cimbasso

[pjv]

Hands down the best cimbasso I've ever played is the Haag. It's also the most expensive.

So I bought the china cimbasso (Wessex). Why? Because I use it about once a year, tops.

Same with the euphonium. I had a very nice playing '70's Besson with ALL of the nice '70's Besson intonation issues. And I never really played it more than once or twice a year. So I sold it to someone who would use (and let them figure out how to make it play in tune) it and bought a Wessex.

Sure, both the cimbasso and the euphonium have intonation things and both do not boast the refined playing experience I get with, say, my B&S Symphonie, but paying top dollar for something I almost never use is not the way I invest my limited funds. They are both playable enough for what I do.

A 2/3's professional instrument for 1/3'd the price. Good enough for that one gig a year.

[bloke]

I got to play one of those once, it was in a noisy display room. The valves of course are heavy and slow, but I guess they're fast enough. I see the various small bore $20,000 cimbassos most all outfitted with main tuning slide triggers. The more of them I see and the more of them that I play, the luckier I feel.

A smaller bore always helps these things, but it doesn't necessarily help them play in tune.

The last time I priced a Thein one, if you bought everything that goes with it and paid shipping and duty, I think it was about $25,000. It also has a main tuning slide trigger. I'm thinking that maybe Thein's main hook is their high prices.

[bone-a-phone]

Yep. Just used mine today for the first time in a quintet rehearsal and, to my great relief, it was a hit. It works quite well on the Maurer quintet pieces (bass part was originally scored for trombone). King valves, Bell is from a Getzen baritone bugle.

IMG_3710.jpeg

Looks like a nice project, but based on the part, you could have played almost anything more conveniently. Tenor or Bass Trombone, euph, Eb tuba, etc. If it were an octave down, it would would be easier to justify, but up in the staff like that, it's hard to call for an exotic solution.

[Yorkboy]

I find the cimbasso I built to be plenty convenient:

- I’m not proficient enough with a slide to play with other musicians, especially the caliber of these particular ones

- baritone horn/euphonium is not the sound we are looking for. I’d just as well play it on any of the tubas I already own (which I’ve already done countless times)

- the highest note is D above the staff, which is easily within range on an E flat cimbasso

- it adds something of interest to “spice up” a program that is being presented to an audience

Not that it’s necessarily an exotic solution that I’m looking for - it’s just that it’s all I’ve got in my locker that will give the desired results.

With that said, some of these days (with apologies to bloke) I’m going to build a valve-bass trombone. I’ve already got the piston set (King 2268), I’m just waiting for the right deal to pull the trigger on an appropriate bell joint, probably a Conn 72H or the Yamaha equivalent (YBL-322?)

[Bob Kolada]

I find the cimbasso I built to be plenty convenient:

- I’m not proficient enough with a slide to play with other musicians, especially the caliber of these particular ones

- baritone horn/euphonium is not the sound we are looking for. I’d just as well play it on any of the tubas I already own (which I’ve already done countless times)

- the highest note is D above the staff, which is easily within range on an E flat cimbasso

- it adds something of interest to “spice up” a program that is being presented to an audience

Not that it’s necessarily an exotic solution that I’m looking for - it’s just that it’s all I’ve got in my locker that will give the desired results.

With that said, some of these days (with apologies to bloke) I’m going to build a valve-bass trombone. I’ve already got the piston set (King 2268), I’m just waiting for the right deal to pull the trigger on an appropriate bell joint, probably a Conn 72H or the Yamaha equivalent (YBL-322?)

I have a 3 valve valve set from a King baritone on my Eb valved bass thing ($50 and it gives me a low Bb and A without paying for and sourcing a 4 valve valve set), it feels a little tight. There's a ton of .562 tubing after that that might pay a role in that but I think .59x would be about perfect in this horn. But where to get such a thing?
The bell is from a Getzen marching baritone, no problems there. I'm using a Josef Klier KBP2C, larger might help.