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Gushing about the Selmer Radial 75


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miaurye
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PostPosted: Mon May 29, 2023 10:30 am    Post subject: Gushing about the Selmer Radial 75 Reply with quote

Howdy hey,

I just wanted to gush about the Selmer Radial I purchased from my teacher last year and also wanted to see if others have the same experience with their Radial.

I bought this thing last year after borrowing it for some solo work, and I positively fell in love with it. I really adore the sound, and the response it has. I noticed the instrument has a very dark sound and response approaching a rotary instrument. Even though it is my "picnic" instrument I use for gigging mariachi (of all things to do with such a dark sound...), I often find myself reaching for it when learning standard solos and concertos.. It just sings with this powerful, full tone that is right at home with most genres. It even has a little bit of stuff to it like a rotary, which is very lovely to experience and hear. Its lacquer finish is also worn to heck, so there's quite a bit of raw brass exposed.

However, it isn't much of a section instrument, (As my conductor once spared me the embarrassment of letting me know in front of everyone..) and seems right at home being the one-man sort of tool to get the job done. I play with a 5-piece mariachi group, so I'm usually the only trumpet. But even for pop tunes with crying, wailing trumpet parts, its a real crowd pleaser.

I will say, though, that the curved valves can be finicky. Perhaps I need to clean it deeply (I recently had to snake it, and that was... "productive"...) since when I'm outside playing it, the valves tend to become very gummy. It is because of this that for every gig, I have to keep oil on hand, and I use monster synthetic oil. I replaced the springs about 8 months ago, and that helped the instrument slot better than before, but it didn't quite solve the sticking issue. Perhaps it needs an alignment? Though, I'm admittedly afraid that would compromise the sound it has, as I'm not entirely sure if the response and tone it gets is because of a misalignment..

Needless to say, I'm very pleased with this instrument, I really enjoy how it's qualities set it apart from the rest of my collection, even if it isn't the best "all-around", like my Xeno is.

Does anyone else who owns one have similar things to say about theirs? Is there any instrument in your collection that you feel is special in its own way for reasons that don't amount to just its utility?
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Brassnose
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PostPosted: Mon May 29, 2023 10:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ha! I did play my teacher's Radial 75 a few years back and really liked the sound and especially the super slick valves. The valves on my piston horns are very good but in comparison to those Selmer valves they felt slower, harder, and noisier.

When I played the Radial it had just come back brand new (as in freshly finished complete restoration a few days before I played it) and this may have played a role. I am currently looking at one but there is something fishy around that posting, so the next few days will tell if I’ll be the proud owner of an R75. Been looking at them for years but being careful means to sometimes skip a seemingly good deal.

Congrats on your new horn. Does it have the beautiful engraving on the bell?
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miaurye
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PostPosted: Mon May 29, 2023 11:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Brassnose wrote:
Ha! I did play my teacher's Radial 75 a few years back and really liked the sound and especially the super slick valves. The valves on my piston horns are very good but in comparison to those Selmer valves they felt slower, harder, and noisier.

When I played the Radial it had just come back brand new (as in freshly finished complete restoration a few days before I played it) and this may have played a role. I am currently looking at one but there is something fishy around that posting, so the next few days will tell if I’ll be the proud owner of an R75. Been looking at them for years but being careful means to sometimes skip a seemingly good deal.

Congrats on your new horn. Does it have the beautiful engraving on the bell?


Thats so awesome to hear! What a coincidence, haha. I hope the listing is legitimate! The valves on the Selmer do feel very nice and substantial, its very satisfying to play.

Sadly, my instrument just has the Selmer Paris logo stamped on the bell! Perhaps the engraving is for the more premium version, with the slide lever?
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Irving
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PostPosted: Mon May 29, 2023 11:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Brassnose, I saw that listing as well on K.A. Whenever I see a listing where the price is very low, I begin to wonder....Let us know if you end up buying it, and good luck
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Dkjcliff
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PostPosted: Mon May 29, 2023 1:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I recently acquired a ‘75 Radial (from the year 1975 - doesn’t have the numbering on the receiver). I agree whole heartedly with the praise you’ve given this horn, though in my case the valves are awesome, super light, easy and smooth. And I like that they are shorter and slightly closer together. I have smaller hands and this really helps my fingers. I also find that with the right mouthpiece choice it blends perfectly well with the other trumpets in my concert band. I love that it can be played with a very unique sound, dark, smooth and full of core.

