl decided to skip this feature entirely, instead giving it a relatively small 8” bell. In a way, this makes it somewhat of a poor man’s alto flugelhorn, or an alto bugle pitched in F.

So, how does it work as an alto flugelhorn? The answer is, unfortunately, not very well. Using the mouthpiece from an alto horn or alto trumpet results in a woefully flat instrument - with a Denis Wick, the instrument is so flat it’s almost down a whole step to E-natural (but not quite low enough that you can actually use it that way). This is a problem shared with the Kanstul KAH-175 alto bugle in G, though that instrument is of much better quality. The Kanstul, at least, is in tune when you use a marching mellophone mouthpiece like a Benge Mello 6, which is what it was designed for. The same cannot be said of the Nirschl E-102, as even with the shallowest marching mellophone mouthpiece it still plays flat with the main tuning slide all the way in!

Weirdly, the mouthpieces I found to work best with the Nirschl don’t even have the right shank: a French horn mouthpiece and an antique Conn circular mellophone mouthpiece. Despite not seating in the Nirschl’s mouthpiece receiver at all, they gave the best sound and intonation out of all the mouthpieces I had, and I gave its new owner the old Conn mouthpiece when I sold it. That mouthpiece never worked well in any of my circular mellophones!

I can see now why the Nirschl E-102 never took off. In its factory state, it is thruthfully as useless as the Getzen frumpet, and bears the odd distinction of being the only marching mellophone (or mellophone-adjacent object) I know of that actually works better with a horn mouthpiece. With marching mellophone or alto horn mouthpieces, your only real option is to get the horn lengthened to E-flat, as the main tuning slide has no room to shorten up to pitch with those mouthpieces.

Yamaha Mellophone Sisters

The Yamaha YMP-200 series of marching mellophones is the standard by which all other marching mellophones are measured. It is well-known to be arguably the best marching mellophone there is, so it often commands significantly higher prices on the used market than any other brand. The current model, the YMP-204M, is the pinnacle of mellophone design; however, even the first YMP-201M is an excellent instrument leaps and bounds ahead of most other marching brass.

However, the YMP-201M was not the first Yamaha mellophone. That honor goes to the rare and mostly unknown (at least in the West) YMP-201 (no M) circular mellophone.

On the left is my YMP-201; on the right is my YMP-201M. They’re sisters!

However, the 201M is not just a 201 re-wrapped to point the bell forwards; there are some significant differences. The 201 has a huge 12” bell and a small .449” bore, while the 201M has a more standard 10” bell and .462” bore. The 201 can play in F or E-flat just by rerouting the two tuning slides built into the instrument - no extra slides needed! (This was also a feature on certain York mellophones.) Meanwhile, the 201M only plays in F. The 201 also has the traditional cornet shank, while the 201M uses a trumpet shank like other marching mellophones. Despite the only difference in designation being a single “M”, the two instruments are completely separate designs.

They play and sound different, too. The 201M sounds like a marching mellophone should, has a fabulous upper register, and can sound like an alto flugelhorn with an alto horn mouthpiece. It is light, balanced, and easy to play. The 201 meanwhile has a smaller yet darker sound that blends with anything. While other circular mellophones have more colorful, interesting sounds (my 1925 Buescher 25 and 1918 Conn 6E come immediately to mind), the 201M could be the ultimate gigging circular mellophone. It plays in tune, it has fast modern valves, it has a transparent, chameleon sound, but it can still light up and is easy to play in all registers. It is not the most glamorous circular mellophone, but it just works.

It is also how modern it feels in comparison to all other circular mellophones that makes it as interesting as it is. It feels modern because it IS modern; it started production in the 1980s! From what I have been told by a Japanese source, French horns were too expensive for many school bands in Japan, so they used the traditional mellophone into the 1990s as a French horn substitute. Yamaha thus made the relatively affordable YMP-201 exclusively for the Japanese domestic market, hence why it is so rare in the West.

If you can find either a YMP-201 or any YMP-20xM for a good price, I would highly recommend it. Both are the most competent instruments of their type and can be played to any standard. I never thought my Conn 16E would step down as my primary gigging bell-front alto brass instrument, but once my 201M arrived I knew it had been dethroned. With a Hammond 5MP marching mellophone mouthpiece, the 201M is unbeatable.

