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Flip Oakes Wild Thing 2022 opinions please



 
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Aj
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Joined: 14 May 2006
Posts: 79

PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2022 6:48 am    Post subject: Flip Oakes Wild Thing 2022 opinions please Reply with quote

My question is, has the hype died over the last 10 years or do people still love and play them?
What style or situation do you use the ‘Wild Thing’ for?
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Shaft
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Joined: 19 Sep 2006
Posts: 974

PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2022 8:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Love it still

Bought my daily driver in 2001.
Last year bought a 2nd one in case something ever happens to the other.

It can be used for anything depending on what you put through it.
Commercial sound is an easy match for it. Lead playing.
Section playing and solo work too.

Be careful though, one can bury an ensemble and be out of balance
with the oversll mix if one is not paying attention. The .470 bore and
big bell flare does make one work a little more than a smaller bore.

The core to the sound can take everything a person can throw at it.
Its a horn where you will hear the ring to your notes above the staff
in the baseball stadium even among a 200 piece marching band.
Or play delicate. Put the #2 slide in. Play Hummel 2nd movement.

Hype: every good horn gets a following. The Wild Thing will always have one.
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shofarguy
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Joined: 18 Sep 2007
Posts: 7003
Location: AZ

PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2022 9:20 am    Post subject: Re: Flip Oakes Wild Thing 2022 opinions please Reply with quote

Aj wrote:
My question is, has the hype died over the last 10 years or do people still love and play them?
What style or situation do you use the ‘Wild Thing’ for?


I will keep my Wild Thing for the rest of my life. Yes, it's partly because Flip is my close friend and there is a whole truck load of memories of him and Kanstul tied into my two instruments, but it is also the most versatile and rich sounding trumpet I have come across.

Sometimes it's tough, as Shaft writes, to balance with a section of amateur (weak) horn players and nothing is better than having other WTs in the group. However, Flip developed a whole system of tuning slides and mouthpieces to adjust to most situations. It's like a DSLR camera system where you buy one body and add lenses to expand your capability.

I find that I am almost always developing my technique to play better at low volumes in an ensemble. That was also the case with my old Benge 5X, but the Wild Thing is so much easier to master at those levels. When the situation calls for it, I can raise my dynamics to virtually any level required and beyond with more control and less effort that any other trumpet I've played. The closest thing to it in my experience, besides Flip's Celebration, is Schilke's X4.

I've let quite a few other people play my horns over the years and learned a couple of things. Not every player can make a Wild Thing sound good. If they are used to playing with little air support on a smallish instrument, they're probably going to sound like they're playing a garden hose. If they are used to forcing air through their current horn, they're going to feel the Wild Thing is "just too big," because it will take all a player can dish out and more.

But, if a player has good technique, good breath support and decent chops, the chances are high that the Wild Thing will seem like a revelation to them. It's what happened to me.
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Flip Oakes Wild Thing Bb Trumpet in copper
Flip Oakes Wild Thing Flugelhorn in copper


There is one reason that I practice: to be ready at the downbeat when the final trumpet sounds.
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Shaft
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Joined: 19 Sep 2006
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 10:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you were thinking about getting one.
There are 3 online for sale that I can see.
Haven’t seen that many in a search in a while.
Brass, silver, and gold it looks like. Prices are in line too.

https://www.virtuosityboston.com/flip-oakes-wild-thing-bb-trumpet.html

https://www.austincustombrass.biz/excellent-condition-flip-oakes-wild-thing-trumpet-in-silver-plate-with-2-tuning-slides/?sku=UTPT%20Wild%20Thing%20216%20VJ-C

https://www.baltimorebrasscompany.com/p-10057-flip-oakes-wild-thing-bb-trumpet.aspx
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LaTrompeta
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Joined: 03 May 2015
Posts: 867
Location: West Side, USA

PostPosted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 11:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can't imagine these will be getting any cheaper, given that Kanstul is gone (RIP )
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1957Tim
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Joined: 30 Oct 2004
Posts: 192
Location: Hannibal Missouri

PostPosted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 12:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hello Aj,

I wanted to respond to your post, so I just decided to just share my original post from October 2009 about my new Wild Thing trumpet. For the record, in 2016, I added a Wild Thing Flugelhorn, and a copper belled Wild Thing cornet to the mix. (I have an understanding wife ) You can't go wrong with a Flip Oakes designed horn, and if it doesn't suit you, sell it and get your money back. Shaft posted a link to ACB, so I would give Trent a call as these horns never stay on his shelf for long.

Here now is my original post. "Hi, my name is Tim and I have gone “Wild.” I feel compelled to publicly confess here and now that I have been playing the Flip Oakes Wild Thing Bb trumpet since September 15. I’m not asking for forgiveness, just acceptance. I am trying to do the right thing and accept responsibility for my actions, as I am old enough to know better (52 yrs) but, somehow I succumbed to the temptation of trying one for five days.

For over two years I have been reading the Flip Oakes horn experiences that so many here on TH have shared. I want to personally thank each one of you for taking the time to share your story about Flip’s horns. If it had not been for these stories, I would still be playing my nice fifty-year-old Olds Mendez trumpet.

In early September I sent Flip Oakes an email detailing the personal information that he requests on his website for anyone interested in his horns. My preference was to personally visit Flip’s place and try out his various models; however, this was not a current option and my curiosity was growing faster than my saving account, hence the trial period.

