First Impressions: New Bach C190SL (229 bell-25M pipe - .462 bore).

First Impressions: Bach C190SL (229 bell-25M pipe - .462 bore).
Dr. Jack Burt, University of Maine.
Playlist: 1. Pictures 0:05 2. Petrouchka 0:44 3. Petrouchka (on rotary) 1:15 4. Alpine 1:42
5. Charlier #9 3:14 6. Honegger 4:02 7. Charlier #2 4:46 8. Enesco 5:37 9. Bartok 5:59
10. Mahler 5 6:30 11. Domestica 8:25.
For decades, the Bach Stradivarius was the reference piston C trumpet sound, for both players and instrument makers. The sounds of Herseth, Adelstein, Gil Johnson, and Phil Smith, etc. remain iconic American trumpet sounds. As Gabor Tarkövi said to me in an interview (coming soon in the ITG Journal): "America is rightfully very proud of its trumpet sound, and that sound is a Bach sound."
I haven't played a Bach C for a long time, reasons being: workmanship issues, playability issues, intonation issues, as well as Bach being so slow and unresponsive about special orders. There are a lot of very nice C trumpets on the market now. Over the past 30 years I've played most of them, and owned a few, with varying degrees of satisfaction.
I recently interviewed Mike Sachs (also coming soon in ITG!), and his enthusiasm about the new Bach C190SL229 convinced me to try it. He had a large hand in its development, in particular with the design of the new 25M pipe. I bought one at Virtuosity Music in Boston in mid-February, and I've spent a few weeks getting to know it, and I think it's a fabulous trumpet!
As the horn and I got to know each other, it took me a while to settle on the right mouthpiece. I tried many of my old mouthpieces: a Bach 1B rim/5B cup/25 throat/S backbore; a Pickett 1BC/25/#10-2/26, a Parke Merkelo model, and a few others. Eventually, I found that a new (to me) Bach "Symphonic Series" 1C/24 throat/24 backbore worked the best. (FYI, these horns are shipped with a similar 1.5C/24 throat/24 backbore... I'm just a 1 Rim kind of guy.)
I was curious how the horn sounded from the other side of the bell, so, entirely for fun, I patched together a video of excerpts, etudes and solos; unprepared, and off the top of my head. I recorded them in a nice room at UMaine, with a Roland digital recorder and a camera, at the distance of about 8 feet. The audio is pretty accurate, maybe a little "close", but it serves the purpose. (Please excuse the slight video lag...)
I think the critical quality of an top-line orchestral C trumpet should be the balance between projection and blend. Lately, I have felt that many models stress playability and projection over sound and blend. Happily, this horn offers "zing" and warmth in equal measures. It has a beautiful sound: broad, alive, and overtone rich. It has a smooth, easy response, a free, open feel, great intonation, and the nicest upper register of any piston C I have ever played.
Give it a listen. This is pretty much how I want to sound on a piston C. No horn is right for everyone or every situation, but I think this trumpet will please a lot of people. I haven't played a better Strad.
Congratulations to Bach and Mike Sachs!
PS: I tossed in a couple of licks on my Schagerl Berlin Heavy C, just because I was curious about the comparison...