New Blessing inline bass model BBTB-62R

ttf_Bach42T · Post by **ttf_Bach42T** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 5:25 pm

Introduced at this year's NAMM....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlbO2RJgwBI

ttf_Burgerbob · Post by **ttf_Burgerbob** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 5:37 pm

Hmm. I wonder where this was. I missed it!

ttf_Bach42T · Post by **ttf_Bach42T** » Tue Jan 30, 2018 5:39 pm

Quote from: Burgerbob on Jan 28, 2018, 05:37PMHmm. I wonder where this was. I missed it!

Yeah, I wonder why you missed it too, now I know since you hit everything else with all the youtube videos.

ttf_Burgerbob · Post by **ttf_Burgerbob** » Tue Jan 30, 2018 5:46 pm

Quote from: Bach42T on Jan 30, 2018, 05:39PMYeah, I wonder why you missed it too, now I know since you hit everything else with all the youtube videos.

I missed a few other things... All of Yamaha for example. Oops.

ttf_John Beers Jr. · Post by **ttf_John Beers Jr.** » Tue Jan 30, 2018 5:47 pm

http://www.blessingbrass.com/instrument/bbtb-62r/

QuoteThe dark, weighty tone of the BBTB-62R Bass Trombone provides a strong foundation and stability to any trombone section. Designed with professional features, this model includes a large 9.5” rose brass bell, which allows for a broad, colorful sound, more volume, and more natural production of the lower partials. The independent valve system affords the player an extra set of slide positions to aid tuning and make natural slide changes. A bass trombone helps the tuba section anchor a band, and our BBTB-62R is no exception. With a premium placed on playability, we highly recommend the Blessing BBTB-62R bass trombone for advanced band programs.
Just like the video, the sales pitch seems to indicate that nobody involved with the development of the instrument has actually played a bass trombone.

EDIT: I wonder why they went with the nickel-silver slide? They don't bother to explain it.

ttf_GetzenBassPlayer · Tue Jan 30, 2018 7:26 pm

Quote from: John Beers Jr. on Jan 30, 2018, 05:47PM http://www.blessingbrass.com/instrument/bbtb-62r/

Just like the video, the sales pitch seems to indicate that nobody involved with the development of the instrument has actually played a bass trombone.

EDIT: I wonder why they went with the nickel-silver slide? They don't bother to explain it.

I have a nickel slide for my Edwards CRE. I also have the brass version of the slide. I feel like the horn is slightly more responsive and has more color in the sound than with the all brass version of the slide. It could be an attempt to bring the more to the center in terms of sound and control. Just a huge guess.

ttf_Driving Park · Post by **ttf_Driving Park** » Wed Jan 31, 2018 8:30 am

Looks like every Chinese Yamaha 830 clone ever.

ttf_Elkhart 88H · Post by **ttf_Elkhart 88H** » Wed Jan 31, 2018 8:59 am

Aren't all the Blessing brasses Jin Bao stencils now? St. Louis Music, which bought Blessing from Powell Flutes, closed the old Elkhart plant, so I don't believe the company has any manufacturing capability of its own.

ttf_bubbachet · Post by **ttf_bubbachet** » Wed Jan 31, 2018 9:17 am

Quote from: Driving Park on Jan 31, 2018, 08:30AMLooks like every Chinese Yamaha 830 clone ever.

Yup.

ttf_blast · Post by **ttf_blast** » Wed Jan 31, 2018 10:04 am

No, it doesn't look like an 830 clone.....not if you look more carefully. What it does have is large elements of the bass I just designed for Wessex.... even before it properly hits the market. I find that really disappointing. The Chinese should respect designs that they are asked to make, at least until they are established in the market. I really hope they have managed to screw it up in some way.

Chris Stearn

ttf_bonesmarsh · Post by **ttf_bonesmarsh** » Thu Feb 01, 2018 3:52 am

Chris,

You're kidding right? Either your post is the greatest example of sarcasm, and you're a master satirist, or this is really a surprise to you. ??

Your intellectual property, gleaned from 50 professional years, and your experience working with the best of the boutique makers, is suddenly stolen by a competitor of your new friends, and you are surprised?

By the way, I have done something myself recently that WILL set the world on it's ear. This is for your next project. I had my tech graft the F attachment from a '66 TR-185 Holton bass trombone, onto a mint 1960 Olds Opera. Now I have a solid nickle silver .554 bore tenor trombone, as played by Curtis Fuller in his prime, with the best F attachment in the world.
Pull to bE and it has the best low BB in the world...even better than my old Conn 60H or Elkhart 72H.
Stick in a small tenor mouthpiece, and it is a tenor, stick in a large tenor mouthpiece, and it is the greatest large tenor in the world. Plug in a vintage sized Wick 2NAL...and it is the best commercial bass bone NEVER made.
Honest, Chris, half the effort of a Rath bass, with all of the sound, in solid nickle silver.
Don't bother having Wessex knock it off, mate.........there will be one from Blessing on the market three weeks after they read this post here on TTF.............. ha hha ha hhahahah ah hahahahahhhahahhahahhahahaha

ttf_bonesmarsh · Post by **ttf_bonesmarsh** » Thu Feb 01, 2018 4:49 am

Chris, please check your email, I've sent you four or five great photos of how well my tech added the Holton part to the Olds Opera.
Working with two perfect horns, and a perfect tech, the results are breathtaking.

ttf_hyperbolica · Post by **ttf_hyperbolica** » Thu Feb 01, 2018 5:18 am

Quote from: bonesmarsh on Feb 01, 2018, 03:52AMYour intellectual property, gleaned from 50 professional years, and your experience working with the best of the boutique makers, is suddenly stolen by a competitor of your new friends, and you are surprised?

