Bach/Shires...mod or go full Shires?

[calcbone]

I've been playing a dual-bore Shires slide (.547-562) on a Bach 42 "Corporation" bell for a while...I like the bell, but I haven't really had a chance to play it against similar Shires bells. My only issue is that I really miss having an axial valve for the low register.

I am wondering if it would be worth it to get a Shires axial valve (used, perhaps?) and have the bell adapted for it... (this bell section has already had a couple of mods) or would that just not make any sense? I don't know how much a good tech would charge for a job like that.

(and in that case... I need a refresher about which bells I should try... 1Y? 5Y? 7Y? I haven't really tried Shires parts out since 2008.)

Anyway, thanks everyone!

[Matt K]

I switched to a Bach 42 in college and later made several modifications. I actually played on one setup that was very similar to how you describe yours, but with a Shires valve rather than the Bach valve. If you like the Bach vibe, you can go Bach of course and keep the Bach bell and have varying degrees of Shires parts. Or you can go with the Shires parts that are suppose dto emulate it. "X" tuning slide, 5VNY bell or the Chicago bell, etc.

So should you get a used Axial? Maybe. When I bought mounting hardware it was like $100 for the parts and $100 to mount. But you'll also need a Tuning slide then. Prices may have gone up since then but that's a reasonable ball park. You'll have a spare valve and tuning slide then so you can' sell it. What I'd probably do if I were in your shoes is try to find a bell seciton I liked and sell the Bach bell section, personally.

If you're patient, you can also put together a horn with used parts for well under retail. As I mentioned, the type 5 bells are the closest to Bach. But the Type 7 bells are more popular, or they were a few years ago. The most popular configuration when Ben Griffin worked there typically was a 7YM, Thayer, TW47.

[calcbone]

So should you get a used Axial? Maybe. When I bought mounting hardware it was like $100 for the parts and $100 to mount. But you'll also need a Tuning slide then. Prices may have gone up since then but that's a reasonable ball park. You'll have a spare valve and tuning slide then so you can' sell it. What I'd probably do if I were in your shoes is try to find a bell seciton I liked and sell the Bach bell section, personally.

True, I had not really considered the "reverse" tuning slide setup on the Shires would basically necessitate that purchase also.

I do have the whole Bach horn... so even if I do just get a whole Shires bell section I may hang on to the Bach also, or sell it. It has some nice custom work on it already (from way before I owned it). It started life as a straight 42 and had an open wrap F-attachment added (from the looks of it, I think it was made from parts of a similar age or older 42B attachment converted to open wrap). It plays well.

If you're patient, you can also put together a horn with used parts for well under retail.

I may just do this since I already have the slide It came from the Shires setup I built in 2008... but eventually decided I wanted a yellow bell with more mass such as the Bach. I'm not stuck on the one-piece design, though, so I'm open to 1Y or 7Y as well. Do you know why the 7 would have been more popular than the 1? I'm sure I tried them back in 2008, but I'm not sure the 5 existed yet at that time...

Thanks for the helpful input!

[Bach5G]

Resale value?

[Matt K]

They say that the 7 bells are a bit of a mixture of the characteristics of the 5 and 1 bells that is a bit of middle ground. 1Y bells are closer to Kings which are two-piece, soldreed bell beads. 2R bells like the 2RVE more like Conn bells which are two piece and unsoldered. 5, as noted, are soldered one piece bells resembling Bach bells.

The thing about Shires is the tuning slides are different than Bachs. They make one that has a similar taper though, the "X" tuning slide.

Thing about it is... you already have a Bach and you already like things about it. So is it worth getting an entire bell section? Could be, hard to say one way or the other. It might be worth pricing out a Thayer valve. Bachs with Thayers do have a particular blow that works really nicely, imo.