The California Olds (full sized - several models) bass trombones - specifically, that were being built right before they were shuttered - were amazing. There aren’t many of them, people don’t know about them, and so many people seem to be into the stuff that (I think) doesn’t sound very good (two cu ...

I won’t berate them - because I’m not a bass trombonist, but I don’t hear a lot of complementary things about Bach bass trombones – including from some of those who own them. That's likely because a lot of Bach bass trombones out there are not good instruments. Every brand (even Yamaha) and era has ...

Have you played a Bubbie 5? Can you comment on that a little? If you're not expecting it to sound like a tuba, can it be used as a musical instrument? Unfortunately I've only played the old 4-valve Bubbie (I think TE133 is the model, vs. TF135 of the Bubbie 5). I think it could absolutely be used ...

Lots of trombonists really dislike the springs in old Conns, but I like them. I can tune normally, and then pull in from 1st if I need a note to be slightly higher. It also saves my lips if I accidentally pull the slide in too fast (though that thankfully doesn't happen often).

The radiator-looking ZO travel tubas are nice players - much better than the Wessex tornisters in my experience. I played a CC that blew me away at NAMM. But they certainly don't sound like a trombone as much as the Wessex Bubbies (which I'm convinced you could use as a contrabass cornet).

I saw that. Love the big J bend in the 4th valve slide. To be precise, this is a model 1173 "Improved Model Baritone", with the standard 3-valve model being the 1172 and the front action versions being the 1170 and 1171. I don't care much for American baritones/euphs, but this one looks cool enough ...

Do you have a tuba shaped cimbasso? If not you need one, desperately. I went with a 3 valve Eb so I could get a cheap valve set and still have low Bb and A (more of a bass trombone sub than something to play monster movie soundtracks). 🤘 .562 is a little small in hindsight, .59x or .62x would pr ...

The quality is good for the price, but the price keeps going up. This is the biggest issue with Wessex for me. A few years ago Wessex instruments were amazing deals, and you could live with some minor quality issues for the price you paid (especially for the oddball horns that had no other ...

It would certainly be useful for tenor solo rep with low Cs, pit books, or any orchestral part that throws Cs and Bs in willy-nilly. (Lots of contemporary stuff of course, but also quite a bit from older composers. The 4th tenor part in Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder comes to mind...chock full of low Bs ...

This is great stuff! I was not familiar with Elisabeth Shafer but I'm glad I am now. Very well done, musical multitracks - no smothering in processing and auto-tune necessary. It's a shame these don't have more views.

One of the reasons the Duo Gravis barks so much is because the valve tubing is .562, rather than oversized relative to the slide bore like pretty much every other bass out there. But it's also just a barky horn to begin with. I don't have a King bass trombone (I'm not a fan of dependent valves, and ...

It seems to me that – again – an orchestral player can get by pretty darn well with a 72H - or something like that - with a contraption as seen in the video shown in a previous post in this thread…the bonus being that a 72H sounds so damn good, as long as the player doesn’t get carried away with mou ...

You can also replace the F attachment tuning slide with an Eb slide, but this requires you to use 6th and 7th positions, which becomes less popular the younger other people get. I did this with a 70h, and it works. Low F is 6th, low E is 7th, Eb is trigger 1. Low C is trigger 5 (normal 6) and low B ...

I'm half-tempted to do that Bartok conversion to my own single-valve Elkhart 72H. I specify "single-valve" because I usually use my independent double-valve (Yamaha rotors) Elkhart 72H. I've been kicking around the idea of having the two combined into one modular instrument, making one of the bells ...

It would be easier to swap the 88H receiver for a modern large shank and do the same to the 321 (via the receiver from a King 2280 - a common mod for the 321). I'd be very surprised if anyone still made a Remington receiver, let alone one that isn't part of a trombone leadpipe. Maybe an odd small ...

Funnily enough, the alto horn is the one I can inform about with the most authority. The examples of that model Conn I've seen on eBay have sold for around $150-300 - the one closest the one you posted (silver plated, finish wear) was an auction that ended at $152 and some change (just checked via ...

I have a French bass saxhorn in C that loves an antique small shank Conn Euphonium (literally marked just "CONN-EUPHONIUM") mouthpiece a friend owns, more than any of my small shank pieces. I'd like to get my own so I can return my friend's to him. If anyone has one lying around they don't want, I'd ...

Yeah, the length of the valve slides seem to match Eb length to me (compared side-by-side with other Ebs). Much too long to be a euph I think.

As for F...well, I'd be surprised if Besson sold a 2-20 intermediate 3-valve F tuba, but I suppose weirder things have happened.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Silver-Besson-F-Tuba-/304617513153?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276 It's listed as an F tuba but I'm guessing it's an Eb. Extreme patina and missing a mouthpiece receiver, but looks complete otherwise. A Buy it Now for about $300 total after shipping...just $100 locally ...

I understand: so skip the half step valve, and other ones are close enough to make do. 👍 Exactly. The D and C are close enough that it may be that the only note you would really need the trigger for is Db (if at all). You just have a couple of useless fingerings to skip, but more of the ones you ha ...