My new custom Spada piccolo in A/B flat

[trumpetnick]

Guys,

PART I: The Decision
I am just writing to say that I decided to go for the Spada piccolo after considering many horns. It is yellow brass, gold plated, with triggers for 1st and 3st piston slides. As the production just started and it is going to last 10-12 days to which I have to add about 7-10 days till it gets to Bulgaria, I cannot put any pictures of actual horn yet, but in the meantime you can admire the standard model in raw brass bell, with trigger on the 3rd slide piston.

Spada Music

I have not decided yet what mouthpiece to use with, but Vincenz agreed very politely to send me few mouthpieces to test at home, after what I am going to sent back the ones I don't want. The horn is expensive, but very nice, and Vincenz and Rene are doing an excellent job. As far as I know they have built the one I tested couple of years ago for the principal trumpet of the Zurich Opera Orchestra and it was very impressive...so it will be mine :bleah: You should be jealous by now

PART II : After the horn arrived
Here come my first impressions (I have only played the horn for couple of hours)....I have got no other piccolo to compare with around, so I won't

Sound:

Sound is georgous and really sweet. If I pushe it really hard, it developes some edge in the sound, but as Robin said once, I won't have many occasions to play fff on piccolo. Found the sound very balanced: Not too bright or too dark, just the kind of sound I remembered from my last test on Spada picc and what I was searching for when ordering the piccolo

Articulations:

It is an extremely easy speaking horn. The articulations are very easy to do, I found very easy to attack notes even in the high register.

Intonation:

Intonation is quite excellent. And even if it wasn't with the 1st and 3rd slide one can resolve most intonation issues that can eventually happen to rise. I get a bit high on sharp F and beyond, but I guess that it is rather me than the horn, as I have not played piccolo for about 2 years, so my picc playing is a bit rusty.

Resistance:

It is very easy to blow into the horn. She comes come 2 leadpipes for B falt and one for A. The Bflat leadpipes are supposed to give a different resistance, and my guess is that the tighter one is for exteme high register stuff like Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 but I will need few months with the horn to get there.

Mechanics:

Pistons moves like lightning! Wow! Nothing to say more

Triggers are very well made, function very nicely. When I pull out to the end the 1st sled trigger it stops (gets kind of stucked) but I have never had to do it for intonation purposes except if i want to get a bottom C by pulling both trigger out.

And at the end, it is very easy and confortable to hold the horn, which is not the case with all piccolos I played in my life...Perfect exemple for the contrary is the Selmer Paris 59BLF4 (Guys Touvron) which I always found a bit bulky and unconfortable to hold because of the trigger and the way the slides are placed:

I did not resist to make that comparison....please for forgive me, Touvron Model lovers :sorry:

I guess that you would like some pics...so you get few. I am not a pro photographer, so don't expect from me the same quality pics as you get from Felix or Leigh for example...




I cut out also a leather protection (as I haven't found one on the market. It is a prototype I guess that it is quite impossible to make an universal one as piccolo designs may be quite different. :thumbsup:





The horn is going with 3 leadpipes:

1 in A : Louisville SC 2P
2 leadpipes in B flat leadpipes with no markings at all, one is tighter to the other, which I use for really high stuff. The larger seems very appropriate for orchestral stuff like Ravel's Bolero, Stravinsky's Petrushka piccolo part at the end of the piece and Ravel/Moussorgsky's Pictures.

The engraving is to be found on the leadpipe and saying: SPADA Burgdorf and it is rather modeste.

As the 3rd slide trigger is placed quite near to the next slide, it was slightly scratching it, so I put something as you can see to protect it.
_________________
https://www.facebook.com/amara.music.academy

Spada Bach B flat 72, leadpipe 2L
Spada Bach C 256, leadpipe 2LQ
F.E. Olds Ambassador Cornet

[wvtrumpet]

That is one sexy beast...You my friend are a lucky guy!
_________________
Freelance Performer/Teacher WV, PA, MD, and OH http://www.neil-king.com
Yamaha NY Bb, Adams F1 Flugelhorn, Schilke P5-4, Stomvi Eb/D Elite, Bach C 229 bell 25A, York Monarch cornet.

[camel]

Spada...

congrats

[trumpetnick]

[camel]