If you had nearly unlimited funds

[sunburstbasser]

What would you furnish a college music department with?

 

My college has finally decided that 40 year old broken instruments aren't playable and has set aside (supposedly) a million dollars (!) for new ones.

 

The source we've contacted, though, has decided we should replace our instruments with brand new Olds and Amati gear, which I don't agree with at all. In some cases, like the bass trombones, we'd be getting rid of an old King and a pro-level Yamaha for Amati models. That seems like a huge step down to me.

 

So far, this is what we've come up with. These aren't all woods/brass but they are all open for suggestions:

 

Yamaha D---replace with Bach Chicago C

Old Conn and other intermediate trumpets-replace with Yamaha, possibly Xeno

Herald trumpets-sell/donate, we don't need heralds

High trumpets-Looking at Stomvi piccolos, what about Eb trumpets?

Flugelhorns-Yamaha Shew or Kanstul copper models by my choice

French Horns-replace single horns with doubles (Yamaha, Holton?) and repair current doubles

Tenor trombones-Who makes good straight and F-attachment models?

Bass trombones-I don't think they need replacing, just repairs. Thoughts?

Euphoniums-We have one very nice one, may replace the other two

Tubas-New sousaphones needed, maybe another rotary valve tuba

Saxes-so far most of ours are Yamaha's better line, they'll be fine

Clarinets-Buffet makes good ones, others?

Oboes-On the off chance we add an oboe, what are the good ones?

Bassoon-See entry for "oboe."

Bass/contrabass clarinets-the salesmen suggested dumping them. I disagree.

Flutes/Piccs-I don't even know the good makes, just that my sister likes Artley

Strings-Salesman recommends Palatino, which seems to be a student line. We have no orchestra and won't, so these might be fine unless someone has a better idea.

Guitars/basses-They thought Spector. I wrote down Cort.

Percussion-A crapload of mallets and maybe a snaredrum

 

Add your opinions on pretty much anything. The salesman is probably getting kickbacks for pushing new Olds instruments, and my director thinks he is a slimeball so I'd rather see what a bunch of horn blowers think before sending off the order form.

[soundministries]

Euphoniums: Any of the COMPENSATING horns from the major players such as Yamaha, Besson (my personal favorite), Willson, or Miraphone.

 

Tubas: Miraphone 186 BBb or if they are looking for CC's then either Miraphone 186 (5 valve) or the new Jupiter CC (don't laugh, Sam Pilafian helped to design and uses this horn)

 

Sousaphones: Conn, Holton, or Yamaha brass not fiberglass

 

If you need other marching horns then Kanstul is the way to go for any of these.

 

Bass Trombone: Getzen Custom, Jupiter 740L, Conn 112H.

 

There are of course other options but these are the low brass horns that I'd choose from if I had the money.

[jonathan_matos5]

all i can say is dont replace or repair that which is not broken.

[sunburstbasser]

 

Euphoniums: Any of the COMPENSATING horns from the major players such as Yamaha, Besson (my personal favorite), Willson, or Miraphone. Tubas: Miraphone 186 BBb or if they are looking for CC's then either Miraphone 186 (5 valve) or the new Jupiter CC (don't laugh, Sam Pilafian helped to design and uses this horn) Sousaphones: Conn, Holton, or Yamaha brass not fiberglass If you need other marching horns then Kanstul is the way to go for any of these. Bass Trombone: Getzen Custom, Jupiter 740L, Conn 112H. There are of course other options but these are the low brass horns that I'd choose from if I had the money.

 

Thanks a bunch. For tubas I think we'll be going with BBbs. We have a CC that doesn't get used, but its a top-line Yamaha 5 valve and possibly one of the two or three nicest instruments the school owns. Extremely nice!

 

I'll pass on your word to my director.

[danrothmusic]

tenor bones: I'm a huge fan of King, Edwards and Bach

Percussion: what sort of shape are your marimbas in? timpani? are your xylophones wood or synthetic? and don't forget to check out the bass drum and gong mallets--those go quickly!

[sunburstbasser]

Our percussion is actually pretty solid. We've got two sets of marimbas, one of which is a 5-octave behemoth. We've also got numerous sets of vibes and xylophones. Timpanis probably need new heads but are in good shape. Unsure about the bass drum. Mallets are the big thing; most of ours seem to have broken.

[MarkZ]

Yamaha D---replace with Bach Chicago C Old Conn and other intermediate trumpets-replace with Yamaha, possibly Xeno Herald trumpets-sell/donate, we don't need heralds High trumpets-Looking at Stomvi piccolos, what about Eb trumpets? Flugelhorns-Yamaha Shew or Kanstul copper models by my choice French Horns-replace single horns with doubles (Yamaha, Holton?) and repair current doubles Guitars/basses-They thought Spector. I wrote down Cort.

