Eb Contrabass Trombones
These two contrabass trombones are all new (not modified used
instruments) and somewhat unique designs. Both are for playing the
same contrabass trombone range, but each has it's own twist. The
first shown here was made in 1995 for the great Los Angeles session
bass trombonist, Bill Reichenbach, after many discussions about the
particulars of the design and what he wanted to achieve with it.
Anybody who has played a trombone with a double slide will
understand Bill's reluctance to utilize this feature, but he thought that
needing to use a handle on a long single slide would be worse. I
convinced him that there are advantages gained by putting the four
slide tubes in a single plane rather than the usual, side by side, design
seen in BBb and CC trombones. Not only is it slightly lighter, but it
necessitates less tube length, allowing a relatively longer bell section.
Keep in mind that even though this trombone is the same pitch as an
Eb tuba, it has the slide positions of an alto trombone. Another
unusual feature is that it has 8 full positions in Eb rather than the
usual 7 and a good 6 positions in BBb. He wanted the valves set up
exactly as on his regular work horse bass trombones, both the lever
positions and the relative pitch changes (BBb and GG). It also
seemed ideal to have the bell in a "normal" relation to the player,
although Bill does not need to guage his slide positions by the rim. If
you look closely, you might not find the main tuning slide. The
upper crook on the slide pulls out for cleaning and has a very short
allowance for tuning. This worked out well since this instrument is
intended strictly for use in the studio where the environment is
predictable, both in temperature and tuning of other players. Bill has
used this instrument on all his recording gigs that called for
contrabass trombone. Most of the important parts needed for this
trombone were supplied by Zig Kanstul. The bell is intended for his
marching baritone horn and the crooks and tubes were for various
tubas. Zig specially made the slide tubes including chrome plating the
inside tubes (.605" bore). The cork barrels are Olds bass trombone,
although I had to make the oversize bell and slide receiver and nut
assembly. The rotary valves (.656" bore) are the same that are made
for my Eb tubas by Joe Marcinkiewicz and the lever assembly I
made to copy those made for Bill's Conn 62H by George Strucel
many years ago. I honestly don't remember what I used for the
mouthpipe, but something appropriate for the bore size and a tuba
mouthpiece. When Bill came to pick up the instrument, I was
prepared for the fact that I might have to make some adjustments
and I hoped that there would be nothing major to re-do. He picked it
up and put it to his mouth and played it as if he had been playing it
all his life. He is that kind of a musician; he can play any brass
instrument well.
The second case here precedes the first by eleven years (1984) and
is related both in the fact that it is Eb as well in that Bill Reichenbach
borrowed this one when we were in the discussion phase of designing
his. This trombone was made for Paul Chauvin, a fabulous tuba and
trombone player, best known as member of Make Believe Brass
which originated at Disneyland. This group was of a higher level of
musicianship than one might expect from that park. Anyway, Paul
asked me if I could make him a "slide tuba" for times when the MBB
would all play slide trombones and slide trumpets. He wanted more
than a bass trombone sound. I told him that it was impossible to
have the large tapered body of even a small tuba in combination with
the long cylindrical tubing needed for a trombone slide. I suggested
that an interesting compromise might be to use a euphonium bell and
body attached to a normal bass trombone slide. This would give him
five and a half slide positions and I added the third, whole step, valve
to make up for the missing hand slide length. One challenge would
be holding it in playing position while freely manipulating the three
valve levers. The levers are pushed with the first three fingers of the
left hand whilst the thumb and fourth finger are able to grip the bell
section securely. I can't claim that it is the most comfortable
instrument to hold, but it works and Paul got some good use out of
it. This trombone was constructed mostly out of Olds parts, as I
used in so many of my early projects. The bell, branches and tuning
slide are all for an Olds euphonium. The hand slide (.562" bore) and
rotary valves (.585" bore) are all standard for Olds bass trombones.
The valves are tuned to Bb, Ab with alternate G slide and D
(dependant on Bb valve). It was quite a challenge to design the valve
levers to be easily manipulated by the fingers, but I got it to work
well. A big compromise for Paul was giving up a full 7 position
glissando. After some practice, he demonstrated that it was, indeed,
possible to release the whole step valve in the middle of a slide
glissando, making a good imitation of a full length slide.
instruments) and somewhat unique designs. Both are for playing the
same contrabass trombone range, but each has it's own twist. The
first shown here was made in 1995 for the great Los Angeles session
bass trombonist, Bill Reichenbach, after many discussions about the
particulars of the design and what he wanted to achieve with it.
