[Trombone-l] was Edwards/Alessi T396-A Tenor Trombone poss now GREAT DEALS

Fri Mar 27 11:55:20 CDT 2009

This may seem like blasphemy to some, but I have been pleasantly surprised
by some Chinese instruments I have found on Alibaba.com. I reached a
connection with a manufacturer/distributor in Beijing, figuring that if
these horns were "good enough," I could recommend them to my students. I
started with an alto trombone from a company called OpusMusic in Beijing,
and anxiously waited to see how badly I had wasted US$102. The result/
SURPRISE! My new alto is a completely worthy instrument. Could it use a new
leadpipe and some jiggering? I suppose so, but right out of the box [with a
cute little case] it plays and sounds just fine. Several of my students now
own one of these as [for Thai students] the price is right.

Not to let my own guys snow me with their acquisitions, I looked into
another class of instrument - eventually, heart in mouth, I dove in again
and purchased a BASS TROMBONE for US$530. The news? SURPRISE! Again, it is a
fine horn, directly or indirectly a copy of the Yamaha "German" bass
trombone. I took the hint and just this evening played the Schumann Rhenish
on it and the sound, pitch and ensemble compatibility were first rate! The
section today was quite adventurous for Thailand: Chinese German style bass,
small [teeny] bore Bach tenor and Yamaha alto. It sounded GREAT! If I get
the chance I will record the choral and send it to whomever asks about
trombone foolishness!

my 0.708050 THB [$0.02]

Phil Brink

On Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 11:34 PM, Christopher R Tune <
christune at christune.com> wrote:

