Playlite spares

[Wheezygardener]

Hi, does anyone know of a supplier of spares for a playlite hybrid euph? Specifically a water key in black to replace a snapped one. I tried Gear4Music who were spectacularly unhelpful and will only supply spares if you bought direct from them. Thanks

 

[2nd tenor]

There have been a couple of alternative suppliers for plastic Trumpets and Trombones but I’m not sure about the competition for the bigger instruments. My suspicion is the gear4Music put their own brand on something manufactured by others. A long while back I noticed the Tiger Brand of plastic instruments but whether they are still being made or not I do not know, if the parent company has gone that might explain limited spares availability. Amazon U.K. () pictures show both the tiger and gear4Music versions.

A look at this site might help but I couldn’t locate Rheinsound Instruments on the web ...

DAVID TUBA :: ANALYSIS OF PLASTIC TUBA

DAVID TUBA, Analysis of plastic tuba

blog.davidtuba.com

 

[Wheezygardener]

Thanks for that info. I think you're right, the company have now gone. can't find them anywhere. Cheers

 

[2nd tenor]

Thanks for that info. I think you're right, the company have now gone. can't find them anywhere. Cheers

It’s anybody’s guess what has happened there and, of course, they might have been bought out by someone else or have sold their tooling to somebody else. By chance I noticed that Classic Cantabile sell a similar range of plastic instruments so perhaps you might get some joy or more details from them? If you have photographs and dimensions of the part you’d like then that might help them identify a suitable/functional common spare part. Kirsten are a German company but I understand that English might well be used by commerce there too, worth a try.

Suche

www.kirstein.de

Edit. I note that when Mardibrass (Classic Cantabile Brand?) is entered into eBay a lot of results come up from U.K. sellers. Maybe more avenues to explore?

Edit. Thomann sell something very similar branded Startone. See: Startone PEP-20 Bb- Euphonium Blue

 

[Jack E]

By chance I noticed that Classic Cantabile sell a similar range of plastic instruments so perhaps you might get some joy or more details from them? If you have photographs and dimensions of the part you’d like then that might help them identify a suitable/functional common spare part. Kirsten are a German company but I understand that English might well be used by commerce there too, worth a try.

Suche

www.kirstein.de

@Wheezygardener - I bought something from Kirstein a few months ago, and if you e-mail them in English, they will reply in English, so no problem there.
HTH

Jack

 

[Jack E]

@Wheezygardener - I've been digging around on the 'net, and came across an alternative supplier who might be able to help, even though they don't sell plastic euphs. Norman's of Burton on Trent sell the pTrumpet and pCornet, so I wonder if one of their water keys might do the job?
The other alternative is to take it to an instrument repairer. Somebody had obviously lost or broken the original water key on my Bach trombone, and bodged it up with a water key which was much too long, and a spring which was twisted all over the place, with the pad only just touching on one side of the hole. I took it to Hanson's:

Hanson Music and Arts

Local music shop near me in Marsden, West Yorkshire, England.

www.hansonmusic.co.uk

and they fitted a new water key while I waited. It was clear from talking to to their techie that fitting a replacement water key for all sorts of instruments was a routine job - so I'm pretty sure that any brass instrument repairer could help you out, even if a spare from the pTrumpet wasn't available.
Another possibility is a water key from the Tromba range - they make plastic trombones and trumpets, and there are a number of British suppliers, including Hayes Music, Tocaviva, Rimmer's Music, Cooke's Pianos, and Ackerman Music.
HTH

Jack