Shires had a large shank Q40 and Q41 at the Army Band's American Trombone Workshop this past week. I liked them both. I think I'd prefer the Q40 which I felt had a little more focus and easy response despite the larger bell.
Shires had a large shank Q40 and Q41 at the Army Band's American Trombone Workshop this past week. I liked them both. I think I'd prefer the Q40 which I felt had a little more focus and easy response despite the larger bell.
--
Barry
Hello Barry,
How did Q40 and Q41 differ in tone color?
Which mouthpiece were you using with them?
Regards, Guido
M5050L - DC2&3, SM2&4U, BT16, Carbonaria Heavy & New
Wessex EP104 Festivo - available
Carolbrass CCR7772 Bb cornet - Available
Doug Elliott EUPH103N/I/I9S
As far as I could tell in the loud room there they were pretty darn similar. Q40 had a bigger *and* brighter sound, but the difference was very subtle. The difference in feel was more pronounced than the difference in sound.
--
Barry
That's interesting, Barry... I wonder why they were not featuring the Shires 5MB, which is the standard mouthpiece shipped with Q-40 and Q-41.
Guido
M5050L - DC2&3, SM2&4U, BT16, Carbonaria Heavy & New
Wessex EP104 Festivo - available
Carolbrass CCR7772 Bb cornet - Available
I’ve got both a Shires Q40 and Q41 (large shank) on trial right now. I’m hoping to do a video of the horns and also comparing it to my Besson 2052 once I can get into a space worthy of doing some videos. Was hoping to use all 3 horns in brass band rehearsal before we got shutdown, but alas...
So far I’m noticing the Q41 sounds more similar to the prestige than the Q40, which was surprising. I find the Q41 to be warmer and richer than the Q40. The compact sound that is advertised is not compact at all compared to other smaller bell euphoniums. To me, it feels like the difference in bell weight (the Q41 is heavier) is more noticeable in sound differences than the bell size. I’m using a DC3 mouthpiece FYI. Hopefully there is some interest in hearing someone play these 3 horns side by side!
Last edited by stevevaughn; 05-07-2020 at 12:47 PM.
Steven Vaughn, D.M.A.
Professor of Tuba & Euphonium, University of Northern Colorado
Principal Tuba - Fort Collins Symphony
Euphonium - Fountain City Brass Band
Eastman 836 CC Tuba
Meinl Weston 2182W F Tuba
Besson 2052 Euphonium
No problem! We LOVE that kind of stuff! If you can do them all in one day, same room, same recorder, bell pointing the same way... that would be ideal.
BTW, when I do such comparisons, I play several different extracts. I don't like to switch horns for each excerpt because it may lead to discomfort and inaccurate results. In the past, I played all my excerpts on one, then switched and played them all again. After the fact, I "spliced" the recording together to arrange it by excerpt. So you'd hear:
excerpt 1, horn A
excerpt 1, horn B
excerpt 1, horn C
excerpt 2, horn A
etc.
That allowed me to stay in the "groove" of each horn.
Dave Werden (ASCAP)
Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
Adams Artist (Adams E3)
Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
YouTube: dwerden
Facebook: davewerden
Twitter: davewerden
Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium
Hello Steven, I am very much looking forward to your Q40/Q41/Besson comparison video!!!
Saluti, Guido
M5050L - DC2&3, SM2&4U, BT16, Carbonaria Heavy & New
Wessex EP104 Festivo - available
Carolbrass CCR7772 Bb cornet - Available