Closest to Duo Gravis?

[bassbone1993]

Hey all!

Just picking some brains, but has anybody played any basses that respond/sound similar to the duo gravis? Considering how popular they can be and there hasn't been any reintroductions of it like the 2b and 3b models, I'm curious if there's anything on the market that's pretty similar

[Burgerbob]

IMO, nothing.

[JohnL]

Gotta agree with Aidan. There's no production bell that's close.

[Dennis]

I'm with Aidan on this, too.

Most bells produced today look back to the Conn Fuchs bell of the 1920s: a large throat with a more modest bell diameter (particularly considering the throat size). McCracken's bell for the Duo Gravis has a slightly smaller throat than the Fuchs but maintains the 9 1/2 inch diameter at the flare.

The other big change that McCracken made was to match the auxiliary tubing (the F and E/D tubing) diameter to the slide diameter: they are supposed to be 0.562, just like the nominal slide tubing is. Modern basses have auxiliary tubing around 0.590. Some go even larger on the second valve.

Nothing else plays quite like a Duo Gravis.

[modelerdc]

Usually the 3rd trombonist is closest to the Duo Gravis, sometimes the 4th

[chromebone]

7B

[Kingfan]

7B

I'm curious how much difference there is between the Duo Gravis and the independent valve King 7B. Anybody know?

[EriKon]

Just feeling and playingwise: The 7B definitely feels and plays bigger than the Duo Gravis. The leadpipe is even bigger on the 7B than on the DG, so some standard btb mouthpieces don't even fit the horn. I would definitely choose my DG tho over the 7Bs I tried.

[chromebone]

7B

I'm curious how much difference there is between the Duo Gravis and the independent valve King 7B. Anybody know?

The 7b has the same bell and valves and consistent bore through the valves, but pretty much everything else is different. The tuning slide is wider, the hand slide is a little wider, different lead pipe and obviously the valves are in line. It’s not the same as a DG, but it does have a lot of the DG character, more broad and less direct than a DG. As the OP asks, it’s the closest thing to a DG.