camelbrass

A few months ago I bought a Bach trumpet converted by Will Spencer from Jon Clarke of the Hong Kong Philharmonic. It had a 37 bell (interchangeable) and 2 lead pipes, the normal 25 and a bronze one, again interchangeable. It was a relatively new instrument and within 20,000 of my own Bb, also a Bach 37 with standard lead pipe, so I thought it may make for an interesting comparison.

I have bought my valve oil from Will for the last few years and was aware of his excellent work having played a few trumpets belonging to other people that he had modified. The system he uses for the conversions is described on his website:


Will Spencer - trumpets, brass repairs & snake oil


Now, I am not the world's greatest player but also not the worst and would describe myself as a solid amateur (in both stature and ability!!) but for those that are interested in developing and personalising their Bach's or similar then I highly recommend it as alternative to a fixed conversion. The similarities between my normal Bach and the conversion are very evident. The new trumpet still plays and sounds very much like my standard Bach 37 (to me that's a good thing), the difference is that it responds much quicker and seems to be much more flexible without sacrificing too much of that Bach ability to lock into a note.

Car anologies are fun. If a Bach 37 is a BMW 3 series sedan then this is one with sports suspension and sequential gear box. It's still a BMW 3 series but with more oomph.

Are there differences that I've had to acclimatise to? Yep, the fittings and structural stability of the trumpet when it's lock together is rock solid but the 'feedback' to the player is just a little less forthcoming than with the normal bracing. I also haven't really got to give it lot's of 'welly' in a loud environment yet, so not sure how it will respond in that situation. Very soft playing is great, it speaks and responds very easily.

For those players that like the sound of their Bachs and Yamahas (and B&Ss) but would like a little more versatility and zip then I hope Will doesn't mind if I recommend them to you.


Regards,



Trevor