Does Edwards make 1 piece bells?

[felixbone]

As the subject say, I’m curious if Edwards makes 1 piece bells. I couldn't find anything indicating that they do based on a brief search of their site. In the chance they do not, why not, and why is it the norm nowadays to make 2 piece over 1 piece bells? Thank you!

[Matt K]

I am not aware of them ever making a one-piece bell. Other people are more knowledgeable about their history might be able to point to instances if they have made them.

My understanding is that originally, they built bell sections only, and the customer sourced a slide - typically from Bach or Conn. Eventually, the receivers for Getzen used Conn and Edwards, Bach. The bell sections were built with Thayer valves, and bells that worked well with the Thayer valve were built.

This is pure armchair speculation, but I would guess that keeping things to two-piece bells dramatically simplifies the manufacturing process and they felt they had a sufficient amount of options that one-piece bells did not add value to their existing offerings. One-piece bells tend to be trickier to make than two-piece bells. I've been told that due to the way they are manufactured, the diameter of the bell can have a decent amount of variance (e.g. 8.5" may actually end up being closer to ~8.75"). Edwards does have a stunning amount of permutations, even without adding in one-piece bells, between their annealing treatments, buffing, weight distribution, etc.

I do think Shires' marketing has always been great on this, and other makers don't seem to have as good a way of delineating the difference. They have a type 7 bell that is described as being the best of both worlds between one- and two-piece bells because it distributes weight similar to how one-piece bells do. I suspect that Edwards has already been doing that to some degree the whole time, but they don't market it that way.

[tbonesullivan]

FYI: All Custom Rath trombone bells are 2 piece as well. Per their marketing, it allows them to "select the most appropriate gauge (or material thickness) for the bell flare and spout independently." I think they also all have soldered rim rim beads

Historically, King Trombones have two piece bells, as do Conn trombones from the "golden age" to present, though they switched from a brazed joint between the flare and the spout to welded at some point. Bach trombone bells are one piece, though in the past there were more variations in how they were produced than now.

If you really want to see some interesting bells, look at vintage tuba bells, from before they could get large enough sheet brass to make the flare from one piece with a joint. They would have a "Y-Seam" where a second piece of brass was brazed in place.

[hornbuilder]

There is no correlation between bell construction and bell diameter. The diameter is determined by the trim point of the flare, before the rim bead is rolled.