I picked the horn up from Mike Manning last night and got a few hours in on it today. We just went for the "get it sealing well enough to see if I like it" service. Amazing what a difference that makes. Mike also took a few minutes to cut a few pieces of foam and glue them into the Gator case for me so that the horn can at least get around town safely.
If I'm honest, I was a little worried that the "warm, fuzzy" tone that I was enjoying when I first unpacked the horn was just because the thing was so resistant with all of those leaks adding up. I didn't have to worry, though. It still has a fantastic warm tone, with a nice edge on it. I wasn't quite ready for exactly how free-blowing it was going to be, though. It's very responsive, for sure, but it took a few minutes before I was used to the resistance level enough to know how to shape my tone. My Selmer and Conn both are more resistant to varying degrees. Not necessarily a good or bad thing, just different.
The overall sound is really nice. It feels like there's a very warm, spread core sound with a nice high-partial "sizzle" on top that gives it tons and tons of character for me, especially as I push it. That sizzle is a lot like my Mark VI, but the core sound of the VI is much more focused and "dense", if that makes sense. It's a very usable kind of edge on the tone. It might be the more diffuse nature of the tone, but the sound doesn't seem as big and booming as my 10M. Again, not a bad thing, just different. The 10M's edge feels to me a little harder and brassier (both traits that I LOVE about that horn).
It feels like the King has a more laid back vibe than either of my other tenors for me, but it's got its own kind of quiet intensity. To me, the Selmer has this feeling like it's got so much focused energy in the tone, it's almost like I need to hold it back. The Conn has this brash, booming, brassy tone that feels like it just immediately takes over a room. The King, by comparison, is more like smoldering embers. That heat is there, but it's not quite so obvious about it. I wouldn't say it's any more restrained, though.
Intonation is about as good as the other two, maybe a small step below, but I also didn't get a proper setup on this one like I did the Selmer, so I suspect there's still some improvement to be found. The Conn probably has the best intonation of the three, even with minimal setup work done. It's all pretty close, though, and all well within an acceptable range.
Keywork is manageable. The pearls are located well for my hands, though for whatever reason I keep missing the right hand pinky keys entirely. I think they are a little smaller and rotated a little further away from the RH stack than on the other two. I'll get used to it. The pinky cluster is also a little strange and foreign to me, but nothing I won't figure out with a few more hours on it. It doesn't have the super light, positive action of the Conn, but I don't think anything else does. It certainly has the Conn beat in terms of touchpiece placement in the upper and lower stacks, for me at least. I'm confident I'll be able to get around this thing no problem once I have a little more time to get familiar.
Could this end up being my main horn? Possibly, though it's up against some stiff competition.
Will I dither around endlessly with these three tenors for months to come? Almost definitely.