Piano (for a long time now...)
I'd just love to play drums, cello and saxophone
started playing lectric guitar oh about 10 days ago. the guitar is nice...time will tell about the player. in my teens played some classical, so hoping i'll do better with a pick.
I have returned to learning how to play the trombone after more than 50 years and I currently rent a Holton tenor.
I have no aspirations to play professional, only for my own enjoyment in small jazz groups and community bands. For this reason I am not considering a "professional" horn.
A new Blessing B88 tenor with the F-key for around $730 through mail order is about my speed. Unfortunately rumor has it Blessing trombones are made in China. If this is the case I will not be buying one.
Can anyone clarify this please? Is the B88 American made or is it not? Thank you.
B88 it is. I ordered it on-line and it arrived a week later. Beautiful, brand new B88. I look forward to practice every day at noon.
I have a much better sound now than I did in high school. I think practice has something to do with that. I do very well in the mid range notes on the bass clef, not bad with lower notes. High notes tend to sound tinny right now. My embouchure will be ready to handle those within the month.
Just mad about the trombone. Thursday I watched Jay Heltzer, bass trombonist with the U.S. Air Force Ceremonial Band in Washington D.C. present a one hour concert at Palomar College in California. The man blows that Edwards bass so well. Effortless.
I trief to find the point of origin of the B88 but couldn't...so I went back to listen to my fave : Bob Brookmeyer.
pedal steel and a lap steel guitar. Both were bought at auctions and I probably spent waay more reconditioning them. I used to play a Gibson C-1 and played in Oc6taves like Gabor Zsabo until I had my fret hand blown up and .
I also used to play a mean accordion (which is why I switched to guitar as a kid, cause accordion players were all creepy people who usually were bitter drunks, at least from all the polka bands Id sat in with). Cant play accordion any more cause I cant feel the bass keys but I would have liked to have played zome zydeco.
An open tuned pedal steel is a great sound . Im looking for a Martin left handed guitar, Im tired of restringing standard guitARS TO allow me to play by fretting with my right hand
The C-1 classical thts in that very nice case . Those yourse pan? I can see that the cased one wasnt played much, its got a lotta dust under the sound hole. Is that second one a mandolin? I cant see the size.
The guitar shaped one had that "zero fret" feature so the catgut strings could really be bent and it would still sound like the string was just plucked.
Did you ever listen to Gabor Szabo pan? I would do covers of his jazz styles. I think thats why I like the pedal and lap steel
My first steel. a Sho-Bud Maverick...like driving a semi
Gabor has a very unique style...fine guitarist.
In Bluegrass that mandolin shape(A as opposed to F) makes it a 'Tater Bug
I play a Tele B-Bender. As you can see, there's a groove left for a metal arm that bends the B string when you pull down on the neck and the strap exerts pressure on the lever...gives you a fine twang...pedal steel style...listen to the Eagles "Peaceful Easy Feeling for the effect.
panz taking the b-bender for a spin
They can be heavy. I have a deuce baldwin/Shobud that needed major repAIRS AND i REDID THE CURLY MAPLE WITH qUILTED mAPLE. gETTING THE LINES AND DECALS WAS A BREEZE.
You might like a Zum, they have a nice leather palm rest (I calls em the steel mousepad)
My lap is a short -run from about 1930's , its a National; I had to have the resonator and pickups redone but it sounds beautiful.
Id love a dobro National with the tri-cone rsonators, I believe thats the style that Ry Cooder used in the soundtrack of "southern Comfort"
I trief to find the point of origin of the B88 but couldn't...so I went back to listen to my fave : Bob Brookmeyer. (Posted by Panzade)
Blessing originated in 1906 by a German and was or is the largest privately owned manufacturer of brasswinds. It is there with all the others in or near Elkhart, Indiana the musical instrument capital of the world.
Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint, as with many other products the Orientals are making great inroads into manufacturing and it has its consequences.
Regardless of what country produces a horn you can get ripped off or you can make out or you can be no better or worse off than buying a good American made horn. Early made horns made in China do not appear to be very well made but give them time. Just as Japan was looked upon as making junk not long ago, their products today are at the top of the line making some European made horns appear as nothing more than artifacts.
Yes, once China gets quality control down it will easily compete with Japan and U.S. made horns and like Japan you just will not save much buying one.
Right now my guess is most all American horn companies are outsourcing some of their work to China i.e. purchasing components i.e. bells, slides, valves etc. that are foreign made and selling them as part of an instrument that is American made. We just don't know.
The best thing to do of course, is play the instrument before you buy it to insure you are happy with it. I based my decision to buy the Blessing B88 tenor trombone with F key on all of the good reviews I read. There are some poor opinions of the horn but the number of good ones far outweighed the bad ones I read, for sure. :wink:
panzade wrote:I play a Tele B-Bender. As you can see, there's a groove left for a metal arm that bends the B string when you pull down on the neck and the strap exerts pressure on the lever...gives you a fine twang...pedal steel style...listen to the Eagles "Peaceful Easy Feeling for the effect.
Whoa that's awesome, I've never seen one of those before
that ain't nuthin...the cat in Diamond Rio has a G bender too...it's connected to his belt buckle so he can do oblique bends...one going up...one going down at the same time.
Just the other day I found my old guitar down in the basement. Forgotten all about it. I played a wee bit many, many years ago. Learned notes, finger placement, had a few song books, it was fun...
I can just see you warbling: "The answer my friend is blowing in the wind...
It is fun eoe. Had I known it would be so much fun I would have tried it earlier instead of letting more than 50 years go by only to almost accidentally discover how much fun it is.
I look forward to noon every day so I can break out that Blessing B88 trombone and begin practicing. I practice because I want to get good enough so I can play with a real band just for the fun of it. We only have band night on Wednesdays. I'd like to play more often.
Yes with a guitar you can play and not worry about bothering anyone, sing to yourself. Great!
I have to go easy with the horn though. I don't want to get any of the neighbors unhappy. I live in an over 55+ neighborhood you see. I restrict myself to practice between noon and four, seven days a week. :wink:
