Jürgen Voigt J-189-FX

[deanmccarty]

About 10 years ago I started seriously looking at purchasing a contrabass trombone. I knew I didn’t want a cheap clone, so I started trying out all of the reputable makers out there. I almost bit the bullet with a Kanstul, but waited. I have been playing Rath trombones for a while now and nudged towards Mick’s contra… but I finally narrowed down to Jürgen Voigt. I saw that they offered three different models, which told me they were serious about the contra. They built me a custom contra based on two of their models. It is fantastic!

Shortly after my contra came in, I was looking to upgrade my alto. The Voigt J-711 is just fantastic. I fell in love with the ease of playing and the beautiful craftsmanship. I couldn’t be happier… especially since I got it at a steal of a price second-hand.

That brings me to my latest journey. My contra has Voigt’s “free flow” valves, and they are nice! I’ve been intrigued by their FX large tenors. I finally got a chance to play all of their free-flow models against my current Rath R4F. The J-189-FX was just beautiful. The brilliance across all ranges… the easy attacks throughout the instrument… the durability at extreme dynamics. I was blown away by this instrument… so much so that I have one on order, and it will be in my hands sometime in May.

For anyone interested who lives in the USA… you have to special order your instrument to be tuned to A-440… the standard tuning is A-443. I found that out after I purchased my alto second-hand. The previous owner loved it, but just couldn’t pull out enough. I emailed Kerstin Voigt, and she sent a new tuning slide for the alto and my contra… no charge.

I can’t say enough about these horns, or the fantastic customer service. I’m anxiously waiting for the 189 to come in.

[harrisonreed]

Sounds like my kind of tuning! That horn looks awesome man. I hope you love it!

[RJMason]

I saw the Houghton Horns has several of their models. They look wonderful would love to try one day!

[deanmccarty]

I got a message from Houghton Horns that my 189 is in! I’m driving up to Fort Worth first thing Monday to pick it up!