Modern Deutsche Romantische Bass Posaune in F

[slipmo]

I've been collecting German romantic trombones for years and have a full set, alto through bass of Kruspe and Schopper instruments... but I've been enamored with the idea of a proper sized F bass trombone to go along with them. Ideal for Brahms, Schumann, Bruckner etc.

I really enjoy playing trombone in F, both my straight bass sackbut with a handle and my F contra... Jeff Reynolds posted a video of the LA Phil playing Schumann 3rd with him on his Minick G bass trombone. The video is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzH5khoM_wY

That is a great bass trombone sound (an amazing section sound)! I have one of the Minick G trombones, but I don't like playing in G so I had Steve Shires build me a long slide to put it in F... so that got me thinking about a really neat modernized Gronitz F German style bass trombone that Steve Ferguson has had for a few years at his shop. It is an oddball horn, being an inline F bass trombone but using a normal length 88H slide, most importantly it has the right size bell and tuning bow to be correct. Which got me thinking, wouldn't it be cool to modify this instrument to take the proper length F slide, remove the 2nd valve for weight and have a single valve F/C bass trombone!

https://www.hornguys.com/products/used- ... s-trombone

So that's exactly what I plan to do. Here's the horn today, with the F slide (now sitting in a flat E with the extra length). Brad Close is going to do the modifications and I'll keep all of you informed on how it turns out!

IMG_6364.jpg

[LeTromboniste]

Awesome! I have wanted to play an F or even Eb bass in orchestra for a while. This is a really cool project!

[slipmo]

Thanks! Actually I was thinking of keeping the cut off cylindrical tubing and using it for an Eb extension, so I'd have the option of F/C or Eb/Bb depending on the repertoire

[Tbarh]

What about the bell placement? .. Would drive me crazy to not have 3rd position by the bell..

[Kbiggs]

This project sounds really cool. A useable modern F bass in the German tradition.

I like the Schumann 3rd video. You can see “Minick” engraved on the bell at 1:04.

[EdwardSolomon]

What about the bell placement? .. Would drive me crazy to not have 3rd position by the bell..

It’s usually second by the bell on a F bass. Third is a little beyond the bell rim.

[hornbuilder]

What about the bell placement? .. Would drive me crazy to not have 3rd position by the bell..

Why does the position of the bell matter? Do you need it to "find" 3rd? If so, how do you find 2nd? Or 4th? Or 5th?

[Tbarh]

What about the bell placement? .. Would drive me crazy to not have 3rd position by the bell..

Why does the position of the bell matter? Do you need it to "find" 3rd? If so, how do you find 2nd? Or 4th? Or 5th?

Easier to find 2nd and 4th If i know where 3rd is... (PS!, how many emoticons do I need to tell its a joke?)

[sf105]

A great idea which I've often speculated about. I thought Stu Dempster had a straight F, did you pick that up too? (and let's not forget Bartok). Also wondering if a valve in D, extendable to C, would be more useful.

[slipmo]

Happy to report that this project is nearly wrapped! Brad did an amazing job converting this from a double valve horn to a single in the key of F/C now. It plays REALLY well, I can't wait to get it out for a concert.

Next step: we need to add some snake decorations to that back bow!

nggronitzf_1.jpg

nggronitzf_2.jpg

nggronitzf_3.jpg

[slipmo]

nggronitzf_4.jpg

[Kevbach33]

Now THAT is a bass trombone. I'd play that in an orchestral setting in a flash if I could learn to play such a beast.

I was frequently ogling that instrument on the Horn Guys website... I just couldn't justify it, no matter how I looked at it.

I remember this also had a yellow bell as part of the package. How does it compare/contrast with the red bell? Are there other plans for this bell, or is it staying with this chassis?

I was thinking of keeping the cut off cylindrical tubing and using it for an Eb extension, so I'd have the option of F/C or Eb/Bb depending on the repertoire

Ascending valve, perhaps? (Like some double horns or the Miraphone CC contrabass trombone)

[slipmo]

I'm thinking of keeping the other bell with it to use with American trombones. Since that one doesn't have a kranz I think it will come in handy should I want to use this F bass on repertoire not in the romantic period.

It's an absolute blast to play, so much fun and extremely playable now with the single valve.

Who knows... maybe there with be a F bass trombone revival! I'm all for it