Posted by Brian Frederiksen on June 30, 1999 at 10:46:15:
In Reply to: Getzen G50 & G60 posted by james on June 29, 1999 at 20:40:27:
I am one of the few that play the G-50 in both CC and BB flat. I play it in B flat in brass bands (sorry, I'm to lazy to learn the transposition from treble clef B flat to CC).
Anyway, the horn does play darker in B flat and, since more tubing is added before the plays a bit stuffier. As far as intonation, the key is positioning the slides properly. I pull them from the top on the third and forth valves and use the bottom slides for my normal CC positions. Finding the right location for the slides is an area that you need to work with a tuner.
As far as switching the rotor, I keep a rubber band on the valve cluster and use it to keep the rotor down when needed. This way I can switch the horn from CC to B flat in about 30 seconds.
As an experiment once, during a summer orchestra concert, I switched from CC to B flat for one piece - asked the trombone section if they could tell a difference in my sound. They thought it was the same! When I told them I switched the key of the horn, they were all amazed.