Schilke tunable bell Bb

andybharms · Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 6:52 am Post subject: Schilke tunable bell Bb

Hello,

I have a question for owners of a Schilke tunable bell Bb.

Do you find the upper register of your trumpet to be notably stuffier than the rest of the trumpet, or that of a fixed bell Bb? Are there any steps you have taken to improve this?

Thanks!
_________________
Andrew Harms, DMA
http://www.andrewbharms.com

deanoaks · Regular Member Joined: 02 Apr 2015 Posts: 75 Location: US

Tunable bell instruments have wonky intonation as a general rule of thumb, and if for no other reason than that you should probably try to avoid a tunable bell Bb instrument. That is fairly bizarre...

kristiner · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:24 am Post subject:

My 30 year old C1L has better intonation than any other C trumpet I've played. It has the Schilke adjustable bell brace, which does help to lock things in - tuning is considerably more wonky and the upper register is more difficult without the brace. Maybe try that?
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Kris Tiner
Professor of Music, Director of Jazz Studies
Bakersfield College
http://kristiner.com

andybharms · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:27 am Post subject:

The intonation is quite good... very high on the spectrum of Bbs. I am assuming that bracing affects different registers'/notes' standing waves, and if, in the case of the minimal bracing of tuning bell instruments, it just happens to generally affect the upper register for the worse. I have played plenty of tuning bell Ebs but not a Bb, so I don't really have a frame of reference.

Just curious.
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Andrew Harms, DMA
http://www.andrewbharms.com

CRoberts8 · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:47 am Post subject:

bagmangood · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:49 am Post subject:

The Schilke tuneable bell horns I've played were quite nice, but I have not had a chance to A/B them against their fixed bell counterparts before. I didn't notice any difference in resistance in different registers on the ones I've played.

oliver king · Heavyweight Member Joined: 07 Aug 2008 Posts: 1742

kristiner · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 9:24 am Post subject:

-edit-
_________________
Kris Tiner
Professor of Music, Director of Jazz Studies
Bakersfield College
http://kristiner.com

kristiner · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 9:25 am Post subject:

delano · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 9:58 am Post subject:

A_Ason · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:13 am Post subject:

http://www.dallasmusic.org/schilke/Tunable%20Bell%20Trumpets.html
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Arne Andersson
Monettes, Eclipse, Lars Gerdt, Taylor, Del Quadro, Schilke, Getzen, Benge, Conn, Olds, Besson, Martin, Puje, Alexander, Lawler, Wild Thing, Bach, Ken Larson...

greenetrumpet · Regular Member Joined: 10 Mar 2008 Posts: 13

I played a Schilke X3L for about 35 years and found the intonation and upper register to be wonderful. I used the Berillium bell for most applications and the brass bell less often. The only concern I had over those years was it did not record well. Other than that It was a great experience playing.

dershem · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 4:52 pm Post subject:

I played on a Schilke B1L for a number of years, and never had any stuffiness problem with it at all. After that I went to a horn with no brace between the bell and tuning slide forward of the valve cluster, and never had any intonation problems with it that were not my fault. (I like looser slotting, of course)

C.E.Divine · Veteran Member Joined: 30 Jan 2013 Posts: 285

Just an observation-

Dean Oaks currently sits at five posts.

Dean Oaks also posted a picc allegedly owned by Gerry Webster in the marketplace within the last 24 hours.

Sounds like he may be full of a lot of hot air. And not the kind used to play trumpet. He only needs to meet the post count to sell his picc, which if it was actually Gerry Webster's former picc, he would mention he has documentation. Or God forbid, actually upload a picture of proof.
_________________
Corey Divine

Bach LR19043B B-flat
Blackburn converted Bach C
Kanstul CC920 Piccolo
Blessing XL Flugelhorn
J.W. York and Sons Perfec-Tone B-flat/A Cornet

Craig Swartz · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 5:39 pm Post subject:

When I use Bb I have a B3L from the early 90s that replaced one from 1969 that was stolen. Somewhere along the line I needed work on the original B3 so I had the Schilke shop convert it to tuning bell. I loved it. I also own another 1969 B3 with regular braced bell, the B3L is much better for me. And, I've played on a CXL regularly since about 1973 or so, horn was built in 1967 or 68. Great projection and feedback and blended just fine with a 239 Bach and now a Yamaha NY C. I've since purchased a Yam Chi C and am using it at present but not going to get rid of the CXL. I really like the tuning bells, even got a beryllium bell from an X3 I can use if I wish.

Bad intonation from a Schilke? The problem wasn't the manufacturer or the instrument...

Christian K. Peters · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:06 pm Post subject: Schilke tunable bells

Hello all,
The OP asked for something fairly specific. I bought my B1 in 1976 and had it converted to a tuning bell in 1977. I bought my current B2L in 2000, used, as it is a mid 1970's horn. I have also played the fixed bell counterparts. First off, the Schilke valved trumpets play more consistant than the Yamaha valved horns. The Schilke, fixed bell horns have tighter slots than than the tunable bell horns. Over all, the fact that some of these models are step bore horns, play bigger than their bore size. You guys that play the straight bore, X or XL have my greatest admiration. I certainly don't have the gas to drive them...But the sound/volume must be wonderful.
The tunable bell horns have less resistance and are pretty free blowing. The feel, blow and intonation of Schilkes are top-notch. I often wondered about the sound in front of my B1L and that is the reason for buying a B2L...along with wanting a Schilke valve section. Schilke bells are already pretty light and responsive. If you want an even better, quicker "WHOA" kind of sound, the beryllium bell might be the answer.
These are my opinions for Schilke on an almost 40 year ride with them. I can do at least 95% of playing on them and could probably find the last 5% with a B6.
_________________
Christian K. Peters
Schilke Loyalist since 1976

andybharms · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:40 pm Post subject:

Thanks for all the responses. Even off-topic rambling is helpful. Like I said intonation is spot on. Response is flawless. Lots of good things. I've been playing a Yamaha Xeno for eight years and love it. I might just prefer the big blow. It is so dense and bright and wonderful.
_________________
Andrew Harms, DMA
http://www.andrewbharms.com

CRoberts8 · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 9:14 pm Post subject:

uglylips · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:10 pm Post subject:

I had a B5L and C3L that I played for many years. Great playing horns with excellent intonation. No problems in the upper register. However, if you moved the tuning bell out too far intonation and partials would get squirrely. Similar as if you move the tuning slide out too far, but with greater impact. The trick was learning to tune correctly with the bell and slide. The slots would change depending on how far out the bell was. The cool thing was that if you wanted it to be more stable, more like a braced model, just push the bell in all the way and only tune with the slide. I wish I still had these horns. They were both excellent in many ways, versatile, great sound and just awesome instruments to play.

delano · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 12:16 am Post subject: