Bach 42AF Stradivarius Trombone Outfit w/Infinity Axial Flow Valve

Trombones - New

  • Bach

    Trombone Outfit w/Infinity Axial Flow Valve

    The Bach Stradivarius 42AF is a professional large bore (0.547") symphonic trombone with a new generation "Infinity" Thayer valve and open wrap F attachment. The Bach 42 series trombone has defined the modern symphonic trombone sound. It has been copied in whole or part by many other makers, from large manufacturers to small specialty makers. The 42's characteristic sound is dark and resonant, with little edge and great carrying power. Like many of Vincent Bach's designs, it is famous for its ability to"slot," and for its uniformity of tone throughout its scale and dynamic range. It is especially well suited for orchestral work, where it can disappear into, subtly blend with or completely dominate an ensemble.

    New for 2011, the 42AF is the replacement for the venerable 42T and features three major improvements over the earlier model.

    • First is the valve. The "Infinity" thayer axial flow (AF) valve on this model is unique in that it employs an upper and lower roller bearing assembly to support the valve core. These bearings are similar to those used in precision machine andautomotive applications. They support and align the valve core which eliminates surface wear and allows for an air-tight seal, two issues that have been problematic in the axial flow valve design since it first appeared in the 1980's. This lightning fastvalve is complimented with a new miniball valve linkage which makes for a design that's comfortable, fast, tight and responsive.
    • Second is the handslide. Bach has adopted a new state of the art slide manufacturing process that employs a pre-polishing stage. The result is a slide that is truely world class. Gone are the days of hiss and scratch. The new slides are fast,even and nearly silent. And as a bonus, the slide lock has been improved for worry free operation.
    • Third is a new fixture-mounted construction process. This results not only in improved alignment of parts, but also better resonance and thus improved sound.
    General features include:
    • 8.5" one-piece hand-hammered bell. A one-piece bell generally gives a better response over two-piece designs due to the lack of the additional solder joint at the bell flare.
    • Yellow brass bell material. Though subject to debate, yellow brass is often thought to make for better projection with more clarity than red, rose or gold brass.
    • Infinity Axial Flow Valve. The Bach Infinity valve provides for an uninterrupted airflow through or past the F attachment. Conical shaped, and rotating about its axis on precision roller bearings, the valve provides a straight-through air path with no resistance whatsoever. Axial Flow valves make the horn especially open and free-blowing, allow the F attachment notes to match the open horn in both tone and feel, and makes for a fuller low register.
    • Brass outer slide tubes. Brass outer tubes are generally thought to help produce a darker, more intense sound with great projection that is less apt to "break up" at high volume levels.
    • Seamless chrome-plated nickel silver inner slide tubes. The lack of a seam helps make the inner tubes perfectly round—they don't flatten or bulge at the seam. This, together with the polished nickel finish makes the action quick, light and quiet.
    • Nickel silver slide handgrips. Lacquered nickel grips resist corrosion far better than brass grips and also prevent staining of your skin.
    • Tubular nickel silver body braces. Nickel braces are lightweight and tough, reducing weight and increasing body integrity.
    • Bach 6.5A mouthpiece. The 6.5A is a decent mouthpiece for this horn. It can be swapped for a 5G (a better match for experienced players) or any other in-stock Bach mouthpiece of similar cost at no additional charge.
    • Wood shell case. Bach's case is protective and durable. New shaped design is slimmer than previous models and features latches instead of zippers.
    • Metal cleaning rod. Standard with every Bach Strad trombone. You're going to need one anyway, and this saves you the expense later on.
    Most Appropriate Music: Classical, Commercial, Pop.
    Most Appropriate Ensembles: Orchestra, Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, Marching Band, Brass Quintet/Brass Ensemble. Chamber Ensembles.


