Hi VDF'ers,
I am very newbie, but love this forum so far.
I'm looking for a decent 3-octave vibe set for my son.
He is 12, an aspiring jazz musician.
And my Sweetie would like to stop moving the school's big Musser set back & forth.
I can repair a lot of things, and would be willing to look at projects, as long as the set is complete or at least parts can be found.
Any suggestions are appreciated. We are in southeastern Mass.
Thanks, Pete
Hi - You may not find set of vibes on this site. I haven't been here that long, but yours is the first vibes post I've seen. From my experience, the best all-around vibes for both tone and ease of travel are Musser M-55. Even though you've got a young player, consider spending a few extra bucks for an instrument with graduated bars (wider on the low notes). If he sticks with it, you will be upgrading to a graduated bar instrument eventually. I've been tracking M-55 values for some time now. You don't see many for sale, but if you can find a used one, it will hold its value better than most others. You will see plenty of cheaper models that may tempt you, but don't buy a 2 1/2 octave set.
Best of luck on your search.
jim
ps - I have no relationship with: www.malletshop.com
But I do visit just to drool from time to time.
pss- for vibe lovers everywhere, this performance of "Afro Blue" is stunning:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKA7Jm8BB_w[/ame]
Thanks auto.pilot. I'll keep that in mind. M-55's i've found are pricey, but I'm willing to pay for quality.
btw....any 3-octave lemons or troublesome sets to keep away from?
Pete
Jenco gets a bad wrap. I've played on only one set of Jenco, which was for sale near me but way overpriced. The seller paid something like $800 for them, then proceeded to spend another $400 to fix them up. When it was all said and done, he had himself a set of vibes worth about $750. They didn't sound too bad, but nothing like Musser M-55.
From my limited Vibes experience, it's probably best to spend a few extra bucks up front on a used set, because the values seem to hold up well. A $2000 M-55 today was a $2000 set 5-8 years ago and will likely retain that value for many years if not abused. I also like Yamaha vibes. Great tone.
Best of luck. Nice to hear of a young vibes player. I'm heading out to see Gary Burton at the Detroit Jazz Festival on Labor Day and really looking forward to it. I don't think he's been to Detroit for several years.
jim
VIBES HAVE BEEN BOUGHT.
PLEASE DISREGARD THE "WTB VIBES" POST.
Hi Jim: Well....not the best set found, but not too bad either!
We picked up a Jenco 3 Octave set.
S/N B06241133
It is complete, has cases, and sounds good (to me anyway!).
$1,000.
It will need some small cosmetic work...Mother of Pearl laminate needs some adheisive, the butterfly shafts could use a clean & lube, and the short end of the frame (motor end) is a little loose where the 2 joists meet the header (I'm construction minded).
Looks like some one may have cut all the cord eyelets at an angle so the bars could be easily removed/reset for transport. Some sloppy grinding or cutting. It looks like this set has been around town many times.
From my research, I think we paid an average price. Certainly not a steal.
But my Sweatpea is done lugging vibes around town for my son. And he is trilled to have his own set. He liked the "Afro Blue" Tube you posted.
Thanks, Pete
There's nothing wrong with Jenco vibes. I've had 3 sets over the years. I've played my current set side-by-side with a One-Niter, and they sounded different, but equally "good". The vibes to watch out for are the vibes with bars narrower than 1.5" wide, in ANY brand, but then again, even the steel-bar models pre-dating WW2 with narrow bars sound great in their own way...
Good news on your purchase. That sounds like a fair price. I agree that not all Jenco were poor instruments. Those cut-outs may be original. I've seen them both ways.
Love to see a picture!
I was fortunate to catch Gary Burton from the front row at the Detroit Jazz festival on Labor Day. He stared the set with Afro Blue. His current quartet is amazing.
jim
I was fortunate to catch Gary Burton from the front row at the Detroit Jazz festival on Labor Day. He stared the set with Afro Blue. His current quartet is amazing.
I got to see Gary Burton play a few years back in a duo with Chick Corea. Front row, treated by one of my older students who also bought me some shots of Jack beforehand. All I can say is...wow! What. A. Performance!
Guys, Thanks for the replies. Makes me feel pretty good about the purchase. I'll get some pic's when I can.
The Burton shows sound awesome. I am going to look for him local, and bring our young mallet man.
On another note...he just got accepted to the local symphony youth orchestra ! We are proud. First rehearsal saw him on bass drum, crash cymbal and a little bit of timpani. He wants more timp, but he is the rookie....we'll see. They have an Adams Set, must be 8 feet long (marimba?). Very impressive. We are not getting one of those in my small house !!!
Pete
