Benge trombones now discontinued by Conn-Selmer
mythmaker18
the Benge trombone now appears to be a thing of the past.
I found out this bit of information initially from a repairman in
Lexington, Ky. earlier this week, who told me that they're no longer
"listing" any Benge trombones, despite the fact that both the 190F and
165F are still on the website.
When I called Conn-Selmer's customer service number today on an
unrelated issue, I asked the rep. if the rumour was indeed true. He put
me on hold and when he came back he said yes, that they are no longer
manufacturing Benges.
I really hate to see this happen. I really like my 190F (have had it
about 15 years) and I hate to see it fall by the wayside, but once Conn
and the others started making their own "open wrap" horns, I guess it
was just a matter of time.
The loss of the 165F will probably come as a bit of a blow to high
school directors and students, as it seems that horn was a fairly
decent value for money.
Sacqueboutier
on 1/21/05 2:57 PM:
I think the 165F was the best horn in its price range. Sorry to see it go.
I assume UMI (or whatever they are calling themselves these days) will be
producing a similar horn under a different brand name.
I found the 190 to pale in comparison to Bach 42, Conn 88H, Edwards
(whatever), Shires, and even King 4B. Never really warmed to the 190 much.
--
Don Patterson
Trombonist/Music Copyist/Arranger
"The President's Own"
United States Marine Band
"Celebrating 206 years of playing America's music"
John Lowe
news:BE3ADA1F.40241%don-pat...@nospam.comcast.net:
>
> I think the 165F was the best horn in its price range. Sorry to see
> it go. I assume UMI (or whatever they are calling themselves these
> days) will be producing a similar horn under a different brand name.
>
> I found the 190 to pale in comparison to Bach 42, Conn 88H, Edwards
> (whatever), Shires, and even King 4B. Never really warmed to the 190
> much.
I wouldn't be surprised to see the 165F reborn as the 609F; it'd make some
sense, since there is no current equvalent in the King or Conn lines. Their
acquisition of the Holton line does give them a "student" .547" horn, but
the 165F has always been a cut above a student model.
The 190F is probably through, though, as it never did have that much of a
following and Conn-Selmer has several other (more popular) big tenors in
their stable.
But whither the 290? Since it was originally derived from the King 7B and
8B, and King doesn't currently have a bass, it might be reincarnated as a
King (a "new" 7B or 8B, perhaps?). Then again, they've got a bunch of
basses in their line and the 290, though a very servicable horn, has never
been a top seller. I like mine, and it's one of the few basses available
with a G tuning on the second valve, so I'd hate to see it go.
John Lowe
Roving Rowes
and G. Love the G! The Gb is okay for some below-the-staff work, but
the G helps a lot IN the staff and works just fine below the staff.
I'll take that over the Gb any day.
Norm
act...@acticalc.com
with the Gb? The G does absolutely everything you need to do in the
low register. The Gb is practically useless as an independent valve.
Some manufacturers are starting to wise up though. Kanstul makes the
1662i as an F/G and they supply an extra Gb tuning slide for the people
that can't cope with the G.
F loop + G loop + independent valves = very agile instrument.
John Lowe
news:1108879330....@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
I dunno; maybe all the other companies are sticking with Gb in hopes of
easing the transition for people who use dependent horns. Bach, Conn,
Getzen - all of them are Gb. Of course, one of the custom builders will
make a G up for your, but that's some serious dollars. Even the low-end of
the market (Weril & Jupiter) build their inline horns in Gb.
Maybe it's a conspiracy. All the stacked-rotor minions are behind it; if
they can't force us to give up our independent valves, they'll hamstring us
with a tuning that nullifies many of the benefits thereof.
Offhand, the only production horns with G that I can think of (in addition
to Kanstul) are Yamaha and Holton.
It's not surprising that Kanstul would offer a G option - after all, he was
around Olds when they were making the P-24-G.
John Lowe
Byron Yip
to the independent G). I had every intention of buying the optional
tubing, but have found that I like the configuration I've got. If I get
an inline set, I'd try to get the 2nd valve in G. Seems more useful to
me (Edwards shows on on their website, but it's special order and
non-returnable).
Byron Yip
Roving Rowes
flat Eb. It can be used as an Eb combination, but you have to lip it up
some to get it in tune for the longer notes. My Olds came with the
optional extra "spaghetti" that puts the second valve in either Eb or D
(combinations being C and B respectively) and some players using the
instrument did use that setup. It can be useful too, especially if
you're doing a lot of work below the staff, but I like the G and F
overall. Very versatile.
Norm
Roving Rowes
if it's anything like their euphonium (got one a couple of years ago -
4-valve compensating - absolutely love it), it's a fabulous instrument.
I'd love to get my hands on one and honk on it.
Norm