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Tonight I had my first lesson on my new Kalison Daryl Smith C tuba, and while my teacher said it has a great, very open sound, we noticed that the open partial was extremely sharp while the rest of the horn tuned well, which happened while using my Houser Hersey cup with a symphony american shank, improved slightly with my Giddings Churada that sits deeper in the receiver but is also super shallow, so I’m wondering whether this is an embouchure adjustment issue from years of playing BBb or if I should consider a different mouthpiece.

I found the Geib and bowl type mouthpieces to work best. And use an American shank. Selmansberger OG Ultimate, Lubemaster Super G, Stofer Geib etc...

As far as the top of the staff quirk (especially Ab). That's very common with Kalisons. I've owned 4 over the years (one twice). 2 DS and 2 Pro 2000s. The DS that I owned twice, did not have the touchy high Ab. So, I've only played one that did not have that issue. It was a VERY nice tuba, I was just looking for something a little larger.

bbuxx2026 wrote: Mon Feb 16, 2026 6:57 pm
.... we noticed that the open partial was extremely sharp while the rest of the horn tuned well, which happened while using my Houser Hersey cup with a symphony american shank, improved slightly with my Giddings Churada that sits deeper in the receiver but is also super shallow, so I’m wondering whether this is an embouchure adjustment issue from years of playing BBb or if I should consider a different mouthpiece.

Did you buy Arpthark's Kalison DS? Which open partial is sharp? C in the staff, C below the staff? I think you need to get used to the tuba first and the different 'blow' from your BBb tuba first. Open C in the staff will blow sharp if you are playing it the same way you play 1rst valve C on a BBb tuba, which blows very different, and tends flat on many BBb tubas.

Some mouthpieces can 'even out' pitch tendencies on tubas. Try your Giddings for a while and see how that works. You are gonna have to get used to any horn whatever mpc you use.

Shank size can also be key… Found that out with my 2165. Stick a Euro, PT and American shank in there and see what happens. I don’t know what they came with but it’s worth a shot.

During my first two years playing in my orchestra for a living, I owned Paul K's DS prototype that he played for one year in the Philadelphia Orchestra. Other than a different piston supplier, it was more or less identical to the production horn, except that the high Ab was very solid. (This is a note that a lot of DS tubas had issues with.)

I loved my PT-88 on this tuba. I would recommend that you try one of these because they cost less than most newer designs, and one can be more easily located used.

If you like it, buy a shiny, new one. If you don't, you can resell it for not much less than you paid, and get your $$$ back. (I do not like the PT-88S, just the regular one.)

Enjoy playing music with your new baby!

Wade

This is not only not the same tuba, but an entirely different model - a BBb "Professional" - but for what it's worth, it seems more comfortable with a couple of mouthpieces that sit lower than average in the receiver.

Sousaswag wrote: Mon Feb 16, 2026 8:58 pm Shank size can also be key… Found that out with my 2165. Stick a Euro, PT and American shank in there and see what happens.

It takes American shank. I use the Sellmansberger Symphony cup and shank on mine. Orchestral Grand (as cktuba mentioned) also works well, but I liked the tone I got slightly better on the Symphony.

I found the Sellmansberger Symphony with the not deeper / XD / Profundo rim was the ticket for my old DS. I image the OG ultimate that I'm using now on my 2155 would have been just as good of a choice.

The DS (at least my example) was not a particularly mouthpiece picky tuba.