    (Hickeys' Bach Trombone page)
    (Bach AF brochure)

    • Category: Trombones - New
    • Item: 088200
    • Grade/Level: Professional
    • Our Price: $5352.00  MSRP: $7814.00 Save: $2462.00 (31%)

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Woodwind Instrumentation Codes

Following many of the titles in our Wind Ensemble catalog, you will see a set of numbers enclosed in square brackets, as in this example:

Description Price
Rimsky-Korsakov
Quintet in Bb [1011-1 w/piano]
Item: 26746		 $28.75

The bracketed numbers tell you the precise instrumentation of the ensemble. The first number stands for Flute, the second for Oboe, the third for Clarinet, the fourth for Bassoon, and the fifth (separated from the woodwinds by a dash) is for Horn. Any additional instruments (Piano in this example) are indicated by "w/" (meaning "with") or by using a plus sign.

Flute   Oboe   Clarinet   Bassoon   —   Horn

This woodwind quartet is for 1 Flute, no Oboe, 1 Clarinet, 1 Bassoon, 1 Horn and Piano.

Sometimes there are instruments in the ensemble other than those shown above. These are linked to their respective principal instruments with either a "d" if the same player doubles the instrument, or a "+" if an extra player is required. Whenever this occurs, we will separate the first four digits with commas for clarity. Thus a double reed quartet of 2 oboes, english horn and bassoon will look like this:

0,2+1,0,1-0

Note the "2+1" portion means "2 oboes plus english horn"

Titles with no bracketed numbers are assumed to use "Standard Instrumentation." The following is considered to be Standard Instrumentation:

Brass Instrumentation Codes

Following many of the titles in our Brass Ensemble catalog, you will see a set of five numbers enclosed in square brackets, as in this example:

Description Price
Copland
Fanfare for the Common Man [343.01 w/tympani]
Item: 02158		 $14.95

The bracketed numbers tell you how many of each instrument are in the ensemble. The first number stands for Trumpet, the second for Horn, the third for Trombone, the fourth (separated from the first three by a dot) for Euphonium and the fifth for Tuba. Any additional instruments (Tympani in this example) are indicated by a "w/" (meaning "with") or by using a plus sign.

Trumpet     Horn     Trombone   .   Euphonium     Tuba

Thus, the Copland Fanfare shown above is for 3 Trumpets, 4 Horns, 3 Trombones, no Euphonium, 1 Tuba and Tympani. There is no separate number for Bass Trombone, but it can generally be assumed that if there are multiple Trombone parts, the lowest part can/should be performed on Bass Trombone.

Titles listed in our catalog without bracketed numbers are assumed to use "Standard Instrumentation." The following is considered to be Standard Instrumentation:

People often ask us about "PJBE" or "Philip Jones" instrumentation. This is a special instrumentation adopted and perfected by the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. It consists of the forces 414.01, and often includes Percussion and/or Tympani. In addition, there are often doublings in the Trumpet section - Piccolo and Flugelhorn being the most common. While this instrumentation has come to be common, it is still not "Standard" as many Brass Dectets use very different forces, most often with more Horns than PJBE.

String Instrumentation Codes

Following many of the titles in our String Ensemble catalog, you will see a set of four numbers enclosed in square brackets, as in this example:

Description Price
Atwell
Vance's Dance [0220]
Item: 32599		 $8.95

These numbers tell you how many of each instrument are in the ensemble. The first number stands for Violin, the second for Viola, the third for Cello, and the fourth for Double Bass. Thus, this string quartet is for 2 Violas and 2 Cellos, rather than the usual 2110. Titles with no bracketed numbers are assumed to use "Standard Instrumentation." The following is considered to be Standard Instrumentation:

Orchestra & Band Instrumentation Codes

Following some titles in our Orchestra & Band catalogs, you will see a numeric code enclosed in square brackets, as in these examples:

  Order Qty Description Price
Beethoven
Symphony No 1 in C, op 21
[2,2,2,2-2,2,0,0, tymp, 44322] 		$150.00
Jones
Wind Band Overture
[2+1,1,3+ac+bc,2,SATB-2+2,4,3+1,1, tymp, percussion, double bass] 		$85.00
MacKenzie
Hines Pond Fantasy (DePaolo)
[2d1+1,1,2+1,1-2,2(+2),3,0, perc, tymp, 44322, Eb clarinet, SAATB saxes, trombone solo] 		$75.00