The only oddity I’ve noticed with mine is that the bell seems positioned lower relative to the leadpipe than modern horns. Instead of it being aligned such that the leadpipe is dead center to the bell, the leadpipe lines up with the top of the bell. The two leadpipe to bell braces are at different angles. At first I thought the bell was bent or there was some previous repair work. But if you sight it straight on it looks normal and I don’t see any evidence of repair work. I wonder if Selmer took a slightly different approach to the bell shape. Or maybe my horn was not perfect aesthetically. Either way, it plays great.
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Brassnose
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PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2023 10:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Soooo, reporting back from my my almost-purchase. It was the add Irving mentioned. The low price was what made me suspect something fishy was going on indeed. So I made an offer, which was accepted, but then, as I wanted to use payment via the KA buyer protection setup, things got unfriendly and out of hand quite quickly. Seller insisted on PP FF. Well, I notified eBay KA and they pulled the ad.

So, once again, prices too good to be true mostly are too good to be true.
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ldwoods
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PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2023 11:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What is this KA that is mentioned several times in this thread?
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weezintrumpeteer
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PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2023 11:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I *love* my Radial, although I'm not exactly sure which version it is. No stamp on the receiver, simple Selmer engraving on the bell. I assume it's an ML, because it also has a larger flare.

Anyway, I love it. Great horn.
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Dkjcliff
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PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2023 12:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That’s the same as mine. I’ve read they are .462 bore, which would equate to large bore for most manufacturers. But I know Selmer also made a .470 (99 on the receiver).
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Brassnose
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PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2023 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

@ldwoods: KA is for the German „Kleinanzeigen“, a German classifieds website akin the craigslists or similar sites.

www.kleinanzeigen.de

Largest site in Germany and has worked very well for me and many other people. As usual, there are also some not so nice people on there so caution and smart thinking is strongly advised

@weezintrumepeter: there has been a discussion on TH way back where those models (no stamp, larger bell) were discussed. I think it came out that indeed they are 75 models.

Oh btw. Is there any love for the 66 models? Everyone raves about the 75, some rave about the 99, but not so many about the 66.
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Dkjcliff
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PostPosted: Tue May 30, 2023 8:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I’d also be interested in hearing what people think of the 66. Even with the .462 bore size, I don’t think the 75 (or unmarked) version feels very open. I think it requires some finesse. So I could imagine the 66 feeling a bit restrictive.
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AlanK17
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PostPosted: Wed May 31, 2023 3:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If I recall correctly, the three model numbers (66, 75 and 99) reference the bore in millimetres in the form 11.xx, so they are 11.66mm (.459"), 11.75mm (0.462") and 11.99mm (0.472"). I believe that roughly equates to ML, L and XL bores.
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Brassnose
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PostPosted: Wed May 31, 2023 7:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

@alanK17: yes indeed, the numbers roughly match the bore size. Although I think the 99 is not quite as large as the number suggests.

I was thinking about actual playability or sound aspects, not so much about specs.
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lipshurt
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 7:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have an unmarked radial. I was under the impression that the unmarked was called to “radial II”. At least mine said radial II on the tag with is still in the case. It’s a great horn now, but when i got it it did not play every well. I took it apart and reassembled to do a relacquer and BAM it played great after. Must have been tension or other assembly issue. Great horn now.

It’s heavy. heavy Big bell, and gets a very thick big core sound. Darkish but can get very very loud. Intonation and response and all registers are real good. Really even and resonant. Like a really good bach feel.

Venturi is 453
Bore is 462
Bell large
Heavy weight
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dstpt
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 2:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

lipshurt wrote:
I have an unmarked radial. I was under the impression that the unmarked was called to “radial II”. At least mine said radial II on the tag with is still in the case. It’s a great horn now, but when i got it it did not play every well. I took it apart and reassembled to do a relacquer and BAM it played great after. Must have been tension or other assembly issue. Great horn now.

It’s heavy. heavy Big bell, and gets a very thick big core sound. Darkish but can get very very loud. Intonation and response and all registers are real good. Really even and resonant. Like a really good bach feel.

