J'Élle Stainer (the same guys who made the sub-A basses) are currently working on manufacturing a true-blue contrabass (they are apparently aiming to have it out in '09), as well as a subcontrabass.. These guys are sure as hell gonna give Eppelsheim a run for his money
Take a look at those two pics.. the first picture is a bari EASILY fitting into the pipe-work of the subcontra.. the second pic is of a bari, a mock-up of the subcontra's bell, and one of their compact basses.
I can't wait for these guys to get this monstrosity off the ground.. On second thought, since most sax players aren't body builders it should stay ON the ground :3
fortunately the site is working and it feature several languages now.
I've tried a Stainer contrabass in Frankfurt and .....shall we say that, at least for the time being, Benedikt Eppelsheim can sleep still very comfortably?.... The one I've tried (and I played the Eppelsheim too) wasn't going to endanger Mr. Epperlsheim sleep. Ok I am not much of a player but I can tell you that I did notice the difference.
this is Peter Thomas playing the same horn
Most glorious failure? Has to be the Brazilian contrabass.
The idea is sound enough, but the horn needs some serious development in all areas. Pete Thomas had a ( quite literally ) wrestle with it..
I wasn't really referring to horn quality when I said that Eppelsheim would get a run for his money.. It is just that Eppelsheim has a reputation for being the innovator, and he may very well get beat to punch by these guys.
Tubaxes are cool. That subcontra is yuck. Fattie. That bass is ugly too. And I don't like Benedikt's contra either. No offense. But they just don't look like real saxes. Tubaxes are an exception, though. Hehe, when will I every get to play more saxes???
They are actually making a compact sub.. but with a wide bore..
It is going to look like the 'trashcan' contra.. but BIGGER :O
They also sent me 2 new pictures:
I guess they still get kudos for making the first wide-bored subcontra.. even if it is double wrapped
Still waiting on that true subcontra though.. They said that this horn is 1.5m meters, but if traditionally wrapped it would be about 3m tall.. 9 FEET OF PURE INSANITY, IS WHAT I THINK
Great! Oversized pads thay work as bicycle wheels.:disgust: How heavy are keys going to be to push down? And why does it look so much bigger than a contra?:?
Btw:... Cool! Now I can't double-post! There's a message that blocks double-posting!
I wish Stainer all the best but although impressive, bigger is not necessarily better. This is a very small and picky niche and you don't have a second chance to make a (good) first impression. The horn which they brought to Frankfurt needed some extra thinking. Maybe this ones need to be perfected before they are brought to the public. If they come to Frankfurt in April with a giant horn which will still be in the wraps (I don't mean literally ) that will make them popular on all the passers by (who wouldn't want to try it?) but won't do anything to their name which needs to be assessed.
A giant horn that performs almost there but not quite, is just a giant piece of brass. No one can afford to buy it only for its decorative value.
being picky eh?..........OK, someone would obviously be able to afford it for its decorative value............a musician, on the other hand, wouldn't, normally, spend this kind of money on a large piece of brass tubing.....
If I were the manufacturer of this contraption I would NOT put these videos online. Sounds awful, and out of tune. Could be the player. Also, I can hear the key work clanking away. Pretty bad publicity if you ask me.
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