Ha! Stolen? Hardly. Dollars to donuts it was given away, or its the same people, same tooling even. That's the value the Chinese place on your experience and skill. The whole Chinese instrument market is a deal with the devil. I've bought 3 Wessex instruments, and the Wessex people are upstanding individuals,but their asian counterparts don't give 2 figs for intellectual property. Its not just this industry. This is how Chinese manufacturing has grown so much - they don't do or buy any product development. Design is free and they use your tooling.

ttf_blast · Post by **ttf_blast** » Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:40 am

Quote from: bonesmarsh on Feb 01, 2018, 03:52AMChris,

You're kidding right? Either your post is the greatest example of sarcasm, and you're a master satirist, or this is really a surprise to you. ??

Your intellectual property, gleaned from 50 professional years, and your experience working with the best of the boutique makers, is suddenly stolen by a competitor of your new friends, and you are surprised?

By the way, I have done something myself recently that WILL set the world on it's ear. This is for your next project. I had my tech graft the F attachment from a '66 TR-185 Holton bass trombone, onto a mint 1960 Olds Opera. Now I have a solid nickle silver .554 bore tenor trombone, as played by Curtis Fuller in his prime, with the best F attachment in the world.
Pull to bE and it has the best low BB in the world...even better than my old Conn 60H or Elkhart 72H.
Stick in a small tenor mouthpiece, and it is a tenor, stick in a large tenor mouthpiece, and it is the greatest large tenor in the world. Plug in a vintage sized Wick 2NAL...and it is the best commercial bass bone NEVER made.
Honest, Chris, half the effort of a Rath bass, with all of the sound, in solid nickle silver.
Don't bother having Wessex knock it off, mate.........there will be one from Blessing on the market three weeks after they read this post here on TTF.............. ha hha ha hhahahah ah hahahahahhhahahhahahhahahaha

I know there are Chinese makers who will stick any name on any trombone as long as the money is right.... actually, pretty much any of them, but it would be nice to at least establish a model before it is passed off as the work of a rival.
Nice that you are so pleased with your new toy... I have always liked the nickel silver Olds Opera tenor. It looks very pretty.... dark but clear at the same time... Now a nickel silver Bb/F Rath R8 with a 9" bell... that would be something special..... well, actually, it IS something special as I have such a beast

Chris Stearn

ttf_bonesmarsh · Post by **ttf_bonesmarsh** » Fri Feb 02, 2018 4:31 pm

Quite so, Chris.

I did have a minty sterling silver '63 King Symphony in .536/.546..... this is nothing like that. Tough to say what the Opera/TR-185 is...... let's just say that the two octave leaps in the Bach 'cello suites are effortless....the trigger pitches sound and more importantly, feel, exactly like the horn two octaves higher.

As for the Blessing?
Go to Alibaba, the Chinese wholesale website, sort of like ebay. Most Chinese bass bones are available for $27US to $59US, depending on the size of the order. Why conduct industrial espionage when you can just buy the thing you want to clone for $27.

I always wanted a Fuchs..especially when I tried a great R4F from Rath..if it were just a tad larger... well, now I do have that horn just a tad larger. The next experiment is to see if I can get a stock .554/.562 1955 S-23 slide to give me the classic Allen Ostrander vibe on a bell as small as 8 1/2". His Conn 70H bell he used for his whole career was just a smidge over 9 1/8" as I recall him tell us in a masterclass........

ttf_bonesmarsh · Post by **ttf_bonesmarsh** » Fri Feb 02, 2018 4:31 pm

Quite so, Chris.

I did have a minty sterling silver '63 King Symphony in .536/.546..... this is nothing like that. Tough to say what the Opera/TR-185 is...... let's just say that the two octave leaps in the Bach 'cello suites are effortless....the trigger pitches sound and more importantly, feel, exactly like the horn two octaves higher.

As for the Blessing?
Go to Alibaba, the Chinese wholesale website, sort of like ebay. Most Chinese bass bones are available for $27US to $59US, depending on the size of the order. Why conduct industrial espionage when you can just buy the thing you want to clone for $27.

I always wanted a Fuchs..especially when I tried a great R4F from Rath..if it were just a tad larger... well, now I do have that horn just a tad larger. The next experiment is to see if I can get a stock .554/.562 1955 S-23 slide to give me the classic Allen Ostrander vibe on a bell as small as 8 1/2". His Conn 70H bell he used for his whole career was just a smidge over 9 1/8" as I recall him tell us in a masterclass........