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Can anyone shed any light about a rumor I heard about an indian made line of instruments with the Nirschl name. Is this true and has anybody played these instruments?

Cameron Gates

I saw Walter Nirschl himself at Midwest today, but not any tubas bearing his name. The closest was a Besson 995 in the Buffet Crampon booth.

This is in true. I also saw Walter today at MidWest however his instruments were on the 3rd floor away from everyone else. He had a handmade 4/4 CC and the mentioned "India" made 4/4 CC which is nothing but the machine made 4/4, exact same design but is heavier than the handmade. There is an entire line of instruments with his name on them being sold through Gemstone and made in India.
I only played on the 4/4 CC briefly and it was a great playing horn. I also own one of these and it is great.
Be on the look out for 2 new handmade BBb tubas and 2 new F tubas in the future. All with rotary valves.

Cameron I miss you, you never call...

India is full of future tubists...



...who will be happy to work as master instrument makers for just pennies on the dollar

Pete Link wrote:This is in true. I also saw Walter today at MidWest however his instruments were on the 3rd floor away from everyone else. He had a handmade 4/4 CC and the mentioned "India" made 4/4 CC which is nothing but the machine made 4/4, exact same design but is heavier than the handmade. There is an entire line of instruments with his name on them being sold through Gemstone and made in India.

Is he still making instruments at the old B&M factory?

Rick "thinking that factory capable of more than handmade instruments" Denney

Gemstone is the "new" parent of Gemeinhardt. The company has been both beefing up its non flute offerings and trying to manufacture as much as possible overseas, which is why they offer these W. Nirschl brass instruments made in India.

Well . . . . I think we need to look at the real issue.

MONEY.

I am sure Mr. Nirschl is going to be making a bit more money with much less effort if he has things made for him. . . in India.

This thought after a six pack of Guiness.

Michael "F the grammer and spelling nazis" Woods

Pete Link wrote:This is in true. I also saw Walter today at MidWest however his instruments were on the 3rd floor away from everyone else.

Pete, thanks for the correction. Gemstone has a booth on the main floor with a sign referring people to the Nirschls on display in a room on the 3rd floor.

This year, Willson no longer has its "quiet room" on the 4th floor. I spoke with Ed Getzen(?) briefly; he did not seem happy to be in the noise of the main floor.

Bob1062 wrote:This reminds me of the Shires/Eastman, uh.. thingie. Do any other companies do this?

Eastman now owns Haynes, and they market a line of advanced student flutes as "Amadeus by Haynes." Powell also makes some flutes overseas and they are sold as "Sonare by Powell." Sonare slaps a Blackburn lead pipe on a B&S trumpet and then gives it the old sub zero treatment, thus making it a Sonare trumpet. There is a Chinese made "Mitchell Lurie" clarinet.

Most Geminhardt flutes are now made in China. Conn-Selmer is doing its best to make American made student line horns unfordable, thereby pushing its Taiwanese made instruments (which, truthfully, stack up well to their Eastlake and Elkhart counterparts).

In order for quality instruments to be made at a price that the average family will pay for their young person to be involved in their school band, and, for manufacturers and dealers to make enough money on their sales, more and more instruments will be made in Asia. Fact is, if the shops are well built and employees well trained, this can be done, and done well. China should no longer be considered a bad word in musical instruments. True, there's junk made overseas, but there's also junk made in the US and Europe.

To be honest, it reminds me of how "Made in Japan" was to be avoided when I was growing up, contrasted by how the YamaYork was received...

Pete Link wrote:This is in true. I also saw Walter today at MidWest however his instruments were on the 3rd floor away from everyone else. He had a handmade 4/4 CC and the mentioned "India" made 4/4 CC which is nothing but the machine made 4/4, exact same design but is heavier than the handmade. There is an entire line of instruments with his name on them being sold through Gemstone and made in India.
I only played on the 4/4 CC briefly and it was a great playing horn. I also own one of these and it is great.

Be on the look out for 2 new handmade BBb tubas and 2 new F tubas in the future. All with rotary valves.

All of Walter's CC's are made in Germany. The piston BBb's are from India and they version they had at Midwest was surprisingly good, as was the imported euphonium. Gemstone's instruments from India will be marketed as the "Meister Walter Nirschl" brand, according to Dick Barth who is the brass division president.

Nirschl's rotary BBb and F tubas are being made for a well-known German tubist who is unhappy with the lack of response from another company already making tubas with his name on them.