TromboneChat

I fell down a rabbit hole of Bill Watrous videos on YouTube, and noticed something that made me curious enough to ask our corner of trombonedom...

Did Mr. Watrous have his shank modified to sit deeper into the leadpipe? I know he played on a Bach 16M, with what I think I remember being told was an old Bach 11C mouthpiece. In the videos, and in photos I've seen, his mouthpiece is fully seated in the leadpipe all the way up to the rings.

It was just something I noticed, and was curious enough to ask about. I'm not looking to change my own equipment to match.

Thanks, for any insight you guys may have!

Terry

Possibly. I played his Mouthpiece a few times when we studied together; I found it remarkably dark and open-- so much so that it bordered on unplayable for me haha. A shorter shank could explain that but I also believe his leadpipe in his horn was distinct from other 16ms.

I have a tape of his masterclass from the late 90's. He comments that the shank on his 11C was worn out from using it "for years and years and YEARS and years" and that one of these days he'll have to have it "plated over about a thousand times" to get it back to where it's supposed to sit. Sure didn't seem to affect his playing!

I played a jazz horn for a while, and I went from a 6 1/2 to the Bill Watrous mouthpiece, which is a 8 1/2 BW.

It is a shallow cup with a fairly wide rim. It was nice, but I prefer a large horn with a 5g.

tromboneVan wrote: ↑Thu Jun 06, 2019 2:53 pm I played a jazz horn for a while, and I went from a 6 1/2 to the Bill Watrous mouthpiece, which is a 8 1/2 BW.

It is a shallow cup with a fairly wide rim. It was nice, but I prefer a large horn with a 5g.

Bill always played an 11C.

Interesting. do you know anything about 8 1/2 BW?

Anyway there is a custom Bill Watrous mouthpiece, that maybe he never played on , but Bach still produces it. Call me a conspiracy theorist but I played on one for a year.

"The Bach 8½BW Tenor Trombone Mouthpiece is for brass players with heavy lips who need support to prevent the rim from digging in. This mouthpiece is well liked by musicians who do strenuous work and is very good for parade work to absorb shock."

With the 8.5BW, the “B” stands for the cup depth, and the “W” stands for the wide rim, not for Bill Watrous”

Bill was in the Navy in the early 1960's, so he probably did "strenuous work" and "parade work" with "heavy lips."

So the BW must mean Bill Watrous. And I bet his shoe size was 8-1/2.

Doug Elliott wrote: ↑Wed Jun 26, 2019 3:58 pm Bill was in the Navy in the early 1960's, so he probably did "strenuous work" and "parade work" with "heavy lips."

So the BW must mean Bill Watrous. And I bet his shoe size was 8-1/2.

And Bill was addicted to watching the 1963 Fellini movie of the same name!

Doug Elliott wrote: ↑Thu Jun 06, 2019 6:47 pm Bill always played an 11C.

And not just any 11C, but the one he played for decades and pretty much wore out.

Bill was not one to readily make changes in his habits, equipment, etc.