kdawg

right now I'm borrowing a bach strad from one of my mom's friends. It's early 70's, ML, 37 bell. The thing is a thrill to play, it has an amazing core and everything seems pretty good on it. It's perfect, except for the upper register. The horn would be perfect except that the slotting in the upper register is terrible. All of you bachaholics out there... how can I improve this, or is this horn just "different"?

bugler16

I have never had a problem getting a Bach Strad to lock in in the upper register. Be sure that you are hearing the sound, blowing through and not presetting. My 43* is a little "looser" in the upper register than my 37 but all of the notes lock in on both.

trptbenge

That has always been the knock on Strads is the ability to lock in in the upper register. You might try a Strad with a lightweight 72 bell and see how you like it.

Thanks!

Mike

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It's the sound that makes the difference!

FlugelFlyer

My Strad is a great horn, but it doesn't lock anything above a High E!!! Interesting that you noted that too.

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Bach 180LR, 72 bell
Bach 1-1/2C
Bach 3D

kdawg

yeah, about a high E. on all my other horns i was slotting above that tonight. i'm only borrowing the horn, but if i were to buy one, what would a blackburn pipe do to it?

tom turner

Hi,

A really fine Strad will usually slot well up to the G above High C for standard weight horns and the G# for lightweights. Above that point it gets really squirrely for most horns . . . although in the hands of the high note "masters" many horns can get the job done up there!

My last Strad was an exceptional 37* I actually bought used in a pawn shop for $125. It was butt ugly but man, how it played. It ate my standard 37 and my Yamaha 6340ST I already owned for lunch! It immediately became my main horn of course.

After returning from Andersons for bright, new silverplating, it finally looked as good as it played! Later I customized it further, with an original Pilczuk "Accusonic" Leadpipe of perfect "blow" and it turned it into a monster horn. That particular horn slotted well all the way to Double C! A rare few of 'em will do that for me.

A custom shop, like Malone (who no longer can work on anything that's not Yamaha) can sometimes work magic on a horn that's not playing up to its potential. However, it's probably easier and cheaper in the long run if you just start playing a bunch of 'em and, when you find an awesome one . . . sell your current one and make up the difference!

Hope this helps, and good luck finding the Bach of your dreams!

Sincerely,

Tom Turner

dcstep

I've got a 180/37 here at the house for a review and comparison to the Stomvi USA. Anyway, the horn is fine up to G over high-C (my reliable range).

Perhaps the particular horn in question needs a valve alignment. That wouldn't be surprising.

Short review:

Construction of the Stomvi and Bach are about the same with a slight edge to the Stomvi. The intonation is slightly better on the Stomvi, but the Stomvi is slightly brighter than the 37 (using a Bach 3C or GR66LX). These differences are very small. On a scale of one to ten (ten the best, or brightest in the tone context), I'd put both in the 7 to 7.5 range in each category.

I'll expand on the soon. I'm waiting on more specifics about the Stomvi before I write it up.

Dave

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Schilke '60 B1
Selmer Paris -- '57 #20 K-Modified/
'03 Concept TT w/ GR66.8B2.8
'94 Lawler TL cornet w/ Sparx 2B
Conn Vintage One flugel - GR66FD
www.pitpops.com www.ucm-inc.com
Rocky Mountain Trumpet Fest

BachMan

Bach's are not the easiest horns to play but they sound good.

I think there is usually a compromise between "easy playing" vs "great sounding"

I think Yamaha's in general are easier to play :arrow: I don't think they sound as good :!:

musicalmason

there are hundreds of products out there to make your bach "easier" to play, but no products out there for non-bachs that will make them sound like a bach. I def agree with the compromise, my callet is 10 times freer and smoother than my bach, but it has 10 times less core to the sound

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Bach strad 180s ML 25 37
Bach Strad 65 vindabona raw
Callet Grand prix .470
Chicago benge L bore
warburton 3 rims
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dcstep

Musicalmason, you might really like a Selmer Paris Concept TT or Chorus 80J, particularly the later, if you want a free blowing, high quality horn that has as much core as a 180/37.

I've been comparing a new Stomvi USA, a new Bach 180/37 and, of course, my Concept TT. None are "stuffy" or hard to play. The quality of construction is a least a couple of steps higher on the Selmer and it's more even in tuning and response. Still, all will easily go up to the top of my range. The Stomvi is the most brilliant of the three (closer to a light Bach than the 37, but not dramatically so), the TT is in the middle with a richer emphasis on the mid overtones, and the Bach has the least brilliance but really nice middle overtones (it's not "dead" feeling like some Yamahas I've sampled recently). The TT is the broadest of the three, with the USA and Bach very similar in "focus."

Since you like large horns and the focus of the 37, then you might really love the Chorus 80J which has more focus than the TT and is less broad (I did an extended comparison a few weeks ago). It's also slightly less brilliant than the TT, putting it squarely in the 37, but with a richer palette of midrange overtones, a freer blow and noticeably better build quality (like a Callet, for instance). It will NOT be as free blowing as your Callet, BUT considerably freer blowing than most Bach 37s.

Selmer Paris has an incredible tradition of building quality trumpets and it's great that they're seriously back into the US market.

Dave

__________________
Schilke '60 B1
Selmer Paris -- '57 #20 K-Modified/
'03 Concept TT w/ GR66.8B2.8
'94 Lawler TL cornet w/ Sparx 2B
Conn Vintage One flugel - GR66FD
www.pitpops.com www.ucm-inc.com
Rocky Mountain Trumpet Fest