A friend has a John Fedchock signature model Jupiter and says it's super light.
I've also seen them advertised as ultra lightweight.
How far can it go in that direction before the sound stops carrying? IMHO a really light bell dissipates too much sound energy instead of projecting it forward as a fat tone. Or can power actually dissipate in the slide section?
I never tried a Jupiter. Opinions?
King Jiggs 2BL
Olds Opera
Besson Sovereign Bb/F bass
Holton bass trumpet
B&H Imperial shepherd's crook cornet
Projection and volume aren't necessarily the same, and the relationship between the two depends on you and on the context. Obviously there are limits, and these aren't going to be the salsa horn of choice.
Recently tried an XO 1632R - notes from the time below. Of light horns in this general area, I'd have thought it was a better option than the 2B Jiggs for most people. But/and it's a totally different sound.
Try your friend's horn!
...
Nicely finished esp for the price, great slide, v open general feel - little inertial resistance plus not too tight, held together without colour shift for longer than expected and then suddenly changes (to something not great) - both maybe need tighter mpc throat etc? - generally just felt slightly uncontrolled, don't like/want red-type floof ... high E squirrelly. Really not bad at all, but definitely needed a different mouthpiece and/or a surprising amount of Learning.
It's my favorite horn. To play. It is a joy to play like no other horn I've played.
Do I bring it to city band? No. I bring my .525 Yamaha 640. But, my light, sweet little Jupiter is the first horn I pull out when I am playing for myself in the basement. It has gotten so that I have a hard time pulling any other horn out (and I have several to pull). In fact, my current conundrum is that I should be practicing city band pieces on my .525 because that's the horn I play them on, but that light, responsive, honey-toned, nectar of the Gods, 1632 Jupiter is just so sweet and fun to play, larger horns just feel like tanks (I spent some time with my teacher's Edwards (a beast), and I could not wait to get back to my Jupiter).
I suppose it's a "Horses for Courses" thing. If you need a larger horn for a job, or a heavier stiffer horn for some reason, then that's one thing , but if personal joy tops the list, for my money, (and it has been an embarrassingly lot of it) nothing matches my light, sweet, and lively Jupiter.
Will the Jupiter peel the paint off the wall? I don't know, that's something I have no interest in doing and I haven't tried peel any paint off the walls. But, paint peeling aside, the 1632 is a light, comfortable, extremely responsive instrument. It "lights up" like a kid on Christmas when you want it to, but it also can produce the sweetest, richest, warmest sound you will ever hear out of a small bore (.500). In fact (and in use) it has become my "Bordogni" horn. I can get a sweet, rich, fat, even, tone and (importantly) I am able to keep it filled with enough air and energy to phrase those etudes the way I want to phrase them, something I just can't do with a .547 and struggle to do with a .525. The smaller bore allows me to achieve the musicality I want to reach while the light, responsive gold brass bell offers me the sweet, rich, complex tone I want to hear (ok, so I've said that already).
(BTW, I ordered two 1632's to try, the gold brass original and the yellow brass model they introduced later. I was surprised, really surprised, at how different their sound was, I came so damn close to keeping both. If you want light, bright, and something that will light up with a thought, that light yellow brass 1632 was a blast. But, for me, at the end of each day of the week I trialed them, the gold brass was the one I liked the best. But I did think seriously about keeping both.)
(Truth in Tromboning. A year from now, maybe a month, who knows, my Yamaha 891Z may be back to number one. You know how it goes. )
Last edited by PaulT on Wed Oct 06, 2021 9:35 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Oh, and while I am in two bands, a small "Second Wind" band and city band in a university town, I do my best work in the basement. I would describe myself an enthusiastic amateur , except that I have earned some money with my trombone. So far, I have made close to $200 ( against an expenditure in horns approaching $8,000 ((there were a few mis-steps, I should probably try sell some as there are only three I play)).
(don't ask about my guitars)
So, put my horn review in context. High C (what I call high C) is as high as I go, and Bb is where my musicality ends.
Responds easy and sounds okay but without core or character. I am missing the balls, power, projection, bite...just like a lite Bach or the Jiggs 2B..
I love the early Fedchock work with Woody H. the most. I guess he played a 2B+ then.
The Jupiter is an ideal horn for older Tommy Dorsey style players with weak embochure and a strong microphone.
I like the XO 1032 more, not that ultra light...
Andre1966tr wrote: ↑Thu Oct 07, 2021 12:17 am
Responds easy and sounds okay but without core or character. I am missing the balls, power, projection, bite...just like a lite Bach or the Jiggs 2B..
I love the early Fedchock work with Woody H. the most. I guess he played a 2B+ then.
The Jupiter is an ideal horn for older Tommy Dorsey style players with weak embochure and a strong microphone.
I like the XO 1032 more, not that ultra light...
