Edwards Factory

Today I went with Dan Howe and Jake Hammond to the Edwards Factory. (They make trombones and trumpets. It was SOOOO cool! Dan was getting a mouthpiece fitting. There are two guys who are in charge of testing the trombones and helping customers find the right trombone setup/mouthpiece for them. Their names are Christian and Ron. They spent probably fourty-five minutes handing him different mouthpieces and saying, "Okay, what do you like/dislike about that one?" Then they'd give him a different one to try. When they finally found the one he liked the best, they were still all, "I don't really think the tone is quite centered. Let me adjust something for you." Then they'd take it to the back room and grind down the shaft or tweak it somehow other then bring it back out and be like, "Okay, try it now." They finally got it how they wanted it, and then Dan was all, "Can I try some of your trombones?" All their trombones have interchangeable parts. You can change the shaft, the bell, the valve system, etc. So they custom designed a trombone for him much the same way as the mouthpiece. He'd play and they'd be all, "Hmm.. your low register seems fuzzy...try this bell." It was so cool! And the guy who was helping him out basically gave him a mini-lesson right there. He was all, "Make sure you play this rhythm this way," and, "Make sure you make it sound like a waltz," etc. It was so cool! I felt like I was in a masters class. Then we took a tour of the factory. We got to watch them making trombones. It was the coolest thing ever! Then the dude was all, "Jenn, you want to try some mouthpieces?" And I was kind of hesitant, but he was like, "You really need to try them!" So I did, and I found one I really liked, but it was tres expensive. Maybe someday when I'm rich I'll get it. = ) Anyway, it was probably the coolest music-related thing I've ever done. Here are some pics:

These are a bunch of valve systems they had hanging up in their workshop.

Take notice of the third name from the bottom: J. Alessi. He's quite possibly the leading trombonist alive right now. Awesome!

This was in the warehouse. I thought it was a cool picture. If you click on it to enlarge it, you can see all the different bells and things that are hanging up on the wall.

This was in their workshop. Ron, one of the main dudes, tests out each component of each trombone before they sell it. These are all the ones he's tested out.