rjzeller

Okay, my final thoughts/review on this horn.

Tone/Sound: First of all...this horn has that kind of tone that just begs me to forget everything else about playing. I really do LOVE the sound this baby can produce. It's not the heavy/dark/wide sound I would attribute to most heavy horns. It can have a bit of zip to it, but hardly would classify as bright. As I've said before, the best way to describe it is focused. It has a nice rich tone that doesn't spread apart or get lost. I guess that makes it a great solo horn, but it actually does a decent job of blending in if you handle it right.

So for Tone quality/sound, I give it a 10/10.

Intonation: Intonation was a big problem for some, but I found that for most of the playable range, it was quite excellent. Between low C and G above the staff the horn stayed almost perfectly in tune (this I think is largely due to and adjustment I made recently in my own playing, but I cannot deny the horn held together quite nicely here). However, the big problem comes in outside that range. The low tones were unbearably sharp, and I tend to play flat down there. The upper notes were also very sharp, with high B and C being almost unplayable (more on that later).

So Intonation gets a mixed review, I'll say a 7/10 since most of one's playing is within the middle part of the range.

And speaking of range, I found this horn really opened up for me beyond high C. D-E-F-G were all slotted well and simply a breeze to play. But for some reason, the horn really fought me on B and C above the staff. IT really is the weirdest thing....just needed to mention that.

Valves: Again, I love the look, hate the feel. They ARE very smooth and have great compression, as high quality as a valve set can be. There is NO deficiency here at all...just that I really prefer lighter valves and these have a very heavy feel to them. Maybe I have wimpy fingers, but I like the quickness of my Getzen valves much better.

Nevertheless, they are well assembled and technically flawless - 9/10.

Feel: First of all, as much as I don't like the LOOK of the thumb and finger rings, they are SOOOO comfortable. Kudos on a job WELL done there. I could hold this horn for hours and not get sick of it. Absolutely superb!

Then there is the blow of the horn, which is much tighter than I like it, but not so tight as a Bach Strad ML or many other horns I've tried. But though I prefer a more open blow, I'm torn as to whether I'd reccomend any changes here. With the exception of high B and C, this horn slots like a dream, and it's still much more open than most horns I've tried, so I can't say whether I'd like to see it open up a bit more or not. My one comlpaint would be that it's not as flexible as I like, but like I said...it slots SOO nice.

And one thing about playing this horn -- don't "push" it. I don't know how best to describe it, but it doesn't require a ton of air to play or play well, and while the sound will be just find no matter how hard you drive it, you're just going to make yourself tired. This is a horn that simply demands you to relax and take it easy. I had trouble with this adjustment, but over time I think one could really do well with this horn because of that. Toward the end of my trial I began to notice that my endurance was really picking up on that horn....

So feel gets a 9.5/10 -- that unplayable high C cost it a perfect mark there.

Appearance: Er...minus the finger rings which I don't care for (from an appearance standpiont), what's not to love about the way this horn looks? 10/10, since I cannot possibly allow a personal bias affect this mark.

I think that about covers it. I went back and found Nick D's comments about the low end, and I'm thinking he may be right. I think the problem is you just can't get enough playing in, in two weeks, to really get the right feel for the horn.

I really think with a little Tweaking this horn would be simply fantastic. I had others try it with mixed results, some stating they liked it but would never pay $2500 for it. But when they look at the price they expect perfection (which I don't think is unfair, just unrealistic). This being a new horn, I think the whole point of my trying it is to provide feedback that would make it better. So please don't take my comments as being overly critical -- I did so on purpose. With the way this horn sounds and looks, as well as it plays already, a few tweaks can really turn it into a gem.

So we have:
Sound: 10/10
Intonation: 7/10
Valves: 9/10
Feel: 9.5/10
Appearance: 10/10

That's a composite of 9.1/10. Not bad. I think if you get the Intonation cleared up and do something about the excessive tightness on the extreem low end and the high C, it's nearly a perfect horn.

One other thing-- and odd side effect of playing this horn exclusively for almost two weeks: My playing on my Getzen has skyrocketed. Suddenly endurance, intonation, and range on that horn have improved tremendously. Perhaps the Phaeton taught me how to relax properly...or just to listen better...I don't know. But I really have more than one reason to Thanks Felix and Van for letting me try the horn out!!!

Z

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NYTC

Very cool review,Richard.
Thank you very much for taking your time to play it and test it.
I really apresiate your input.Once the tour is done and complete,we will work on the issues you have spoken about.
Thanks again,
Felix

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Larry

I haven’t played the horn in question but these statements caught my attention. It would seem to me that a tighter blowing horn would likely not react well to some players who are, perhaps, more accustomed to muscling a horn (sort of speak) with their air. The tighter blow might have contributing factor in the superior slotting that was mentioned as well.

Again, I have never played the horn so I may not know what I’m talking about here. Just thinking out loud.

Larry