Spencer Piccolo Trumpet

[trumpet56]

Has anybody played the Will Spencer Piccolo Trumpet yet?

I have a Yamaha tuning bell vintage piccolo model 991 that this instrument bears a striking resemblance too. It has a beautiful rich sound and excellent intonation in both the C and A keys.

[trumpetmike]

If you like the long bell piccolos, you NEED to try the Spencer model.

Will has always been a fan of the long model Yamaha and basically played his to destruction - rebuilt it and did the same again, so came up with an improved design of his own.

Intonation is excellent and the trigger on the bell makes it very easy to correct those notes that need it.

Purely personally, I am not such a fan of the long-bell piccolo, but having played a few of them, the Spencer is the model I would go for if I wanted a long-bell.

[Tony Scodwell]

Will had his (rather un-conventional looking) piccolo at his booth last year at ITG and it certainly got rave reviews from my vantage point across the room. I played a few notes on it but understand, my piccolo playing needs time spent everyday to even start to sound like I can play them. Will is an amazing craftsman and a fine player so whatever he does with a horn will be done to perfection. Washington Music Center (301.946.8808) is his dealer in the US but I'm not sure if they have his pic yet.

Tony Scodwell
www.scodwellusa.com

[gus]

Is this piccolo in C/bb/A like the old yammie?

[trumpet56]

No specific keys' information on his website but you can contact him by email at trumpets@willspencer.org or sales@chucklevins.com (USA)

[dstpt]

Will Spencer (Herald-bell) Piccolo Trumpet - Review, Aug. 30, 2018

Will Spencer's (herald-bell) piccolo is in B-flat and A. It comes with two bells, one a little “tighter” (smaller) in blow than the other. He told me that Jens Lindemann preferred the smaller and Crispian Steele-Perkins the larger. He originally made this with a trigger to the bell, so that you could tune (down) any note, but felt the pitch had stabilized enough in his more recent build process that the trigger was not needed. Perhaps you could still order one with a trigger. There is an extra collar that is placed on the tube between the 4th valve and bell in order to drop it to the key of A. This change requires a couple of minutes with the way the trigger is set up. It has a stationary leadpipe segment with nothing to adjust and a trumpet shank receiver.

I was able to procure a gently-used one from the UK in raw brass a few months ago, which had the trigger (CarolBrass trigger parts, and the valve block is CarolBrass as well, as far as I understand). It plays very evenly in tune without the trigger, but I prefer the trigger for quick horn switching in cold rooms(!), so I'm sure I'll be doing a little "micro-tuning" during performances with the trigger, especially when picking it up cold after playing my C or B-flat. That said, the scale is very even and centered, so those who prefer a conventional setup can certainly do without the trigger.

Another thing I noticed is the blow. I had played a Scherzer for many years prior to starting my own horn safari two years ago (and yes, I'm still in it! How do you get out?!). My initial impression with both the larger and smaller bells was that it was a tiny bit more restrictive than the Scherzer. In a way, this surprised me, because of the layout of the horn being void of the typical two (or so) folds in tubing and having a fairly “straight-through" air-flow design. I decided to back off ever so slightly on my blow to find that sweet spot, and after a very short time (5-10 minutes), I was convinced the blow was incredible! I told Will that it had a "healthy resistance." It pushes back just enough to help center notes and cause very rapid response, and yet it easily opens up when expanding dynamically.

I sent it to Tom Green for refinishing, which he just completed, and it should arrive soon. I decided to have the entire horn copper plated, brushed copper on the valve block, and bright copper for all slides, valve tops/bottoms/caps, trigger parts, and bell. Tom had told me that he had only learned a trick about working with copper-plated horns in recent years: knowing copper oxidizes very quickly (obvious tarnish showing up definitely within a two-week period), he recommended applying lacquer on top of the copper plating. However, the problem he ran into last year working on his first fully-brushed copper plated horn was “pooling” that occurred during the spray lacquer session. This is because of the tiny “craters” created during bead blasting. These “craters” cause the lacquer to “pool” and fill in the craters, thereby causing the final matte finish to be half way between a matte and bright finish, which is really not that appealing and certainly does not create much contrast against the bright copper sections of the horn. He sent me before and after pictures of that other person’s horn, where he realized that it required another session of bead blasting after plating. The process for a bead blasted copper plate finish then requires: bead blast, plate, lacquer, light bead blast.

Some brass techs create a matte finish on a horn using 3M Scotch Brite pads by scratching the surface (and Tom did this on my Lawler C last year), and some use bead blasting (Anderson Silver Plating, Tom Green, others). I think there are at least one or two other processes that are common today. I do know that Anderson, even upon request, will not lacquer after bead blasting and plating.

I realize that some players prefer to hear their piccolo sound more immediate and would not want a herald-bell piccolo, because the sound is so far out in front them. However, if you’re open to something new and willing to “throw your ear out in front of you a little further,” then this should be a serious consideration for your arsenal, IMO.

Lastly, Tom was running into issues with the trigger after plating. It was catching/hanging, so I emailed Will Spencer, and he responded to use a thicker grease, which Tom did and voila! Should get the horn very soon. I’ll post an update on the blow after plating/lacquering as soon as I get it.

Pictures, before and after plating:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/52smryfbued1uzk/Spencer%20Picc-01.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pn50eruvqfnj1o9/Spencer%20Picc-02-left%20hand%20position.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rcknygz7kvefupe/Spencer%20Picc-03-left%20hand%20from%20right%20side.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s9eg09qv91wziqr/Spencer%20Picc-04-left%20hand%20with%20remaining%20parts.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8b59bry3hslztbk/Spencer%20Piccolo%20Complete-01.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5cgauy8pcue8kti/Spencer%20Piccolo%20Complete-02.jpg?dl=0

[dstpt]

Also, notice the left hand position in the raw brass photos. Initially, it was next to impossible for me to reach the trigger, and certainly not comfortably. I usually wrap my left thumb around the 1st valve casing, even on 4-valve piston trumpets/flugelhorns, but I could not reach the trigger and have the right kind of angle to produce the controlled "torque" needed, so I asked Will, and he recommended this left hand setting. FYI.