 

Why replace the Yamaha D? Should it be kept if it's a decent horn?

 

I wouldn't go Stomvi for the piccs. The dollar vs Euro is probably elevating the price, diminishing the value. The Getzen piccolo with the Blackburn pipes is a nice value around $1500 new. Or if you're going all in, get a Schilke P5-4 or P7-4 and keep it under lock and key.

 

Flugels: I'd look at getting 4 Yamaha 631 or 731 flugels, maybe splurge on the Shew. If your school has a jazz ensemble, you'll want the whole section to have flugels for charts written for them. Yes, I know if money is no object you'd get the 1525. I have one and it's great but I wouldn't buy a set for school use.

 

French horns: Conn 8D is the standard. New, it'll run a little around $3300 and over $2000 used. I'd suggest looking for 4 used Holton 179s. It's the Honda Accord of French horns. I bought a nice one for my daughter at Rayburns for $1500. I guarantee you could find 4 of them used and save the school several thousand dollars.

 

Guitar: Try the Eastman hollowbodies. Asian mfg with decent build quality for the money. Aside from that, get a Made In Mexico Fender Strat and Jazz bass and be done with it.

 

Be sure to talk to someone in the university purchasing dept about writing a RFP (request for proposal).

 

If you want to mix & match manufacturers (Bach for C trumpets, Getzen for piccolos, etc.), send it out to WWBW, Dillon's, Rayburns, Chuck Levin's, etc., and let them bid. You'll have to be very specific about what you want for each instrument, along with an alternate make/model.

 

I'd see if the university can go direct to a manufacturer like Yamaha or Conn-Selmer for everything and buy wholesale from them. You'll have to make compromises on some instrument choices but, overall, this might be your best shopping value.

[sunburstbasser]

We aren't keeping the D trumpet because it is ONLY a D trumpet, no Eb side, and there really is almost no music written for D trumpet. We already have a pair of Eb/D trumpets if a piece did show up, however we seriously lack in the C trumpets, owning only a Yamaha Chicago C.

 

We'll see about flugs; there is a chance we won't buy any at all. We have two of the Yammie student models and I don't know what we'll be doing with them. 1525 or a knockoff would be tops (maybe the LeBlanc Sandoval model) but the Yam flugs are highly rated. I've also noticed on TH that a lot of folks really like the Conn V1 flugel.

 

 

I've noticed that any price I've found on Stomvi piccs is about $2400 minimum. Getzen's 3916 is highly rated and would be a great alternative. Schilkes would be great, and considering that they really aren't much more expensive than the others I'd personally go for at least one of them. I'll see what I can convince my director to do. He has stated that the school WILL be getting piccolos, but nothing beyond that.

 

I appreciate the input on French Horns. I really know nothing about them. I mean, I found a $13,000 triple horn on WWBW and that looked fine to me! I'm not sure even with our funds we can get five of those!

 

I believe the plan is to buy new. I know personally that with the information available nowadays I could probably get nearly-new instruments and cut the total cost by at least a third going used.

 

At any rate I'll see my director for a lesson Wednesday morning when I'll be able to go over plans a bit more.

[MarkZ]

 

We aren't keeping the D trumpet because it is ONLY a D trumpet, no Eb side, and there really is almost no music written for D trumpet. We already have a pair of Eb/D trumpets if a piece did show up, however we seriously lack in the C trumpets, owning only a Yamaha Chicago C.

 

 

3 good reasons for keeping the D anyway:

- The school might get very little value out of selling, to the point where they might as well keep it.

- A straight D trumpet is likely to have better intonation than an Eb/D.

- Several pieces for piccolo in A sit well on trumpet in D. I was recently asked to play "And The Trumpet Shall Sound" for an upcoming interfaith service (I know, it's not even close to "Messiah" season). It's most often played on piccolo in A, but since I don't have one, I'm playing it on the D side of my Schilke E3L. Or should I say "hacking through it". I might ask someone to sub because I just don't see having time to polish it to where I'd like.

 

But if they must sell the D to get more Cs, that's an easy call.

[sunburstbasser]

I seem to recall that the D we have is one of Yamaha's earliest models, a 731 I think. Its an OK horn but my school is so small that it isn't ever going to be used. Even our Ebs get little attention. Intonation should be better on a one-key horn, but considering the amount of music written for C vs. D and that I'm the only student with my own C trumpet a good C will get much more use. Even a bad C, but good ones preferred.

[Robert Rowe]

Without getting into line-by-line detail ... suggest some looks at Getzen and Yamaha instruments.

 

Also, your sister's preference for Artley flutes is lame. Forget Artley.