Venturi is 453
Bore is 462
Bell large
Heavy weight

Well, this story is encouraging, since I just bought this one...

https://reverb.com/item/66155837-selmer-paris-radial-75-trumpet

I started reading previous TH threads on the Selmer Radial, where some players found some to be inconsistent, but if I have a problem with this one, I'll just have a local brass tech unsolder the entire thang and resolder it to hopefully get the same results! (This would be after checking valve compression and alignment and any other suggestion you Selmer Radial aficionados may offer.)
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Dkjcliff
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 9:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Congrats! I was also checking that one out before I purchased mine.

I find that the Radial, or at least mine, is very efficient compared to other “large bore” horns I have tried (which lends credence to the oft repeated advice from the experts that bore size by itself doesn’t tell you much about how a horn feels). I was used to pushing a lot of air through the horn, but my Radial doesn’t want or need this. If I try to muscle it around to much, it feels somewhat resistant. In this way it kind of reminds me of the Yamaha Miyashiro, which I used to own.

I find the Radial plays best when I stay relaxed with an even, supported air stream, minimal pressure, and focus on finding the resonant center of the notes rather than trying to blast air to make it ring. In other words, when I play the way you’re supposed to.

Maurice Andre was one of the most relaxed-looking players ever, or at least appeared to be, and since he was involved in designing the Radial, I wonder if the horn was imbued with his playing style.

I would also note that the receiver seems to be a bit wider (or maybe mine is worn) so some mouthpieces don’t seat quite right. I’m still experimenting with different pieces and so far I’ve found standard Bach mouthpieces seem to play easiest (though I don’t have a huge variety to test), perhaps due to the gap issue.
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p76
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 04, 2023 8:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've got a 99 Radial, and boy is it a nice horn to play - the sound is just wonderfully rich.

Mine is old and patched, but the valves are still great.

Dkjcliff, I have the same problem with you re: the receiver, some of my mpc are loose, or seem to bottom out - I'm not sure if I've tried a standard Bach in there, I might give it a go and see what I find (...if I have a standard Bach mpc lying around that is...)

Cheers,
Roger
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AlanK17
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 05, 2023 4:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mine is a 99 and it certainly does have a very big, rich tone. It dates from 1975 (I've had it from new) and unlike others I have never had any issues with mouthpieces fitting so maybe Selmer changed the receiver at some point. At various times I have used two standard Bachs (2 and 7C), two Yamaha (Shew Jazz and Lead), two Marcinkiewicz (E9.3 and 11), the ACB TA1 and more recently two Brand plastic mouthpieces (Groove and Perfect). The Bach 2 was a wonderful classical tone, while the Yamahas were (to my taste) fairly ordinary in this horn - as were the Marcinkiewicz ones. (Maybe the XL bore has slightly different requirements.) At present, using it more as a small group jazz horn I've found the Brand Perfect (with its booster) to work the best for me.

The main issue I have always had with the 99 is intonation, as for me it slots very loosely. For some reason the Brand Perfect mouthpiece minimises this but I added a turn of Sellotape around the shank to increase the gap a bit in an effort to tighten it up. However, I recall two Radial owners agreeing a while ago in another thread that it plays best with zero gap. I haven't played any other trumpet since 1975 so I have no useful comparisons to offer - I'm probably just terrible at intonation!
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p76
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 05, 2023 1:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alan, interesting post - the issue I have is the mpc fitting too loosely, and it sounds like that may be the case with you if you are taping mpcs....

It is the slotting that is affected by this problem for me - interesting to note you've heard they play best with zero gap, because I wonder whether the zero gap (because the mpc doesn't seat properly) is causing the intonation issues I have with the horn.... unfortunately I'm not an expert in this space (too much science for me!), so can't be sure.

FWIW, I've found if I tape a mpc so that it seats more firmly improves my slotting.

Cheers,
Roger
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Dkjcliff
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 05, 2023 4:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Now that I think about it, the only mpc that didn’t seat right was an old heavyweight Monette. There was very little shank after the big hunk of metal and it wouldn’t go in all the way. But it has fit in other horns I own which leads me to believe the receiver on the Radial is wider (or worn) or shorter. I think I’ll try to do a rough assessment of the gap with my main Bach mpc.

I don’t have any intonation issues, at least that aren’t attributable to the operator. I do find that the more open a horn or mpc is, the more likely I am to have intonation issues. So I could imagine the 99 being harder to manage. But I love the sound of a big horn so now that I know how good the 75 plays, I’m definitely interested in trying a 99.
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