King 3BF/4BF G attachment

[SlideCrook]

I came across this video, where the ..presenter shows that by a simple swap of the F-attachment tuning slides on a King 3BF/4BF, you can effectively short-circuit the F attachment and give yourself a G attachment. The video in question appears old and grainy, and innuendo/cheapshot sex appeal aside, does this really work?

I know there were a few different valve wraps and port angles for the Kings, and a few different trigger mechanisms used over the decades. I’m not great at the timelines of the droopy-loop vs the ropey square-jaw. Or however they classify them in Chester, Illinois.

[BGuttman]

You have to remove the tuning slide brace in order to swap the crooks. I tried it with a King 4B but the tuning slide brace got in the way. Basically you have to put one of the tuning crooks on the two tubes coming from the valve

[Finetales]

That video is...something.

It doesn't work on my loopy (as christened by DJ) 3BF, even with the main tuning slide removed. I think I remember reading that the wrap has to be the version where both tuning slides are the same width. On my 3BF you can put the narrower slide into one set of tubes perpendicular to the way it usually goes (which is the idea), but it's the one that isn't connected to anything when you do that. The top set of tubes (which would make the G attachment) doesn't fit with either tuning slide.

[timothy42b]

3BFs should just come with a G tuning slide and an F crook tuning slide. Problem solved.

[Mikebmiller]

That guy was on the old forum. He would never shut up about how great the G attachment was. And always had pictures of girls in bikinis with his trombones.

[BGuttman]

That guy was on the old forum. He would never shut up about how great the G attachment was. And always had pictures of girls in bikinis with his trombones.

I think that was Anthony Cecena. He might be here under a different name. If I recall correctly he left this area (Metro Boston) and moved to Hawaii.

He had an impressive collection of Silver Sonic Kings (with the impressive collection of girls to model them).

[Elow]

That was an... interesting video to watch.

[Mv2541]

I would love to see the Craigslist ad he must have put up. Several of us here advocate for G tuning, albeit with different attire.

[JohnL]

That guy was on the old forum. He would never shut up about how great the G attachment was. And always had pictures of girls in bikinis with his trombones.

I think that was Anthony Cecena. He might be here under a different name. If I recall correctly he left this area (Metro Boston) and moved to Hawaii.

He had an impressive collection of Silver Sonic Kings (with the impressive collection of girls to model them).

His name on the old forum was Silver3B; he wasn't around the old forum for while before it shut down, so I doubt if he's here at the new place.

He was based out of San Diego; I met him once at the NAMM show in Anaheim back when Bones West was still playing there.

Long-time forumites will remember the late Norm Rowe; here's a page from Norm's old site with a bunch of photos of the G conversion on Anthony's 4BF; it's one of the later ones where the player's thumb doesn't go over the brace.
http://roweboat.com/fg4b/

[Mikebmiller]

The G attachment makes about as much sense to me as that guy who is always hawking a trombone pitched in Db on facebook.

[BGuttman]

The G attachment makes about as much sense to me as that guy who is always hawking a trombone pitched in Db on facebook.

Actually, the G-Attachment does offer some good features. Folks with double indy basses in F/G/Eb have shown that some fingerings can be very good. But there are tradeoffs. Particularly in the lower range.

[elmsandr]

The G attachment makes about as much sense to me as that guy who is always hawking a trombone pitched in Db on facebook.

No!!!

G>>>>F

You get those D, Db, C, and B in the middle of the slide! For most tenor trombonists, you now have a valve that lets you play a good 8-10 notes instead of one that's for about 4-5 notes.

Of course, without a second attachment it loses you the bottom end, but as a tenor player, does that matter?

I've build a couple of G attachments.. for the mostly 3rd/Bass playing I do, with a single valve I always make an F slide as well, because you need it.

As a dual rotor bass, I've never bothered to make F/G/Eb, I had an F/ Eb dependent, and D >>>>>>>>> Eb for me. I'd like to make an indy with several slides to be able to do F/G/Gb/bE on both valves to figure out what two valves I'd like, but I'm a dependent guy so this concept sits in my draft folder.

Cheers,
Andy

[Mv2541]

If you tune it lower than G, you can get Db in sharp 2 (near high G), C in 3rd, and B in flat 4th where the 3rd partial D is. This makes the slide patterns very close to what they would be in the upper octave. I think this trade-off is worth losing the G and D in 1st.

[Mikebmiller]

To each his own. I mostly play my small bore straight horn anyway.

[Neo Bri]

I love an F-attachment. I love a G, too. I love a Gb. All excellent options for things. The one I haven't really understood well is Bollinger tuning. But I love Bollinger playing.