TromboneChat

I've had one of these for just over a year now. Every day I like it more.

Being a bass trombonist used to the F/Gb/D valve setup, I didn't think much about the modular 2nd valve tuning system much. Around two months ago, while trying to work out a particular tough passage in a solo, I thought to myself "this sure would be easier with a G valve."

I removed the extra tubing (so that I now had an F/G/Eb setup) and....WOW, what a difference it made. Yes, the G valve made the lick easier, but it also felt like it opened up the entire horn, particularly in the double valve combination notes.

I suppose it only makes sense, seeing as how the horn was designed by/for Denson Paul Pollard, who plays on a F/G/Eb setup, but I really regret not trying it sooner! I've also discovered that I just like the G valve a lot better than the Gb valve. And I don't mind having to push out a little further for low C and B - in fact, I can finally feel secure on a double valve low D. The tuning slide isn't short enough that I can get an in-tune double valve Eb, but 2nd valve G's and D's are fantastic and correspond almost exactly to 1st F's and C's.

Anyone else experienced something similar?

Yup, G tuning really is pretty special. My current bass has G and Gb tuning slides for the 2nd valve. The Holton 181 has G tuning if you remove the extension. In both instances the instrument really opened up for double valve notes, and the G side is incredibly open.

If I ever get a chance to be fitted for a Shires bass, I'll make sure it has G tuning and a separate Gb slide.

I have no experience of your horn, but I have a lot of experience with different setups for the second valve, especially when it comes to remove mass to improve the resonance.

A horn responses very different if you use shorter tubing in the valve section.

My first bass trombone was a dependent Yamaha 612R. I had not much experience of different basses in 1989 when I bought it.

It came with the second valve in Eb. I almost immediately bought a D-slide because I thought that convinient. The first thing I noticed was the response became different. It did not play as open as it did with the Eb-slide.

I began to experiment and play without the second slide. I removed it from the horn when I didn't need it and put two corks there just to prevent things to get in the wholes. The horn became much more resonant.

I had a tech make me the shortest possible bugle to get something from that second valve since I got the trigger anyway. I said I ony wished for the possibility to play a better C so the shortest possible slide was what I wanted.

I had to buy another D-slide to get the material for that slide because he could not make the tubes or bend them in the shop. The result was a little more than I had wished for. When I pulled the slide as far as possible I got the B on the end. The tech had made me a flat E-slide. He could not make it shorter he said.

I had no knowledge about the history of bass trombones back then. Now I know the first double valved basses were in Bb/F/E.

I had the tech solder the extra tubing from the D-slide to make an extension I can use for an even longer second valve. With the extension I get the second valve in low C or B. Not very useful for a dependant horn. To make use of it it had been great if it was an indi bass. Anyway, I have never had use for that tuning and of course that mass of extension makes the horn even more reluctant to vibrate.

This Yamaha was my bass trombone for more than 23 years until I started to collect trombones in the year 2013. I hardly use it now because I have better horns, but it is a very responsive and easy horn to play with the shortest slide. It is still best with the corks.

I can make the extension fit my Bach 50 and replace the F-slide on that horn. It is a very close fit. The result is a Bach 50 with a single trigger in Eb. I have never had any use for that, but I might try and see what that slide can do in a big band, because that extension gives me a fully chromatic single trigger.

/Tom