Getzen 4147

[Rob]

Hi,

I want to know the con and the pro’s of the Getzen 4147 Ian Bousfield. How does this play, sounds,...
I have a Conn 88h from the 50’s, is this compairable?

[Burgerbob]

I just played one. I'd say it's probably completely different than an 88H, but then again most things are!

I thought it was good. Easy to play, well made, pretty good sound. I wouldn't choose one over my Bach A47 but if I had picked one up first I would be pretty happy with it.

[castrubone]

I tried one a while back. I found it to be quite a lot of work to play and very quirky. One of the least favorite large bore tenor trombones I've ever played. Again, that's just my personal opinion, but it really didn't work at all for me. Weird handslide, not very flexible, odd sound, and the partials felt funny which made it very difficult to play for me. I've heard it described as being Conn inspired, but I play Conn's and for my money this horn is not comparable at all and even less comparable to a vintage Elkhart.

That being said, give it a go...maybe it's the horn for you, but it's not the horn for me!

[Posaunus]

I know a few folks who might be interested in your 88H when you decide to sell it ...

[walldaja]

I sit next to a guy who has this horn. His sound is dominate in the section and he is hard to challenge when playing loud Russian (is that redundant?) music. It sounds good but powerful. Certainly doesn't break up when played loudly. Can't speak to its PPP.

[MTbassbone]

I really liked this horn. I like how the narrow slide plays but it brings the horn too close to my neck.

[ChadA]

I had one for a few years and like it a lot for solo and chamber work. Though most of my orchestral playing is on bass, it worked there, too, when I used it in that setting. I found it to be easy to play and pretty easy to tune.

That said, I sold it when I found a good Greenhoe Conn 88HTG and haven’t looked back. The student I sold the Getzen to loves it and sounds great on it.

[StefanHaller]

I bought one three weeks ago, and I love it. It is super easy to play, response is incredible, it has a very easy high range, and it sounds great. Intonation is perfect too.

I'm an amateur player, and I haven't played many horns in my life yet, so you probably shouldn't listen to me. I just had to say this because I was surprised that my experience is so different from castrubone's. And I also was surprised what a night-and-day difference this is (both in playability and sound) to my previous horn, which admittedly is a .525 medium bore.

When play-testing it in the shop, the main competitor was the Courtois 420. Also very nice, and very easy to play, and maybe even slightly more colorful in the sound. But in the end the Getzen won because I felt that I can get a bigger sound out of it without having to force it.

If there's one thing that might be seen as a bit of concern, then it's that it is heavy; quite a bit heavier than the Courtois. At the beginning I also perceived it as a tiny bit unbalanced (nose-heavy), and during the first week of playing on it I sometimes had problems with my left hand getting a bit cramped from holding it. I got used to it though, and it is absolutely no problem any more now. Even on full-day rehearsals with 6-8 hours of total playing time. I have also become more mindful about my posture, especially the shoulders, and this helps a lot.

[Mikebmiller]

Even on full-day rehearsals with 6-8 hours of total playing time.

Dude, what kind of amateur has 6-8 hours of rehearsal a day?

[harrisonreed]

He's talking about that one weekend a year in high school at all-state or orchestra-con where you rehearse all day....

Amateurs are the only ones I know of who need that amount of rehearsal, so it makes sense

[StefanHaller]

Even on full-day rehearsals with 6-8 hours of total playing time.

Dude, what kind of amateur has 6-8 hours of rehearsal a day?

We do this four times a year. We play two concerts a year, and for each we have two weekends of full-day rehearsals (10am to 9pm on Saturday, not quite as long on Sunday), one near the beginning of the rehearsal period and the other close to the concert. I find these a lot more effective than the weekly rehearsals in the evening when everybody is exhausted from a work day.

For most programs it's not so bad for the low brass, because we spend most of the time counting rests. This time it's more challenging (Bruckner 6), I was pretty dead at the end. But I had a ton of fun playing Bruckner on that new horn (to get back to the topic).

[Siebbazuin]

Even on full-day rehearsals with 6-8 hours of total playing time.

Dude, what kind of amateur has 6-8 hours of rehearsal a day?

Brassbandplayers!

[MrHCinDE]

Brassbandplayers!

Are the 6-8 hours including the pub lunch and a couple of pints of best bitter?

[ericcheng2005]

Brassbandplayers!

Are the 6-8 hours including the pub lunch and a couple of pints of best bitter?

[CalgaryTbone]

Check out the website of Stephen Lange (2nd Trombone - Boston Symphony). He's playing one of those horns now, and has some really nice sounding demos of the audition material for the 2021 Texas High School All-State Band. He's originally from Texas. The horn sounds warm and clear in his hands.

Jim Scott

[LeoInFL]

Ko-ichiro Yamamoto plays on a 4147IB here and sounds amazing (of course he would sound amazing on anything).

[Keven]

I wouldn't choose one over my Bach A47 but if I had picked one up first I would be pretty happy with it.

That's funny you say that because, I actually sold said Bach A47 (Bell Section) this summer to fund an 4147IB purchase that I play tested, and fell in love with. However, in the grand scheme of things I found out it was actually cheaper to get fit to an Edwards Bell Section and keep the Edwards slide you sold with the A47 Bell Section (Which I ended up doing).

[Keven]

Ko-ichiro Yamamoto plays on a 4147IB here and sounds amazing (of course he would sound amazing on anything).

I think he's just playing on an Edwards T350-CR-E setup in that video! The valve cap doesn't have a G on it, the bell doesn't look to be Rose Brass, and it's also modular. Still sound amazing though!

[Burgerbob]

I wouldn't choose one over my Bach A47 but if I had picked one up first I would be pretty happy with it.

That's funny you say that because, I actually sold said Bach A47 (Bell Section) this summer to fund an 4147IB purchase that I play tested, and fell in love with. However, in the grand scheme of things I found out it was actually cheaper to get fit to an Edwards Bell Section and keep the Edwards slide you sold with the A47 Bell Section (Which I ended up doing).

Nice! Glad you enjoy part of that, at least.