6/4 Zo Thunderbird thoughts
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2023 11:24 am
Hello all, I picked up my Zo Thunderbird the week before thanksgiving and I think I’ve played it enough to make my own personal review of the horn.
First things first, Tom and Jody McGrady are wonderful people and were extremely friendly on the phone and in person to deal with. I drove up to Virginia to pick up the Zo and drop off some horns that I sold/ were part of a trade deal. Tom was kind enough to give me a lesson for almost 2 hours with no extra cost, and he wouldn’t just sell me the horn until he was 100% sure it would be a good fit for me as a player. The horn itself , the only word that comes to my mind is amazing. I rarely have to pull slides, and if I do it’s because of my own personal tendencies not the horn. Not sure how it was done but to me, the 6/4 played so much easier than my 4/4 CC. My only issue I’ve had so far is that you have to keep up on the oiling or the valves gets a little sticky. I swapped out the original springs for Yamaha euphonium springs to make the valve action even lighter. The low range is incredibly comfortable and it’s easy to eat the rest of the ensemble if you aren’t careful as the Thunderbird earns its name and can really project. The case for the Thunderbird is cool, but it’s not a hard case so I swapped it out for a gig bag and have a hard case pending delivery for if I need to travel with it. The engraving on the Thunderbird and on the 6 valve F Symphonie copy is absolutely gorgeous, as well as the finger buttons with the peacock engraved on it. My mid range is not as full as my low and high register but the Zo is so good in that mid register it’s not as noticeable. My BBC tuba rest works perfectly well with this horn as well which was a minor concern I had until I tested the horn. Hopes this helps anyone thinking about getting a Zo or any other horn from Mack Brass!
First things first, Tom and Jody McGrady are wonderful people and were extremely friendly on the phone and in person to deal with. I drove up to Virginia to pick up the Zo and drop off some horns that I sold/ were part of a trade deal. Tom was kind enough to give me a lesson for almost 2 hours with no extra cost, and he wouldn’t just sell me the horn until he was 100% sure it would be a good fit for me as a player. The horn itself , the only word that comes to my mind is amazing. I rarely have to pull slides, and if I do it’s because of my own personal tendencies not the horn. Not sure how it was done but to me, the 6/4 played so much easier than my 4/4 CC. My only issue I’ve had so far is that you have to keep up on the oiling or the valves gets a little sticky. I swapped out the original springs for Yamaha euphonium springs to make the valve action even lighter. The low range is incredibly comfortable and it’s easy to eat the rest of the ensemble if you aren’t careful as the Thunderbird earns its name and can really project. The case for the Thunderbird is cool, but it’s not a hard case so I swapped it out for a gig bag and have a hard case pending delivery for if I need to travel with it. The engraving on the Thunderbird and on the 6 valve F Symphonie copy is absolutely gorgeous, as well as the finger buttons with the peacock engraved on it. My mid range is not as full as my low and high register but the Zo is so good in that mid register it’s not as noticeable. My BBC tuba rest works perfectly well with this horn as well which was a minor concern I had until I tested the horn. Hopes this helps anyone thinking about getting a Zo or any other horn from Mack Brass!