I just took delivery of my new Shires Q39GR contrabass trombone (F/C/Db), and as I don't remember seeing much of any discussion about it on Trombone Chat, I figured it was a good idea to start a thread about it. I thiiiiiink this is the first privately-owned Shires contra in LA, and while there are a few out in the world already there definitely aren't many. (It is a contra, after all.)
Before buying one for myself, I managed to try five different examples of the instrument in different places. Three were in German tuning (Q38) and two were in American tuning (Q39). The first was a pre-production Q38 at ITF 2025, followed by one in each tuning at this year's NAMM, and two more (again, one in each tuning) at the Bob Reeves shop up in Santa Clarita, CA. While the ITF and NAMM instruments were obviously demoed in a loud exhibit hall environment, the two at Bob Reeves were played in an isolated room by myself. Suffice it to say that I had a lot of experience with the Q contra before buying one for myself.
My impressions out of those trials was that the Qontra was generally pretty good, but a little inconsistent. At NAMM, the German tuning model played nicely while the American tuning model was noticeably worse. It was stuffy and harder to play. At Bob Reeves my experience was the opposite; the American tuning model played significantly better than the German tuning model. As a result I was a bit apprehensive about ordering one, and while I could have just bought the American tuning one straight from Bob Reeves, I ended up getting a very nice deal on a new one from another shop, so I went with that instead.
Fortunately, I'm pleased to report that I think my Q39GR (American tuning, gold brass bell) is a very good example. It's not stuffy or hard to play, and I actually think it's easier to play than some of the very expensive top-flight German contras I've tried over the years. Most importantly, it just...plays like a trombone. A lot of contras (even the very expensive ones) are kind of a chore to play, and they can feel more like a beast of burden than a musical instrument. I don't get that feeling at all with the Q, and in fact it passes the test I place the most importance in when trying a new instrument: I don't want to put it down. The Laskey 105C mouthpiece that comes with it feels like a great match, though of course I'll need to try some other contra pieces to see how they stack up.
The news isn't all good, however. Aidan noted in his video about the Q contra that the third partial is flat, and I also noticed that when trying the two horns at Bob Reeves. It's true of mine as well, though honestly to a less drastic degree than the horns at Bob Reeves. But it's still a little flat, which is a drag but not the worst thing to work around when you have two valves to avoid open first position C with. The other issue that I've found with this one is that the Db valve is a little flat with the slide all the way in. I didn't notice this on any of the other ones I tried before, which is surprising considering I like my second valve to be sharp. Not Bollinger tuning levels, but kind of halfway there. I am likely going to get that slide cut, and maybe the C valve slide as well just to have more wiggle room than needing to keep it all the way in to be in tune. A smaller, but still important issue is that the spit valve paddle isn't really quite long enough, so you have to really stretch to get a finger on it. I wonder how tricky it would be to get a German-style remote water key fitted.
The bad news ends there, though. Another really important aspect about the Q contra is that it comes in an AWESOME Bonna-style screw bell contra case, WITH WHEELS! That was honestly an important factor in my decision to buy one...I don't need to shell out a bunch more money after buying the horn to get a case for it that's bearable to live with. It comes with everything I need right away.
I will undoubtedly post more updates as I get more playing time on the horn and potentially get those slides cut. I'm thinking about ordering a Brad Close contra leadpipe for it as well. Hopefully it won't be an eternity before I get to use it in real life!
