Choosing the right Adams model with a bass bone background

[Alex]

I agree. The trombone blow and the euph blow are quite different. Last year I played euph in the concert band on Wednesday nights and tenor trombone in the orchestra on Thursday nights. I always had to practice an hour on trombone to get back that trombone airstream before orchestra rehearsal.

[Alex]

I play a lot of different size trombones too, along with the euph in concert band. I play a big Bach Bass in the orchestra, a medium bore Shires in small ensembles, and a Conn 6H in the occasional jazz gig. I can adjust pretty quickly too, but the biggest adjustment in going from bone to euph. Takes me an hour to get the airstream right and not sound like a tenor tuba or a bass bone. I've settled on moving from my Besson to the Adams E1. One listener said he heard "joy" coming though the Adams E1, and that was good enough for me.

[John Morgan]

I tried the Adams 1,2, and three and settled on the Adams 1 mouthpiece. Was using a stock Schilke 51D, which was OK, but several listeners and I thought the Adams 1 was a better match.

Have you got the name of the mouthpieces correct? There is an Adams E1, E2 and E3 euphonium, just not aware of an Adams 1, 2, or 3 mouthpiece or any euphonium mouthpiece made by Adams.

[MichaelSchott]

I agree. The trombone blow and the euph blow are quite different. Last year I played euph in the concert band on Wednesday nights and tenor trombone in the orchestra on Thursday nights. I always had to practice an hour on trombone to get back that trombone airstream before orchestra rehearsal.

What is different between the 2 blows? More focused on the trombone? Some time ago I purchased a Bach 42BO. I struggled to get a trombone sound and was told I sounded like a euphonium player playing a trombone.

[euphdude]

What is different between the 2 blows? More focused on the trombone? Some time ago I purchased a Bach 42BO. I struggled to get a trombone sound and was told I sounded like a euphonium player playing a trombone.

I’ve heard people say there is a difference in blow between trombone and euphonium, but here is all I know - I could go decades of playing nothing but trombone, and when I pick up euphonium, I can sound ok on it almost instantaneously. But going in reverse from euphonium, to tenor trombone, I struggle to sound decent quickly going back to trombone. This has confounded me for years. But What I have recently discovered was that I can go back and forth between euphonium and bass trombone without any trouble at all. I was playing with one of my former section mates on euphonium, and he let me play his bass trombone on a 1-1/4G mouthpiece, and to my surprise, I sounded perfectly fine. My friend let me borrow his bass trombone, and I was consistently able to go back and forth with no ill effects whatsoever. I have no idea why. But because of this, I’m now trying to play euphonium on larger bass trombone pieces again, and so far, it is going fairly well.

[davewerden]

FWIW, back in my USCG Band days for a while I was doing quite a bit of trombone work (lead trombone in our jazz ensemble and principal trombone in the Eastern Connecticut Symphony) in addition to my normal euphonium playing. FOR ME, as primarily a euphonium player, I could play both in the same day or part of a day...but only if I warmed up on euphonium (even if my first actual playing would be on trombone).

[iMav]

FWIW, back in my USCG Band days for a while I was doing quite a bit of trombone work (lead trombone in our jazz ensemble and principal trombone in the Eastern Connecticut Symphony) in addition to my normal euphonium playing. FOR ME, as primarily a euphonium player, I could play both in the same day or part of a day...but only if I warmed up on euphonium (even if my first actual playing would be on trombone).

Interesting. So, if you were headed to a trombone gig, you would bring your euphonium to warm up?

[davewerden]

Interesting. So, if you were headed to a trombone gig, you would bring your euphonium to warm up?

No. I only needed to warm up on Euph if I had to play it soon. If I was only playing trombone there was no problem. My chops would reset themselves by the next day.

[djwpe]

I play~ more bass trombone than euphonium at this point, and I also find bass trombone and euphonium have similar blows, while tenor and alto are very different from Euph.

a few years ago, my orchestra played Pictures at an Exhibition, and I played bass trombone, picked up the euphonium for Bydlo, put it down, and picked up the bass trombone for the rest of the piece. I have no issue transitioning directly to euphonium from bass trombone, and having good characteristic sound on both.

Don

[euphdude]

I play~ more bass trombone than euphonium at this point, and I also find bass trombone and euphonium have similar blows, while tenor and alto are very different from Euph.

Perhaps this is the reason why I struggle to go from euphonium to tenor trombone, but have no problem with bass trombone.