Flip gave me a call and I must say was very insightful to work with over the phone. He agreed that my playing lent itself to the advantages of the Wild Thing over his more Bach-like Celebration horn. After visiting with me for quite some time he said, “So you’re pretty sure you want to try the Wild Thing Bb trumpet?” I felt like a boy being coached by his father as Flip explained his reasoning for making me pause and think about it. He said that he has shipped out over fifteen hundred of these horns under the trial offer and only eleven had been sent back. Of course I was also curious about the J slides and his line of mouthpieces and asked if I could try a few of these. He simply said no, citing the fact that I had never played a horn like the WT and he didn’t want to complicate the introduction for me by adding more variables.

Around 9:45 am on the 15th of September, the UPS arrived at my place of employment with a box from Flip Oakes Band Instrument Repair. I had prearranged with my boss to allow me to go home when this horn arrived as I needed to inspect it for shipping damage and call Flip to let him know it had arrived. My wife was home until 11:30 am that day so she was anxious to see this horn as well. I unpackaged the horn and opened the case. My first thought was that it looked like a cannon sitting in the case. My wife said, “Well don’t just stand there looking at it, take it out of the case.” I said, “Not yet.” I went to the back room and took out my Mendez trumpet and began warming up. After a brief warm-up period I lifted the cannon out of its case and loaded it with my Monette B7F mouthpiece. WOW, WHAT SOUND! I would play a lick on the WT and then on my Olds Mendez. My wife said she couldn’t believe the difference in the sound of these two horns. She said the sound of the WT was almost as big as the grin on my face. She later said that if I didn’t call Flip and tell him that he could kiss this horn goodbye that she was going to make the call. Now I am beginning to remember why I married this girl over thirty years ago.

If I could write like Tom Turner or Brian (Shofarguy) I could explain how wonderful this horn plays; however, my vernacular is simply inadequate. If the notes coming out of the bell were visible in font size they would appear as 24 and in bold compared to normal font size 14 notes coming from my Olds Mendez. I played for two weeks using the number two slide as instructed by Flip. After this two week introduction I put in the number one slide to find an even bigger sound. To my ears I have never sounded better. I love the open blow, the big smooth sound, and the wonderful valve action of this horn. It also plays very nicely with my Dr. Dave Wedge5DC piece. I am not a high range player; in fact, C above the staff is my top usable note. There was/is some adjusting going on in this area of my playing. The other night after music rehearsal at church the pianist and I played for another thirty minutes or so. I was playing this C easier than I had since the WT arrived. Almost daily I ask my wife if I have told her how awesome this WT plays and she simply smiles and says, not since yesterday."

-1957Tim
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JWG
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Joined: 27 Jul 2011
Posts: 255

PostPosted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 6:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Flip's Wild Thing Bb and C trumpet have the widest sound palette of any trumpets out there. You can play them in any situation, just fit the right mouthpiece to the situation.

Occasionally, you will have section mates initially complain about how much "louder" you sound than them, but I find that's just how broadly the horn projects up close. Once the sound goes through the rest of the ensemble, past the conductor, and into the audience, you will find that the Wild Thing blends nicely. Few horns have bells with throats as large and deep as the WT. Thus, everyone else with their narrow projection "peashooter" bells initially get taken aback by how broadly the WT projects within the back row. Yet, the recordings do not lie—the WT does not stick out. It produces a big broad beautiful sound with whatever brightness or overtones you want and with which everyone else can layer upon and/or blend. My section mates often think that I have pulled back for performances and recordings, but I always strive for consistency and play the same in rehearsal and performances. If anything, I might naturally play with a bit more energy during performances, due to everyone's increased adrenaline levels around me.

Playing a lot of second trumpet in orchestra, the Wild Thing allows me to play full and dark without the sound becoming dull. This allows the first trumpet player to bring out the dominant melody line with more overtones without competing against an equally-loud harmony line which I blend in with subdued overtones. Quite frankly, I dislike when I listen to music and cannot hear the lower harmony lines supporting the melody line. While the human ear naturally picks up the higher overtones of the melody line, I make sure that my harmony line exists along side the melody line supporting it similar to how the voices of a good barbershop quartet balance against each other without dominating.

When I have to play brighter, a quick mouthpiece change or simply putting more energy into the horn allows the WT to "light-up" with higher overtones and carry my sound over the entire orchestra if necessary for loud climax/finale or other needed sound effect.

The Wild Thing is an amazing resonator. Whatever mouthpiece you put to your chops, it will amplify the core frequencies and overtones that you produce very faithfully and will broadly project them into the hall.

One of the more memorable moments I had with my Wild Thing occurred as a "nervous newbie". I wanted to acclimate to the famous/infamous sound sensitivity of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown L.A. Before either the concert hall crew set up and raised the tiered stage and before any other orchestra members appeared for the sound check, I went to play a few notes to listen to how the sound came back to me. Listening to myself projecting into that hall alone felt magical ... bucket list item checked off (and a bit more self-confidence for the performance as I sounded worthy of that hall).
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Flip Oakes Wild Thing Bb and C with 1.5 TCC, XT, C, C-O, O, & L mouthpieces
Bach 183S (undersprung valves & straight taper pipe) with 1.5 Flip Oakes XF
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