[Trombone-l] 57 and Thinking About My First Double-Rotor (ne Valve) Bass Trombone

[t.stone@att.net]

Hi List,

There certainly seems to be a lot of us 57ishes out there tooting away on our trombones! I don't know about the rest of you, but my doctor says that playing the trombone is one of the best all-around exercises that one can do. It helps the breathing, the muscles (arms, upper and lower back, neck and especially the abdominal muscles), circulation, brain and, most importantly, the psyche. So let's all "Keep on Tootin'"! Now for a little update.
I've done some homework and now know the difference between in-line and stacked valves (so far I'm partial to the stacked B-flat/F/D) and the various valve types (rotor, axial flow, etc), and read a bunch of articles in past issues of the ITA Journal about the various set-ups, their variations and how they play, and most of Doug Yeo's website. Then I went to Ferguson Music the other day and tried a few of the horns they had there. Let me just say that if you live her in SoCal or come to visit, stop by Ferguson Music and experience the shear joy of what it's like to walk to a trombone store. Trombones everywhere! You look around like a kid in a toy store -- you just don't know where to start! And the guys there are great. Steve Ferguson, Bob Coomber, Noah Gladstone, the trio of trombone specialists; Dylan Hart, the french horn fancier and Michael Davis, the trumpet guru, are just super. They can answer (or make up answers to) any question you might have and help you make those reall
y tough (yea, right) decisions. So, I tried a Conn 62H, a Kanstul 1662, a Willson 511TA and, of course, the Kanstul 1670 single valve just because, well, you know. The Conn played nice and had that great Conn sound, but the double trigger notes (low C and B) were very stuffy and difficult for me to get a good sound on. The Kanstul 1662 played very well, with the double trigger notes having a nice big, fat sound and a lot less stuffy. The Willson was okay and the overall response was good in all registers. The golden colored titanium nitride coated inner slides was an interesting touch and should attract a lot of chicks. The single valve Kanstul 1670 played the best off all. Nice and open and free blowing with or without the old E-pull. Love that horn, but that's just me -- you all know where I came from. I wonder if Kanstul makes an open wrap stacked version of this horn. Oh, well! There was a Shires Artist Custom Bass there, similar to the one that, I believe, Bob Sanders plays. I
 almost picked it up -- until I was told the price, without a case! I guess I'm just too old school. I figure if I'm going to pay that much for a horn, they could a least include a case. I would have a hard time justifying an expenditure of that magnitude to my lovely wife in any event, but then to tell her the case was extra? I would never hear the end of that. BTW -- how do the rest of feel about this "case not included"  trend? Moving along, I've only had a few opportunities to play the Getzen 1062FDR that I have on loan from a good friend of mine. I played it this past Sunday night with the Jimmy McConnell Big Band at Stevie's Creole Bar & Grill in Encino (CA), and last night at an LA Winds rehearsal. I really like the horn. It's free blowing, similar to my old Holton TR-169, responds well and has a great sound (different to my ears -- duh, I wonder why) and the double trigger notes pop out pretty good, although the low B's tend to be a little too stuffy when played forte or pu
shed to fortissimo. Because of the way the horn is built -- it has long bell section -- the slide is short like the 62H skide, so the positions get farther out as go down the slide. This makes the low C almost impossible to play in tune in flat 7th no matter where you set the tuning slide on the F-horn. So low C's can only really be played in flat 3rd, with a loss of some the edge you'd get in flat 7th on the F -horn. You need this edge, I feel, in big band work and in some modern symphonic works-- either orchestral or symphonic wind bands. I do not agree with this trend towards large pizza-pan bells and slide bores. They take away the innate beauty of the mainstream bass trombone sound and make it sound more like a tubaboneaphone or a baribonafonium or some devil-hybrid like that. Not a pretty or even a nice sound. I probably won't be real popular for saying that out loud, especially with you young guys out there. But there a lot of us (young an older) who think this is totally un
acceptable, but just won't come out and say it for fear of -- I don't know, whatever! And before anyone starts pointing out that the 1062 has a duel bore slide (.562/.578), let me say that I know that, and  if ever decide to buy one it will be with the straight .562 slide from the 1052 wich does fit both horns. 'Nuf said. Moving on. The other issue with the Getzen is the intonation. The horn plays extremely sharp. I've played two of these 1062's now (only the one I've mentioned so far in any groups, though), and both play sharp. Sunday night and last night I had to push the main tunning slide out almost to its full length to get 1st position B-flat in tune. Bass trombonists Morris Repass, a long-time Local 47 LA pro who plays euphonium in the LA Winds was telling me last night that some horns are, for whatever reason, just built that way and that he has personally played a few trombones that were sharp like that. Then I have another friend who also has a 1062 like the one I have on
ly an earlier 1997 model, and says it plays in tune just fine (BTW -- this was the same friend who kept telling me, after playing my Elkhart Conn 72H, that the problem I am having with it is all in my mind and that I'm crazy). Have any of you who have played Getzen 1062FDR's experienced any strange intonation or other issues with them? My inquiring mind wants to know. And please keep your insights and suggestions regarding the entire issue of switching to (or adding) a double valve bass trombone coming. I need all the help I can get, and the dialog recorded and archived here will be invaluable to future generations of young trombonists. Thanks to all for the input.

Tim Stone

PS -- Happy 62 Phil. Keep on Tootin'!