Harrelson vs Monette

LakeTahoeTrpt · Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 8:10 pm Post subject:

For what its worth; I played my Taylor Chicago Lite 46 professionally for seven years and didn't take out my Burbank Benge one time during that period. At one point I had made a (nearly) complete switch to Taylor, playing a Taylor C (yes, he made it, although I no longer see one on his web site) and a Taylor Phat Boy Flugel. The Phat Boy was the first to go; the sound was just too diffuse for me. Next went the C, mainly due to intonation problems. When I bought my Kanstul 1510 C, I got a big tinge of muscle memory that said, "Benge!" I pulled out that Burbank and rediscovered the sweet sound, the easy slotting, and the intonation that I had forgotten. I then took it one step further and pulled out my old Bach 1 1/4 C with a #10 back bore, and I feel like I am in heaven. This, by the way, is the set-up I played in 1969 when I bought that Benge brand-new for $330. The Taylor is prettier, but the Benge is sweeter. As to the Monette vs. Harrelson question, I don't personally know anyone who plays a Harrelson, but I do know people who have been Monette artists for quite a while, including one of his big names with a mouthpiece "designed for him" who have stopped playing those horns and returned to Bach, Schilke, etc. Please don't ask me why, as I don't know, and they aren't saying.