TromboneChat

I have recently gone on a horn reduction kick, selling/trading off a Rath R2, Olds Super, Bach Mercury, and a Yamaha 643, and acquiring a Bach 50 that I will upgrade soon.

I am likely to move from the current musical desert in which I live to a much more musically inclined (and frankly, populated) area, and would like to have a small stable of compatible horns that lend themselves to doubling, thinking:

Bach 16M
Bach 42B
Bach 50

For whatever reason (probably sound concept), Bachs are actually relatively easy for me to play, I was weened on them, and they produce a dark sound that seems to be easier for me to produce than a brighter sound.

Still to go: My Yamaha 613g (on sale here), an Olds Recording, Edwards T350, a minty silverplated King baritone (the latter is so fun to play, and about the prettiest and best preserved old baritone you'll ever see, but not in the right hands, at all), and a couple German-band horns (tenor horn, rotary valve trumpet)...

My question: Will having such a Bach-only stable of instruments make it easier to keep up on all three horns?

To a point, yes

You'll need a 45 too

SwissTbone wrote: ↑Fri Mar 21, 2025 10:06 am You'll need a 45 too

lol, as somebody that has two 45s…. I can safely say that nobody needs a 45.

Depending on the situations, a 36B might be more useful than the 42.

Cheers,
Andy

I was thinking of the numerological aspects as well:

Bach 6 + Bach 36 = Bach 42
Bach 42 + Bach 8 = Bach 50
Bach 36 + Bach 9 = Bach 45

That's 7 in all, a number with biblical significance.

Am I overthinking this?

I assume the various oddballs (Bach 9, Bach 45) failed to survive for a reason.

JTeagarden wrote: ↑Fri Mar 21, 2025 10:37 am
Am I overthinking this?

Definitely, but that's why we're here right?

You could easily replace the 42 with a 36 and maybe enjoy it all a bit more.

I did sell a MV 36 years ago in excellent shape, what a dummy...

MV Bach 16 added to the stable...

MV Bach 16 arrived today, it's like a mini 50, blows the same, just scaled down, will be easier to go back and forth!

The horn blows great, slots very well, haven't found the weirdness (yet), the inner slide tubes are sprung, so will need an alignment, but actually works quite well "as is."

Not a bad way to go. But to play devil's advocate:

All of my bass trombones: Holtons. Some with stock valves and 1 with a lovely M&W conversion

.547: Elkhart 88H

.500: Conn 6H + another 6H/5H slide that might be sold. If not I will be selling that.

For some reason (maybe because my first good horn was a Bach 12, followed by a 42b), Bachs are just easier for me to play than other brands, it's more like the sound my embouchure finds easy to make.

I don't fight them the way I seem to fight Kings, in particular.

This 16 is great, super responsive, you don't have lean into it at all, fat sound from low F to high Eb (where my chops tend to stop...), it's not so bad going back and forth between it and the 50, just takes less air!

I played Bachs and Kings for a while back in the early 2000's and had some adjustments with slide positions but not sound production. I play Bachs now (16/36B/42B) but a Holton bass. To be honest, I wish I had one of the King 3B's back - they just have a distinctive sound, and I agree with hyperbolica, I haven't played the 42B in over a year and I don't miss or need it. Happy tromboning!