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Trombone in C

Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2005 7:19 pm
by Ace
The popularity of CC tubas has grown exponentially in recent years. I wonder if the same thing will occur with C trombones?

http://www.jupitermusic.com/tbone_val.html

Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2005 10:25 pm
by Dylan King
I want one. Do you guys think a decent manufacturer will eventually put one out?

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:04 am
by Ace

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:14 am
by Anterux
Ace wrote:Amati makes a C trombone also.

http://www.amati.cz/english/production/ ... t_272g.htm
I know one of those Amati C bones.

It is not great.

Valves are problematic because they stick sometimes.

The sound is thin, small. Intonation difficult.

Could be just the one I had...

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:46 am
by funkcicle
DP wrote:
MellowSmokeMan wrote:I want one. Do you guys think a decent manufacturer will eventually put one out?
snob! what's wrong with a weril?

---------
Bubba Phelps
Colorado John Philip Sousa Band
Tongue in cheek, or for real? Their quality seems to be extremely overstated here on the tubenet. They're NOT great instruments..I'd say calling them "good" is even a stretch, they're simply "ok"...think Amati or Jupiter, with cheaper materials,sub par finishes,and poorer construction. (I really do like their logo, though!)

my $.02 (as someone who has owned 2, played many, and <i>has no financial stake in this brand's reputation</i>) ;-)

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:02 pm
by Alex C
I once cut a perfectly good student line Bb trombone into a C trombone and added a major third thumb valve. It had a weak sound before but cutting. After it was cut, the horn had a thin and weak sound. I don't know why.

The symphony players in town didn't seem interested in having the cut done to their horns and I couldn't convince local band directors that it was a good alternative for a marching horn (shorter, quicker, less damaging turns).

Also, I don't have that kind of free time anymore. ERGO... I abandoned the idea and believe all others should too.

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 4:22 pm
by Ace
Although I have not tried a lot of horns by Weril or Jupiter or Amati, I think a blanket condemnation of all their instruments probably is not justified. Sure, they produce some dogs, but some good stuff also comes off their benches.

I had an Amati C valve trombone and although it had the worst piston valves I have ever seen on any instrument, its overall fit and finish were quite good. Tone quality was OK but smallish.

My D trumpet is made by Weril and is a very good horn.

I have had considerable experience with the Jupiter 582 and 482 BBb tubas (referred to as "PRO" or Concert" tubas), and for the money these are among the best buys available, IMO. They are very well made and sound good. I'm hoping the new Jupiter valve trombone in C will be as good as the 582 and 482 tubas.

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 4:42 pm
by Ames0325
why the heck would anyone WANT a trombone in C?

Amy

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 6:22 pm
by elimia
Hey now, no doggin' on Weril. They make a really nice euphonium!

C TB's

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 6:34 pm
by DonnieMac
Look to Mexico where the "bandas" use 3 or 4 C tb's +3 to 5 trpts, 2 peck horns, + one great tuba/sousaphone. All are played "balls to the wall." The tuba plays an improvised base line with mucho ttk, tk, ttk & tkt over at least 3 octaves. The c tb's just blat away.
Donnie Mac

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 8:47 pm
by KarlMarx
MellowSmokeMan wrote:I want one. Do you guys think a decent manufacturer will eventually put one out?
The very concept of the valve trombone is a compromise. Very often a bad compromise, as the bore mostly is in the 0.482" category, which only is used for a few slide trombone models intended for stratospheric lead playing in big bands.

And then the valve block adds much more resistance cum stuffiness than a slide section would ever do. There even has been a rumour, that some makers take the really cheap shortcut of mounting their 0.462" or so trumpet valve sections on their valve trombones. That's like asking for turbulent stuffiness.

I have a couple of Belgian small bore valve trombones, which are very easy to play for young students. When I play them, they are capable of issuing a quite decent "Hurrah!", which also was their originally intended purpose in the francophonic military bands.

I also have a very different rotary valve trombone of German (GDR) origins. It has a larger bore and a much larger bell. Played with care it almost has baritone qualities to its sound.

The valve trombone in C might be called a lazyphone. The C melody saxophone pitched between the alto and the tenor was produced to make it easy for the dance band saxist to look over the shoulder of the piano player to read from his music. The C valve trombone may have had the same function, but it rather has been used in church contexts, where its player has read over the shoulder of the organist.

Some odd samples of convertible C/Bb French euphs and Bohemian C flugelhorns may have been made for the same purpose.

The usage of valve instruments in church contexts is somewhat understandable. The often small organ platforms ain't always friendly towards an unlimited slide application.

Around 1978 B&H/Besson advertised a convertible Bb/C valve trombone. I tried very hard to obtain a try-out on a such one, even if transposition isn't a real problem for me. I never got one into my hands. However I later on learned why: the maker never made more than the prototype, which was photographed for the catalogue.

Carolus Marximus Slidophonicus

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 9:33 pm
by Lew
I have played/owned 2 Conn 90G "valve trombones." They have a 0.547" bore, at least in the second valve slide (I never checked the bore through the pistons themselves). They played as badly, oe as well, as any small bore valve trombone, although the compact wrap on these, trombonium style, probably offsets any value from the larger bore.

Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 9:48 pm
by phaymore
Speaking of C trombones, I ran across this today.

http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/Con ... 00,00.html

Best I can tell, it's a C trombone with whole step attachment. The rotor is set up backwards from what we think of, where the attachment is always in use. Therefore you have a Bb trombone, then when you press the rotor leaver, it becomes a C trombone with eliminates a 6th position C. Kind of a neat idea. It's being marketed toward beginners. I just wonder how it sounds?

Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 12:02 pm
by ken k
phaymore wrote:Speaking of C trombones, I ran across this today.

http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/Con ... 00,00.html

Best I can tell, it's a C trombone with whole step attachment. The rotor is set up backwards from what we think of, where the attachment is always in use. Therefore you have a Bb trombone, then when you press the rotor leaver, it becomes a C trombone with eliminates a 6th position C. Kind of a neat idea. It's being marketed toward beginners. I just wonder how it sounds?
very interesting. I would like to see and play one in person.

k-