In everyone’s life, there are things which we hold dear. It might be a sunset shared by a loved one. It might have been a soft touch from a very special persons hand upon yours. But to a trumpet player, it’s always that perfect trumpet. This is where my story begins.
Early in the 1970’s I purchased what I thought would be my first and last C trumpet. Unfortunately, we did not get along very well. I expected more out of my new Bach CL 229L than it could offer me. And being the true hearted Schilke advocate that I was, a trip into Chicago to visit Mr. Schilke was required. When I asked if I could trade my new Bach in for a new Schilke C, his response was true to the gentleman’s nature, “Why would I want one of those things”? I was very disappointed until he pointed me into another room and began to show me a trumpet he was completing for another player. It was a Bach but several modifications had been made to it including rounding out the oval tubing in the final bend in the bell, replacing the original lead pipe with a new Schilke pipe and converting the conventional bell to a tunable bell. Mr. Schilke handed me the horn, closed the door and said nothing. I put a mouthpiece into the bare brass trumpet and instantly fell in love. It took me no more than two minutes playing the instrument to know that I wanted that horn. Unfortunately I was not able to leave with that one but Mr. Schilke assured me that he could build another just like it in fact there were a few changes he would make on mine that were not done on the original Schilbach. I left his shop with amazement and wonder. Would mine be as good? Could it even turn out better? All that night I had visions on semiquavers dancing in my head.
When my new Schilbach arrived at my office, I was elated with my decision to convert the Bach. The horn was and is fantastic. Intonation problems were substantially improved even to the point that on fast passages the top E and Eb could be played with the conventional fingering. It performed like a finely tuned sports car. I was in love. Now on to faze two. While warming up in a practice room somewhere in America getting ready to play on a Festival of Trumpet program at one of the International Trumpet Festivals, I noticed Mr. Gerald Endsley from Tromba Press warming up next to my room. The extra number of lead pipes on his horn caught my eye and I began visiting with him on the sensibility of such a move. By the time we had finished our conversation, I was sold on the concept and started planning phase two of my trumpets life.
As soon as I got back to the university, I made a call to my good friend Merlin Grady from Grady Instrument Service, Inc., or as well call him, Merlin “the magician”. Merlin’s magical repairman ability is such that he could build a trumpet out of old chicken parts. I called Merlin and explained to him what I wanted done. I still had the original Bach lead pipe and tuning slide so all he had to do was figure out how it would all go together, and he did. Having two lead pipes with accompanying tuning slide makes it possible to have two different trumpets at your disposal. Using the Schilke lead pipe and tuning slide gave me a Schilke sound and response. Placing the mouthpiece in the Bach lead pipe and tuning slide gave me a more compact, Bach sound. Now I had the best of both worlds, plus better intonation than either a Bach or a Schilke.
My Schilbach will be the last trumpet I sell and the only reason I might sell it will be because I will be too old to pucker. Our love affair is still going strong and now in our trumpet ensemble (the Branson Trumpet Ensemble) I’m constantly looking for literature that will allow me to pull it out, oil it up and live the dream again.
That’s a nice story. It’s wonderful when you find something that works for you. (In this case, “something” is a trumpet, but it could be a bicycle, spouse, residence, career, woodworking tool, boat, etc.)
I played a Schilke tuning bell trumpet for many years, and I ultimately decided that I don’t like tuning bell trumpets. (Let me rephrase that: I don’t dislike tuning bell trumpets in the hands of other people who prefer them; I have discovered that I don’t prefer the way that they play for me.)
When I purchased, my tuning bell B1L, I got the beryllium bronze bell, which is very light and bright. (It’s actually copper and contains no beryllium, but that’s another story.) Ultimately, I decided that the sound was too bright, so I had a heavier bell built by the folks at Schilke. I also added other items including the adjustable sound post, heavy bottom caps, etc. Anyway, the point is that I had lots of options for changing the sound of the horn. However, at MY level of playing, I am challenged with simply making reasonable music on the horn (any horn). Swapping out parts to make the horn play one way or another is not my primary concern. I have trombones with interchangeable lead pipes, and the same principle applies. I found the lead pipe that works for me, and I haven’t changed pipes -ever. (The only reason for removing a lead pipe is the occasional cleaning to make sure that it doesn’t get permanently stuck in the instrument.)
So, it’s great that you have equipment that works so well for you. I was just sharing my personal experiences (which evidently don’t apply to everyone) with tuning bells and reconfigurable instruments.
Thanks for your very fine blog. It’s always interesting.
I tend to agree with you on the Bb tune-able bells. They weren’t my favorite horn either.
Hi,
I have perhaps a Schilbach .
Can you identify it with pics ? :
http://shal.free.fr/BachUt/BachUt1.jpg
http://shal.free.fr/BachUt/BachUt2.jpg
This trumpet was build around 1971-1972
Thank