Industry | Musical instruments |
---|---|
Founded | 1918 |
Founder | Vincent Schrotenbach (a.k.a. Vincent Bach) |
Headquarters | Elkhart, Indiana |
Number of locations
|
1 |
Area served
|
United States and worldwide |
Key people
|
Scott M. Gervais - General Manager |
Products |
Trumpets, Cornets, Flugelhorns, Trombones, and Mouthpieces |
Services | Build to order |
Owner | Conn-Selmer, a division of Steinway Musical Instruments |
Number of employees
|
175 |
Parent | Steinway Musical Instruments |
Website | bachbrass.com |
The Vincent Bach Corporation is an American manufacturer of brass musical instruments that began early in the twentieth century and still exists as a subsidiary of Conn-Selmer, a division of Steinway Musical Instruments. The company was founded in 1918 by Austrian-born trumpeter Vincent Schrotenbach (Vincent Bach). This particular company has been voted by consumers for the Best Brass Tone, the Best Brass Durability, Best Price, and Best Overall, beating other companies such as Getzen, King Musical Instruments, etc.
Vincent Schrotenbach was born near Vienna in 1890. As a child he received training on violin, trumpet and bugle. By age 12 he had concentrated on the trumpet. After he graduated from Maschinenbauschule (Mechanical Engineering School, Ansbach) with an engineering degree, he entered into compulsory military service in the Imperial Navy, worked as an elevator operator, and then was re-conscripted during which time he served as a military musician in the Austrian Marine Band.
When he left the military the second time, Vincent decided to defy his family’s wishes and pursued a career as a solo cornetist touring Europe. At the outbreak of World War I, he was in England and was forced to change his name and flee to the United States in order to escape detention as an enemy alien. He resumed his career as a performer, interrupted by another term of compulsory military service, this time in the US military as a musician.
While Bach was on tour in Pittsburgh in 1918, a repairman destroyed his mouthpiece, and Bach began experimenting with mouthpiece repair and fabrication.