Anybody who has played a trombone with a double slide will
understand Bill's reluctance to utilize this feature, but he thought that
needing to use a handle on a long single slide would be worse. I
convinced him that there are advantages gained by putting the four
slide tubes in a single plane rather than the usual, side by side, design
seen in BBb and CC trombones. Not only is it slightly lighter, but it
necessitates less tube length, allowing a relatively longer bell section.
Keep in mind that even though this trombone is the same pitch as an
Eb tuba, it has the slide positions of an alto trombone. Another
unusual feature is that it has 8 full positions in Eb rather than the
usual 7 and a good 6 positions in BBb. He wanted the valves set up
exactly as on his regular work horse bass trombones, both the lever
positions and the relative pitch changes (BBb and GG). It also
seemed ideal to have the bell in a "normal" relation to the player,
although Bill does not need to guage his slide positions by the rim. If
you look closely, you might not find the main tuning slide. The
upper crook on the slide pulls out for cleaning and has a very short
allowance for tuning. This worked out well since this instrument is
intended strictly for use in the studio where the environment is
predictable, both in temperature and tuning of other players. Bill has
used this instrument on all his recording gigs that called for
contrabass trombone. Most of the important parts needed for this
trombone were supplied by Zig Kanstul. The bell is intended for his
marching baritone horn and the crooks and tubes were for various
tubas. Zig specially made the slide tubes including chrome plating the
inside tubes (.605" bore). The cork barrels are Olds bass trombone,
although I had to make the oversize bell and slide receiver and nut
assembly. The rotary valves (.656" bore) are the same that are made
for my Eb tubas by Joe Marcinkiewicz and the lever assembly I
made to copy those made for Bill's Conn 62H by George Strucel
many years ago. I honestly don't remember what I used for the
mouthpipe, but something appropriate for the bore size and a tuba
mouthpiece. When Bill came to pick up the instrument, I was
prepared for the fact that I might have to make some adjustments
and I hoped that there would be nothing major to re-do. He picked it
up and put it to his mouth and played it as if he had been playing it
all his life. He is that kind of a musician; he can play any brass
instrument well.
The second case here precedes the first by eleven years (1984) and
is related both in the fact that it is Eb as well in that Bill Reichenbach
borrowed this one when we were in the discussion phase of designing
his. This trombone was made for Paul Chauvin, a fabulous tuba and
trombone player, best known as member of Make Believe Brass
which originated at Disneyland. This group was of a higher level of
musicianship than one might expect from that park. Anyway, Paul
asked me if I could make him a "slide tuba" for times when the MBB
would all play slide trombones and slide trumpets. He wanted more
than a bass trombone sound. I told him that it was impossible to
have the large tapered body of even a small tuba in combination with
the long cylindrical tubing needed for a trombone slide. I suggested
that an interesting compromise might be to use a euphonium bell and
body attached to a normal bass trombone slide. This would give him
five and a half slide positions and I added the third, whole step, valve
to make up for the missing hand slide length. One challenge would
be holding it in playing position while freely manipulating the three
valve levers. The levers are pushed with the first three fingers of the
left hand whilst the thumb and fourth finger are able to grip the bell
section securely. I can't claim that it is the most comfortable
instrument to hold, but it works and Paul got some good use out of
it. This trombone was constructed mostly out of Olds parts, as I
used in so many of my early projects. The bell, branches and tuning
slide are all for an Olds euphonium. The hand slide (.562" bore) and
rotary valves (.585" bore) are all standard for Olds bass trombones.
The valves are tuned to Bb, Ab with alternate G slide and D
(dependant on Bb valve). It was quite a challenge to design the valve
levers to be easily manipulated by the fingers, but I got it to work
well. A big compromise for Paul was giving up a full 7 position
glissando. After some practice, he demonstrated that it was, indeed,
possible to release the whole step valve in the middle of a slide
glissando, making a good imitation of a full length slide.
Click on image for larger view.