The bracketed numbers tell you the precise instrumentation of the ensemble. The system used above is standard in the orchestra music field. The first set of numbers (before the dash) represent the Woodwinds. The set of numbers after the dash represent the Brass. Percussion is abbreviated following the brass. Strings are represented with a series of five digits representing the quantity of each part (first violin, second violin, viola, cello, bass). Other Required and Solo parts follow the strings:

Woodwinds—Brass,   Percussion,   Strings,   Other

Principal auxilary instruments (piccolo, english horn, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, wagner tuba, cornet & euphonium) are linked to their respective instruments with either a "d" if the same player doubles the auxiliary instrument, or a "+" if an extra player is required. Instruments shown in parenthesis are optional and may be omitted.

Example 1 - Beethoven:

[2,2,2,2-2,2,0,0, tymp, 44322]

The Beethoven example is typical of much Classical and early Romantic fare. In this case, the winds are all doubled (2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets and 2 bassoons), and there are two each horns and trumpets. There is no low brass. There is tympani. Strings are a standard 44322 configuration (4 first violin, 4 second violin, 3 viola, 2 cello, 2 bass). Sometimes strings are simply listed as "str," which means 44322 strings.

Example 2 - Jones: (concert band/wind ensemble example)

[2+1,1,3+ac+bc,2,SAATB-2+2,4,3+1,1, tymp, percussion, double bass]

The second example is common for a concert band or wind ensemble piece. This ficticious work is for 2 flutes (plus piccolo), 1 oboe, 3 clarinets plus alto and bass clarinets, 2 bassoons, 5 saxes (soprano, 2 altos, tenor & bari), 2 trumpets (plus 2 cornets), 3 trombones, euphonium, tuba, tympani, percussion and double bass. Note the inclusion of the saxes after bassoon for this band work. Note also that the separate euphonium part is attached to trombone with a plus sign. For orchestral music, saxes are at the end (see Saxophones below. It is highly typical of band sets to have multiple copies of parts, especially flute, clarinet, sax, trumpet, trombone & percussion. Multiples, if any, are not shown in this system. The numbers represent only distinct parts, not the number of copies of a part.

Example 3 - MacKenzie: (a fictional work, by the way).

[2d1+1,1,2+1,1-2,2(+2),3,0, perc, tymp, 66432, Eb clarinet, SAATB saxes, trombone solo]

In the third example, we have a rather extreme use of the system. It is an orchestral work for piccolo, 2 flutes (1 of whom doubles on piccolo), 1 oboe, 2 clarinets plus an additional bass clarinet, 1 bassoon, 2 horns, 2 trumpets (plus an optional 2 cornets), 3 trombones, no tuba, percussion, tympani, 6 first violins, 6 second violins, 4 violas, 3 cellos, 2 double basses, Eb clarinet (as an additional chair, not doubled), 5 saxes (soprano, 2 alto, tenor & baritone) & a trombone soloist.

Note: This system lists Horn before Trumpet. This is standard orchestral nomenclature. Unless otherwise noted, we will use this system for both orchestra and band works (in most band scores, Trumpet precedes Horn, and sometimes Oboe & Bassoon follow Clarinet). Also, it should be noted that Euphonium can be doubled by either Trombone or Tuba. Typically, orchestra scores have the tuba linked to euphonium, but it does happen where Trombone is the principal instead.

Saxophones, when included in orchestral music (they rarely are) will be shown in the "other instrument" location after strings and before the soloist, if any. However for band music, they are commonly present and therefore will be indicated after bassoon as something similar to "SAATB" where S=soprano, A=alto, T=tenor and B=baritone. Letters that are duplicated (as in A in this example) indicate multiple parts.

And finally, here is one more way to visualize the above code sequence: