F Contrabass Trumpet

[Timswisstuba]

I'd like to comment on Dillon's unfinished contrabass trumpet in F. I’m writing this because I don’t think many people have experience in Contrabass trumpets and maybe don’t know what a contrabass trumpet is like.

Do not expect this instrument to play like an F tuba.

I don't know the one offered at Dillon's, but I made an F contrabass a few years ago using Roger Bobo's F trumpet as a guide. It was a real challenge building it because lots of tubes had to be bent to fit within a small space. Both mine and Bobo's is really stuffy because of the all the cylindrical tubing which has many bends in it. (It wasn't possible to build an open wrap)

I could imagine that the project offered by Dillon’s was abandoned because the work was getting too expensive for the client. Contrabass trumpets are a lot of fun but ultimately these instruments sound like a bass trombone and play like a stuffy radiator.

SullivanContrabassTrumpet.jpg

[Bob Kolada]

I had one of Carl Kleinstuber's horns for a while; three valves, probably more of a contrabass cornet. It played very well with a good low C and B.
I bought it from Grant the contrabass guy-
http://www.contrabass.com/pages/cbtp.html" target="_blank

[Lingon]

Here is one, in F with C attachment, from Swedish maker Lars Gerdt.