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[MrPillow]

Hello,

As I've noticed this is a relatively common problem, I thought I would see what information was lurking out there. Benn suggested I post a topic to get some opinions.

I had asked him about having my main tuning slide lengthened a 1/2" or so and he said it would not really be feasible as the lower tuning slide tube is internally tapered.

Has anyone else had work done to bring their Getzen down to pitch? Mine plays rather sharp, and I'd rather not have to have the tuning slide pulled out nearly all the way, especially when playing in a very sharp room it becomes a problem. I also feel the horn doesn't respond nearly as well the further out the tuning slide goes.

Where else could a small amount of length feasibly be added to the instrument?

Thanks for your input guys,

- Byron

[Repairbone]

Try pulling the tuning slide crook and the tubes out of their ferrules a little bit.  Both the tuning slide crook and the tubes attached to the tuning slide should butt up against each other in their shared ferrules.  Both sides should go in to the ferrule around 1/8"-1/4", depending on the size of the ferrule (sorry, I'm not that familiar with the Getzen 1052).  By pulling each side out half of the distance they are in the ferrule you should be able to lengthen the tuning slide 1/8"-1/4".  That's not a lot, but it should help.  If you're worried about the gap that that will leave between the two tubes inside of the ferrule you can always make a spacer out of the appropriately sized brass tubing and place it inside the ferrule between the two tubes to take up the space.  Will make for more work for your tech, but I'm sure they will charge you accordingly.

I hope this helps!  I'm sure there are a lot of other creative ways to address this issue, this is just the first one that came to me at 10:30 on a Friday night.

Justin

[Jeff Smith]

I've never had an issue with my four Getzen trombones.

[Patrick Bates]

The horn may play more in tune for you with a different mouthpiece and/or leadpipe...

[actikid]

Has anyone else had work done to bring their Getzen down to pitch? Mine plays rather sharp,

Is there any chance you are actually buzzing above the center of the pitch?  That can happen.

Can we assume on other horns your pitch is more like what you consider normal?

Maybe I missed it, but I don't see where you mentioned where you set your tuning slide.  How far out is it?  It is so far out it is ready to fall off?

[John Beers Jr.]

My Getzen 1062FD plays sharp as well, so I end up extending the main tuning slide a ludicrous amount and still have Bb slightly off the bumpers. Other people have mentioned similar on their own Getzen basses.

It's just something I deal with.

[slideorama]

I've play a bunch of 1062s and a couple 1052's, and never had issues such as this. Great horns, BTW.

If the original poster is using a typical bass trombone mouthpiece, such as a Bach 2G to a Bach 1G, and the pitch is off that much using a typical bass trombone, around .562 bore, then we should put down the hack saw and discuss what can be changed in the "soft machine."

Your teacher can discuss this further, of course. For an advanced high student struggling with this, I would have them begin by playing the horn for a week with the tuning slide pulled out only about half an inch and relearn to play "down the middle" of the pitch this way. By doing so, many other issues in their playing naturally decrease as well.

On the flip side, as a professional, I have played more than one Bach and vintage Conns that I have had to cut the tuning slide down a few centimeters. This is common for advanced players, but not the issue in this thread.

[Euphanasia]

This advice is contingent on figuring out whether it's you or the horn. Are you similarly sharp on other bass trombones when you use the same mouthpiece? Are other players sharp on your horn? Figure that out first.

If it does turn out to be the horn, I wouldn't mess with the bell tuning slide since it's conical. I'd have a good tech strip the lacquer from the handslide handles and have the outer slide tube sleeves pulled off. Get everything clean so that the sleeves can slide on the outers (kind of like a TIS horn if you know what I mean.) Play it and adjust the  amount of slide outer that's in the sleeve until you get the range you want, then solder the sleeves back in place. If you're worried about losing 8th position, you could have short pieces of a .562 slide soldered into the gap at the opening of the handslide.

Not something for the faint-hearted, but really no more complicated than adding to the tuning slide.

[Graham Middleton]

I like euphanasia's idea and think lengthening the hand slide is the way to go.  I have had some experiences where lengthening the outer disproportionally to the inner can cause some weird results (ei. weird partial intonation, notes and partials that won't slot, and a general diffuse sound.), but was able to resolve these by adding length to the inner as well.

Another option may be getting an untrimmed TS crook from allied and try and add length there.

Graham

[MrPillow]

Thanks for the input guys. As much as I'd like it to be an issue with my embouchure that could be fixed free of charge, this is not the case. I have played many other horns - both bass and tenor - with varying mouthpieces. I do not play nearly as sharp on any of these horns as I do on the Getzen. I play a Schilke Symphony 6.0 - I tend to be a little on the flat side on most other basses I've tried.

On a warm stage I have to pull out about 1.5" to get anywhere close to where I need to be, and that still gives me a Bb that is a crap shoot from the bumpers. It's not common that I play somewhere where this is necessary, but when it is, I get uncomfortable about the integrity of the whole shpeel.

FWIW. A colleague of mine also has a 1052, and on his horn I don't play nearly as sharp as I do on mine