slixk

Just wondering,
what do you guys think of putting a Bach 37 bell on a Yamaha Xeno RGS body?

kadleck

Years ago, I put a Bach 43 bell on a Yamaha 6340-ST. It worked quite well. Since then, I've put various Bach bells on a Schilke S32. I always liked the Bach sound but couldn't deal with the Bach blow/feel. This was a pretty good way around it!

Tony

slixk

Does a different bell affect the blow alot? Cause i love the blow alot, just not the sound.

kadleck

I don't think it will affect the blow, but (depending on the bell size) it may affect the way you hear yourself.

TK

trumpetmike

I know that Will Spencer has done a number of these conversions, especially on the Xeno C trumpet. They are improved yet further with the addition of an M/K leadpipe and tuning slide.

ALLCHOPS

Hey Tony,

Did I end up with that horn or was it a Bach Body and Bell with a Yami Lead Pipe?

At this point It's all a blur. That was one of my favorite horns and it went many places!

Tony G

rowuk

Wouldn't it be cheaper to sell the Bach and the Xeno and buy an Eclipse or some other great "finished" "proven" concept?
The resistance of the horn is caused by the mouthpiece/instrument match as well as the leadpipe, the bell and many other factors like weight, placement of braces and material. If you gave the Xeno a tuning bell conversion, you could try many different combinations. Whether or not blow, intonation, projection, sound all come up better than before is a wild guess. If you have the parts and the conversion is not too expensive...........

uatrmpt

Not in the US. You could get a used Bach and Yamaha to meld together, plus a new leadpipe, and get it done cheaper than the cost of an Eclipse (which works about to about $3800 US). Find the two horns in the $800 range each, and say a new leadpipe from Charlie Melk ($125) and say $200 for the work, you're only out approximately $1925. That's not even counting the fact that you can get a bell for much less than the cost of a new horn, or a horn with a crushed bell but with a good valve section.

If you wanted to go the new route, a new Yamaha plus new Bach bell would still be cheaper than an Eclipse.

Siegtrmpt

It's not really fair to compare the pricing of a new handbuilt/custom trumpet with one built from used and spare parts. It might be cheaper but it's still a lot of expense for an instrument that you really will have no idea of how well it plays until it's put together and will have very little resale value if it doesn't work out. That 2K would be better spent on a new instrument from a major manufacturer. I don't really know much about the Eclipse trumpets but under 4K for a new, custom trumpet doesn't sound unreasonable.

rowuk

This is really my point. I have experimented with so many instruments in the last 35 years and have found out that reproducable success is very difficult to accomplish. Please do not underestimate the R+D that it takes to build a good horn. If Bach could make their trumpets twice as good with just a leadpipe change, they would be stupid not to do so. Yamaha did have very close copies of the Bach trumpets in their "heavy" lineup.
I am not criticizing wanting the Yamaha blow and the Bach sound. I think the chance of getting an instrument that is inferior to both is very high! Both companies do what they do on purpose - a new horn from either one has had a lot of play testing and modification before it is released.