TromboneChat

I ran across this recently and am curious if anyone has ever seen this type of custom job on a bass. Would also welcome any speculation on what impact this style might have on airflow, resistance, response, etc. I believe this might be on some flavor of a 50B.

Thanks

The main point of that particular wrap was to put the valves in G/E.

I think the main priorities were probably pretty simple:
1. Make a cool-looking F/G wrap
2. Keep it compact and avoid having it stick way out the back
3. Possibly allow for a pull to E/Gb
4. And, most importantly, make it look cool!

As for the speculation about airflow, resistance, response, etc., my takeaway is that players tend to adapt to whatever they’re playing. Unless you’re comparing two setups that are truly identical aside from the neckpipe and valves, I’m not sure you can draw many useful conclusions from the wrap alone.
Most custom builds end up with custom leadpipes, tuning slide adjustments, or other tweaks anyway, so a lot of the final airflow/resistance/response is going to be dialed in to suit the player rather than determined purely by the visual style of the wrap.

Burgerbob wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2026 12:11 pm The main point of that particular wrap was to put the valves in G/E.

Thanks!! Most helpful.

Burgerbob wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2026 12:11 pm The main point of that particular wrap was to put the valves in G/E.

The thumb valve looks like an F to me.

Apologies for my terrible graphics skills, but here's an image with the thumb valve wrap traced in red: That looks about right to be an F wrap; kinda like pre-WWII Williams flat wrap, but spread out a bit.

The second valve is a little harder to judge, but it looks a bit too long to be G, particularly with that 180 crook in the loop.

If im not wrong, either a 50B3 with the same exact wrap or this very horn was sold by The Instrument Barn last year. I remember seeing one with that very wrap on that site. it wasn't a very expensive horn either on there if i remember correctly.

JohnL wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2026 6:39 pm

Burgerbob wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2026 12:11 pm The main point of that particular wrap was to put the valves in G/E.

The thumb valve looks like an F to me.

It is G/E/D. This was originally built for Sesquitone, perhaps he will chime in.