> "Rain on Parade Alert". . .just wanted to point out that I notice a trend.
> . .seemed to me that Alan and Alex and Andy (all those "A" guys) and
> similar persons I've known. . .and now I'm trying to do that. .seem to
> have many horns and pieces of equipment, but it seems rare that they "buy"
> a horn for almost five grand.
>
> Instead they seem to know a good deal when they see one.  Perhaps a good
> thread would be "deals that were to good to turn down".
>
> I have a few that I've encountered over the years.
>
> My first horn:  Conn 4H for $100 bought around 1971
> the horns I bought at Zeps Music. .Bach 16M and Conn 8H, each quite below
> list tho' I forget the specific prices
>
> Martin Committee bought around three or four years ago for $400 cash
>
> Two King 2B (one wasn't in useable condition although I've kept it for
> "parts") $400 and then I've invested around $150-200 in bringing the 2B
> into a condition similar to what you would have seen Urbie carrying around
> NYC during the late sixties.
>
> Bach 42B (1983) sold by a studio guy here in town $1,600
>
> I have this theory that you can take a horn that is basically a good
> playable horn and you can custom work it (use really good brass workers,
> though. .this is tricky) to a really fine horn.  One that I don't have to
> think about too much.
>
> Ultimately art is not about the tools.  We don't discuss the tools
> Michelangelo used to paint the Sistene Chapel, except to mention that he
> spent many years on scaffoldings.  Almost everyone on earth has seen that
> hand of God and the hand of Adam almost touching. . .
>
> It is so easy to get wrapped up in the discussion and thought about tools
> (happens to me all the time. . I'm just more aware of it now).
>
> Blessings to all TROM-L folk.  Prayers for those of you in Fargo area.
>
> Tune
>
>
> On Fri, March 27, 2009 3:36 am, Steve Gamble wrote:
> > I doubt that the component craze will end any time soon.  Players have
> > always tinkered with their horns.  The description of this horn as being
> > like a Conn but w/o 'spready' louds, sounds a lot like my tenor.  It's an
> > old 88H that Eric Edwards converted so that I could put Edwards bells on
> > it.  This required a slight adjustment to the tuning slide that resulted
> > in the horn being a little more open near the throat...fantastic
> > unforeseen improvement in how easy the horn blows.  The bell that works
> > the best is one that I finally gave up on because it sounded too dead on
> > my Edwards trombone.  It just so happens that it was the bell design that
> > the sales guy said was the one Joe Alessi was using at the time.  But on
> > my 88H it's very responsive and resonant.  Never get rid of stuff if you
> > don't have to.  Who knows when you might be able to use it?  Anyway, it
> > sounds like the effect of focusing the new Alessi model achieved by
> > changing the weight of that fancy brace is the same effect I got on my
> 88H
> > by adding an old Conn counterweight.  The finishing touch: a dual bore
> > slide I got off of Ebay.  Lucky for me that all the tinkering had good
> > results, so this horn only cost me a couple of thousand to put together.
> >
> > Steve Gamble, TSO Librarian
> > Sent from my Commodore 64
> >
> > ________________________________
> >
> > From: trombone-l-bounces at samford.edu on behalf of Galen Zinn
> > Sent: Thu 3/26/2009 4:01 PM
> > To: Price Taylor; Trombone-l at samford.edu
> > Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Edwards/Alessi T396-A Tenor Trombone
> >
> >
> >
> > Price
> > I was already aware of your stated reasons, but thanks for reiterating
> how
> > most everyone feels. We all know that Joe Alessi is truly amazing when it
> > comes to trombone performance. He could probably perform the famous Ravel
> > trombone solo on a Happy New Years¹ party whistle. I wonder what he makes
> > from an endorsement? It will be interesting to watch Edwards new ³ripple²
> > try to become a ³tsunami² using Joe¹s endorsement. Will this become the
> > demarcation point from which the trend to build your own from component
> > parts (ala Shires) will wilt and die...? I was hoping that there would be
> > several list members who were way out there in front of me who had
> already
> > tried the instrument. I really am not interested in what Edwards has to
> > say
> > about it in their Blog. Okay now on to more important things... do you
> use
> > Trombotine, Slide-O-Mix, or Heyday's Slide, or??????? :)
> > Galen
> >
> >
> > On 3/26/09 12:29 PM, "Price Taylor" <pricetaylor at comcast.net> wrote:
> >
> >> Galen, some possible reasons for the relative lack of buzz:
> >>
> >> (1) There are a few pros on this list who are already playing
> >> instruments with
> >> contracts with other companies.  If not a contract, they are committed
> >> to
> >> (fill in the blanks)
> >>
> >> (2) There are amateurs like me who try to do the best with the equipment
> >> they
> >> already have, knowing that more practice will get a bigger improvement
> >> than a
> >> new instrument
> >>
> >> (3) Intuitively, we all know that this will be a pretty expensive
> >> instrument
> >> and probably won't make judgments until we see the pricing and/or play
> >> it
> >>
> >> (4) Given the economic environment, new trombones probably are a
> >> nice-to-have,
> >> not a must-have for most listers
> >>
> >> (5) Finally - and maybe most importantly - I suspect Joe Alessi can play
> >> most
> >> any trombone (that's not broken) that fits his mouthpiece and sound
> >> pretty
> >> doggone good on it.  I suspect Tiger Woods can pickup my golf clubs
> >> (good
> >> ones, but generally not what a pro would use) and play great with them.
> >>
> >> And so it goes...
> >>
> >> Please don't misconstrue this - I think Edwards is a fine company - made
> >> in
> >> the U.S.A.!  Joe Alessi is a superstar in the trombone world, and I'm
> >> sure his
> >> input to making a new instrument was as good as any input on the planet.
> >>
> >> Besides, long-time listers like reverting back to questions about slide
> >> lubrication! =)
> >>
> >> Price
> >>
> >>
> >> On Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 10:47 AM, Galen Zinn <grzinn at astound.net>
> wrote:
> >>> Apparently no huge pools of drool have amassed for this ³beast² as of
> >>> yet?
> >>> It will be interesting to watch the progression of opinion. I know of
> >>> one
> >>> owner of a brand new Besson BE2052 Prestige Euphonium who has sold the
> >>> Besson to create the capital to buy the Edwards trombone. He is
> >>> apparently
> >>> frothing at the mouth for the Edwards. I¹m just testing the water for
> >>> other
> >>> ³unbiased opinions². This guy seems to be blown away by the horn, and
> >>> he
> >>> tells me the new Alessi Edwards is a ³dial your style² axe (one size
> >>> fits
> >>> all manner of musicians and genre of music). To be really corny, like
> >>> wow
> >>> man, has the HOLY GRAIL finally arrived?
> >>> Galen
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Trombone-l mailing list
> >>> Trombone-l at samford.edu
> >>> http://maillists.samford.edu/mailman/listinfo/trombone-l
> >>
> >>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Trombone-l mailing list
> > Trombone-l at samford.edu
> > http://maillists.samford.edu/mailman/listinfo/trombone-l
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Trombone-l mailing list
> > Trombone-l at samford.edu
> > http://maillists.samford.edu/mailman/listinfo/trombone-l
> >
>
>
> Chris Tune
>
> Remember:
>
> "It's music, not brain surgery. . ."
> anon
>
> _______________________________________________
> Trombone-l mailing list
> Trombone-l at samford.edu
> http://maillists.samford.edu/mailman/listinfo/trombone-l
>

-- 
Philip Brink
Instructor of Trombone
College of Music, Mahidol University
25/25 Phutthamonthon Sai 4
Salaya, Nakhonpathom 73170
Thailand