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Contrabass list Thu, 2 Apr 1998 Volume 1 : Number 35
In this issue:
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 14:32:06 -0800
From: Adam
Korman <adamk@san.rr.com>
Subject: Re: Altissimo on
the Contrabass
>>p.s. Steve Roberts in Los Angeles will drill a pinhole vent in your contra
>>should you really want it. I watched him add a vent hole, plus solder a
>>small
>>"half hole" LH1 key pad extention to a vintage (1920s or so) bass clarinet to
>>facilitate the altissimo.>Now here's an interesting idea! Any idea what he might charge for
>modifying a contra?
And how to get a hold of him? Does he do other contra repair work too?
Thanks,
Adam
adamk@san.rr.com
Date: Wed, 01 Apr 1998 17:48:13 -0800
From: Grant
Green <gdgreen@contrabass.com>
Subject: Conn
Sarrusophones?
Hi,
I asked Conn how many sarrusophones they'd have to sell in order to make it worthwhile to start manufacturing again. The off-the-cuff estimate is that they'd have to be guaranteed sales of about 500 horns per year for at least 10 years.
You know, that really isn't that many instruments, even for something like a sarrusophone. I wonder how many contrabassoons are sold in a year? Or bass saxophones? Anyway, now I'm curious as to how many people would want a new Conn Eb contrabass sarrusophone, if they were to hypothetically start manufacturing them again. Possibly with a few modernizations, like alternate fingerings for Bb, and an articulated G#...
I added a bit to the end of my sarrusophone page inviting people to tell me if they'd be interested. If there are surprising results, I'll forward the numbers to Conn (actually UMI now). If not, well, at least my curiosity will be satisfied. The link is http://www.contrabass.com/pages/sarrus.html#new-sarrus . Eventually, I'll put an actual form there - as soon as I read up on how to implement forms...
PLEASE NOTE that I'm not taking orders for sarrusophones, or binding commitments, or anything of the sort. I'm just trying to find how many people would be interested.
Who wants to be first? :-)
Grant
Date: Thu, 02 Apr 1998 09:27:06 EST
From:
mgrogg@juno.com
Subject: Re: Giant Tubas...
I looked at this too, and I think perspective got the better of you. The tuba is the new Harvey Phillips model in CC, there is a trumpet in front of it, and a T-bone lying down on the table. The carbon based life forms on the right are several feet back, and the apparent size would make it appear huge at first glance. Alas, it is not to be. <sigh>
>While surfing around, I looked at the Leblanc web site. If you go to
>the Spring 1998 issue of the Leblanc Bell, and look at the entry for "NAMM
>Report", they have a picture of the exhibit for Holton (celebrating
>Holton's 100th anniversary). In the back, there appears to be an
>*enormous* tuba, but I can't tell if it is just a display mockup, or a
>playable instrument. It looks new, but they don't seem to list any
>BBBb octocontrabass tubas in their product listings....>Grant
Date: Thu, 02 Apr 1998 10:54:22 -0800
From: Grant Green <gdgreen@contrabass.com>
Subject: Re: Giant Tubas...
At 09:27 AM 4/2/98 EST, you wrote:
>I looked at this too, and I think perspective got the better of you. The
>tuba is the new Harvey Phillips model in CC, there is a trumpet in front
>of it, and a T-bone lying down on the *table*. The carbon based life
>forms on the right are several feet back, and the apparent size would
>make it appear huge at first glance. Alas, it is not to be. <sigh>
Yep. When I saw the image on the web page, it looked to me like there was a drum set on the right, under a canopy tall enough to walk under. Judging from that, the tuba would have been enormous. Yesterday I downloaded the image, and blew it up on my screen enough to tell that the "drum set" is actually a couple of potted plants, and that the tuba is normal sized.
And now, I think I'll go look into getting a pair of bifocals.... ;-)
Grant
End of list V1 #35