Mellophonium

The mellophonium is the primary ancestor of the modern marching mellophone. It is a traditional circular mellophone with the bell straightened out, and usually has a cornet shank. Even many brass players don’t know what a mellophonium is, and those that do (mostly Stan Kenton fans and alto brass nerds like myself) can be forgiven for thinking that “mellophonium” = Conn 16E. In fact, while the Conn 16E is by far the most famous model of mellophonium thanks to its use in the Stan Kenton Orchestra from 1960 to 1963, it is not the only one. There were lots of mellophoniums (mellophonia?) at the time: Holton M-601 and M-602, Reynolds Contempora ML-12, Courtois, Couesnon, Vox Ampliphonic, Glier (in E-flat), and more. You can even still buy a new mellophonium in 2022, courtesy of Amati Kraslice (the AMP-203).

The mellophonium has a cool sound that is related to, but not quite the same as, a mellophone (either the traditional circular or bell-front marching variety). Stan Kenton’s electric 4-man mellophonium section inspired the creation of the mellophone bugle in G for use in competitive drum and bugle corps, which in turn directly led to the modern marching mellophone. The marching mellophone was also the mellophonium’s grave digger, because even the early Olds-pattern marching mellophones were much better instruments.

While not the only kind of mellophonium, the Conn 16E was the first (beginning production in 1957), is the most common to find today, and is the quintessential example of the type. Despite this, it is objectively a terrible design. It was built in F with an E-flat crook, so Conn decided to build the valve slides somewhere in between…too long for F, too short for E-flat! (It actually plays best in tune in E with the main tuning slide all the way out…I’ve played gigs with it that way!) Its intonation is a great struggle, it has extremely wide partials that are tricky to center, it has mediocre long-travel pistons, and it has a whiny and difficult upper register that requires tons of alternate fingerings to get anywhere near in tune. It is also an ergonomic nightmare, and every mellophoniumist has to find a grip that isn’t painful. The “standard” (as much as that word can be applied to anything mellophonium-related) grip is to hold it by the 3rd valve slide, like so:

This is the grip that most of the Kenton section used, although they typically canted the instrument less than I do. Some of them grasped the top of the valve block while others cradled the bottom bow. There are a few ways to do it and it really depends on the individual player, but if you’ve just acquired a 16E and haven’t figured out how to hold it yet I recommend trying my canted 3rd valve slide grip as pictured above.

There is also the issue of mouthpieces. The best mouthpiece for a 16E (and likely other mellophoniums) is unquestionably the Conn 1 that came with it. However, while abused and neglected 16Es can be found easily, the Conn 1 is significantly more difficult to find. If your 16E didn’t come with its Conn 1, the only way to get one is usually to find another 16E for sale that comes with it. (The same is usually true for the E-flat crook, but fortunately you can still buy a new one of those through Allied Supply, part # C-06028-5.)

If you are a trumpet or horn player that is used to mouthpieces on the smaller side, the Legends Scodwell Mello mellophonium mouthpiece is a great option. That is a new production mouthpiece from Legends Brass that plays as well as the Conn 1, but is equivalent to a trumpet 5C in size. Too small for many players (including me), but you can likely custom order it in a bigger diameter. The Conn 1 has an inner diameter a touch over 18 mm, the same as a Schilke 22 trumpet mouthpiece.

The third option is a Bach traditional mellophone mouthpiece, which has the right cornet shank for the mellophonium. Before I got my Conn 1 I used a Bach 5 of this type, and it was ok but not great. The low and middle registers are nice and beefy, but the high register is very difficult. The beauty of the Conn 1 is that it works well from the lowest F# (sounding B2) all the way up to the scream register (E above the staff and beyond), while the Bach only works well in the staff and below. The Bach really is much better suited for circular mellophones and has found a happy home with one of mine.

Of course, cornet mouthpieces do fit. But deep British-style cornet mouthpieces don’t do anything well on it, and shallower American-style cornet mouthpieces only work for screamer mellophonium parts. They do hilariously well at that (which is why the Kenton section used them when they wanted to be disruptive), but the mellophonium becomes much more of a weapon than a musical instrument when equipped as such.

So, can the 16E be tamed? Oh yes. The Kenton section had it figured out by the end of its time in 1963, and exceptional players like Ray Starling made it sing (it’s this video that made me want to get a 16E of my own back in 2011). And as someone who has played numerous live gigs and recording sessions on mine, I feel qualified enough to say that I have tamed it. It took years of effort, but I feel that the result was worth it.

Now, the more important question. Should you buy one?

The first thing you should know is that you can get them dirt cheap. They were used in high school and college marching bands for years, and Conn didn’t actually didn’t stop making the 16E until 1979, so there are a LOT still floating around. As they are completely obsolete, when they get found they are put on eBay and bought for a pittance. The only issue is that you can also get similarly-abused ex-school marching mellophones, including the best-of-the-breed Yamahas, for dirt cheap on eBay. And as much as I love my 16E, my eBay-special Yamaha YMP-201M marching mellophone is a drastically better instrument in every possible way.

All that said, I do think neglected 16Es and other mellophoniums (except for the Reynolds, which is apparently even worse than the 16E) deserve to be played and loved, or at the very least turned into cool lamps, rather than left to rot or get scrapped. If you want an unusual brass instrument for your collection, need a dirt cheap alto brass instrument and find a suitably-priced mellophonium, or just think mellophoniums are cool, I would encourage you to head to eBay and pick one up. It’s also an excellent choice for someone interested in multitracking, as it records well and adds a unique sound to any instrumentation. (It also accepts trombone mutes!) If, however, you want a gig-ready dirt cheap alto brass instrument, wait for a good deal on a Yamaha or King marching mellophone.

Just, whatever you do, don’t overpay for one. Nobody should be paying $500+ for a 16E. They are worth $200 at most…maybe $300 in pristine condition with a Conn 1 and E-flat crook. I’ve been noticing 16E prices steadily increasing in the past couple of years and I feel bad for whoever is spending that kind of money on an instrument as problematic as a 16E. I got mine for $100 and I feel like that was the right price.

Now that all that exposition is out of the way, here are a couple of videos I’ve made that make extensive use of the mellophonium in a 4-person section a la Kenton:

If you’ve made it this far and want to hear more mellophonium, here’s my work-in-progress attempt at a complete list of albums that include mellophonium.

• Stan Kenton - The Romantic Approach (1961)

• Stan Kenton - Kenton’s West Side Story (1961)

• Stan Kenton - A Merry Christmas! (1961)

• Stan Kenton - Sophisticated Approach (1961)

• Stan Kenton - Adventures in Jazz (1961)

• Stan Kenton - Adventures in Blues (1961)

• Stan Kenton - Mellophonium Moods (1962)

• Stan Kenton/Tex Ritter - Stan Kenton! Tex Ritter! (1962)

• Stan Kenton - Adventures in Time (1962)

• Stan Kenton - Artistry in Bossa Nova (1963)

• Lighthouse - Sunny Days (1972)

• Stan Kenton - By Request - Volume VI (1973)

• Stan Kenton - The Uncollected 1962 Vol. 6 (1983)

• Towson State University Jazz Ensemble - Jazz 1985 (1985)

• Stan Kenton - Mellophonium Magic (1989)

• Finn Mickelborg - Mellophonium Jazz (1990)

• The Silencers - Dance to the Holy Man (1991)

• Stan Kenton - More Mellophonium Moods (1995)

• New York Sound Stage One Orchestra/New York Neophonic Orchestra - Alternate Routes (1996) (solos in “Royal Flush” and “Come Rain or Come Shine”)

• Tubby Hayes - Voodoo Session (2009)

• La Orquesta Sinfonietta - Canto América (2016) (2 in “El Caldero de Ogun”)

• Stan Kenton - Mellophonium Memoirs (2017)

• Bootsy Collins - The Power of the One (2020) (1 in “Creepin’”)

• Sammy Haig - Cucumber (2021) (1 in “Basement Famous”)

• Hollywood Film Noirchestra - Dark Passages (2023)