Jupiter Band Instruments, Inc. is a manufacturer and distributor of woodwind, brass and percussion instruments. Jupiter was established by its Taiwanese parent company KHS in 1980.
History
KHS was first founded with the Wan Wu name in Taiwan in 1930 by Tsu-Cheng Hsieh as an educational products company and was renamed to KHS in 1945. KHS stands for Kung Hsue She which means a company helping schools and culture. KHS started harmonica production in 1956 and started band instrument production a year later in 1957. By 1980 KHS was a full-scale musical instrument manufacturer and the Jupiter Band Instruments brand was started to market a complete line of wind instruments and percussion.[1]
In 1986, KHS transferred most of its production from its small factory in greater Taipei to a major complex in nearby Zhongli. In 1993, KHS started building a factory near Tianjin, China for the main purpose of entering the Chinese market. The KHS Chinese factory began producing instruments and instrument parts in 1996. Since then, lower-priced Jupiter instruments have been totally made in China while some mid-priced Jupiter instruments have been assembled in Taiwan from parts made at the Tianjin, China factory. Higher-priced Jupiter instruments have been totally made at the Gouling factory in Taiwan. The entire Jupiter 500 series are made in China and the Jupiter 700 series are assembled in Taiwan.[2]