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Ross Vibes no more exist

Stefan74 10 November 2008

Hi all!

I visited the www.rossmallets.com site and it turned out that apparently Ross vibes are no longer available but there is another brand called Majestic that belongs to Jupiter who has a new series of vibes.

Check it out: http://www.jupitermusic.com/majestic/

It seems that I bought an already no more existing "vintage" brand vibe - probably bad for reselling :-(

Cheers Stefan

Comments

vibeman27 Mon, 11/10/2008 - 22:33

Stefan,
You are right. Apparently Ross has been taken over by its parent company, Jupiter Band Instruments. Looks as if they took the bars and upper bar rack and put it on a new body, including improvements in dampening pad and foot pedal (now a cross bar) and the lower frame looks redone. However, using same screw knobs for tightening; a new crank for height adjustment. 4 graduations on bars (which means upper half octave will only allow small headed mallets for good sound. The new Majestic has all the same performer endorsements that Ross had, which validates it is only a takeover. The specifications are really slight in information and NO mention of total weight.

Don't worry Stefan, you can always resell a vibraphone that is in good shape. Incidentally the new MSRP (as they say) is over $5,000 U.S. for the same vibe that I now have. I got my Ross for $2999. Their customer service has been shoddy for a long time and maybe this is why, a planned takeover with new features. So keep your vibes in good shape while you have them and they will sell when the time comes.
BruceW

Stefan74 Tue, 11/11/2008 - 06:53

Hi Bruce!

Thanks for the consolation - I actually hope that I will keep the vibes for a long time and so selling will never be necessary.

Looking at the current prices of the Majestic vibes it seems that Jupiter left the strategy of offering budget instruments. I don't know how much an Musser M55 currently costs but $5,000 U.S. seems not so far away.

Cheers Stefan

tonymiceli Tue, 11/11/2008 - 09:57

i think an m55 is way less than that. i love the sound of mussers but don't like how they're made.

i do like how portable the m55 is though. easiest and quickest to set up i think.

s k y p e: tjazzvibe
i c h a t: tonymiceli
tony@tonymiceli.com

jamesshipp Tue, 11/11/2008 - 00:28

those Majestic instruments do seem to have a more sound-looking frame.

I noticed they're making a 3-octave marimba. I had a Deagan marimba that was the same range as a vibraphone on long-term loan when I was in high school, and I didn't really appreciate it until the minute I had to give it back. I know people like big instruments for modern repertoire and guitar repertoire and playing all the notes we don't get to play on a vibraphone, but I sure would LOVE to have a marimba someday that's the range of modern 3 1/2 octave vibes. I can't imagine needing the top 5th, and any lower than that C wouldn't fit in most of the performance spaces I play in. I know there are companies that make 'em, but nobody seems to do so with real bars.

Maybe I could get one of those frames and then have a set of bars made. I could drive it home in my solid gold convertible. While we're on fantasy island, it'd be cool to have a not-too-expensive bass marimba... all I'd need is an octave-and-1/2 or so, and I rekcon even with lower quality/synthetic keys and PVC resonators it could still be a lot of fun to tool around on.

JAmes

dthree Mon, 11/17/2008 - 00:56

Wow, that was a short-lived brand. Too bad, I like my ross pretty well with only a few serious complaints. I do see some similarities with the Majestic, the number one improvement being the twin pull-rods. That is a major complaint I have with the ross. The single pull rod is not centered on the dampener bar, so pressing the pedal 2" pulls the dampener away from the bars about 3" from the highest note, but only 1" from the lowest note. I wonder if I could retrofit this system to mine. Oh, and my low Bb rattles, but that is a minor complaint, lol.

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