Originally Posted by
JakeGuilbo
Contact Matt van Emmerick and ask him if he can help you - you might be able to attend a Victoria Brass rehearsal and play his Shires which could help. Matt also previously endorsed Adams and can give you his take on the horns. For myself, my favorite horn I've ever owned was an Adams E3 0.6mm with Yellow Brass Bell. I currently have one with the Silver Bell and am pleased with it but took some work to fix issues from the factory. I have it at a place though where I can work with the issues and have a tech that I trust locally who can fix problems if/when they come up. Adams horns are handmade, there is a variance between horns. They also have intonation characteristics that can be jarring for some people on first play, noticeably lower 6th partials and lower pitch in general. People used to the sharpness of an 842 or Besson regularly comment on the "weirdness" of the Adams pitch tendencies. I think we have all come to agree though, for people who decided to stick with the Adams, that the pitch tendencies make it *easier* to play, *easier* to play in tune and *easier* to make music with long term. But on first play it's not everyone's cup of tea. We just had the North American National Brass Band Championships and a vendor had a few Adams horns there. I heard comments like "Oh I've never been able to get used to the intonation on these".
I play tested a new Besson 2052-8G last fall and it had THE SOUND. I also had to use the trigger on every note above Middle Concert Bb. It was exhausting just managing the trigger. I actually had the trigger removed from my current E3 to improve response. I was told I would get "used" to the new intonation but who has time for that? I am a working professional and I'm lucky if I can get 45min of practice every other day.
My advice - talk to Matt and have him guide you.
Thanks for your comment mate. I reached out to Matt and had a chat to him today. It's not practical for me to travel to Melbourne to try his Q41 as he is roughly 2,100 miles from me but fortunately a local music shop has a Q41 in stock that I plan to go and try out.
SE Shires Trombone (1G Bell, TB47 Slide, Tru-bore valve), Bach 5GS Mouthpiece
Besson Prestige 2052-8G, Alliance DC3 Mouthpiece
Yamaha YCR2330 Cornet