Best of the Best: Trombones?

[TheHatTuba]

Lately, I've been getting some decent time on small bore/jazz, medium large bore, and bass trombone. It MIGHT be time to make a purchase towards one so I want to know what your favorite 3 trombones are (1 of each type listed, and no, I don't have the money for a contra!). I'm currently using my school's Bach 50, Blessing, and my own pea shooter York.

[rodgeman]

King 3b-small bore
King 4b Sonorous - large tenor
Bach 50b3 w/ Greenhoe valves- bass
Then you have custom horns like Shires.

[TheHatTuba]

small commercial - King 2B
commercial - King 3B
large commercial - Bach 36 (no F attachment) or (well-preserved Elkhart vintage only) Conn 78H

Bloke, what do you mean by commercial?

[rodgeman]

If you are looking to buy a trombone go to the Trombone Forum and look up DJ Kennedy. He has a good reputation. I played trombones for 20 years until I got bit by the tuba bug. I sold mine and play tuba full time. The trombones I mentioned I have played.

Good luck!

[tbn.al]

I am so partial to the Olds trombones that I cannot fail to offer my biased opinion. I have owned and played a bunch of trombones over the last 55 years but the best were a '56 Elkhart 88H, a '72 Holton 158, an '82 42B and a '68 O-25. The O-25 blows the others away by light years. Maybe it's the .562 bore or the wonderful Olds red brass bell. Don't know, don't care, but it's the best trombone of any size I have ever played. Good luck finding one. On the smaller jazz side I favor the .485/.510 Olds Recording over the .485/.500 Super. I really like the dual bore and red brass bells. I thinnk they are both superior to the Kings/Conns. I am not so crazy about the Olds George Roberts Bass Trombones. Maybe because of the recent advances in rotor design. Willis Howell had a pair of modern rotors put on his favorite antique Holton bass. Maybe that would be the trick with the Olds bass bones.

[bisontuba]

Hi-
Also, a great commercial/jazz/theatrical bass trombone is a rare bird--King 8-B..

mark

[Bob Kolada]

small- dunno/care
medium- dunno/care
bass- Thayers are fine, Hagmanns are ok,.... but I prefer good open rotors. They're faster, cheaper, and more comfortable ergonomically for me. I don't much care for the Getzen company but I love the 1062. Big fat sound, easy to play, comfortable (wide slide and no 2nd valves sticking in your neck), huge low register, versatile,...

That vendor guy on the trombone forum? I have dealt with him in the past (did not make a purchase) and he's just too (purposely?) weird for me to deal with. No pictures of the hundreds of horns you got and have been selling for years? Pass.

What kind of budget are you looking at and what kind of music are you playing? I am reluctant to say that you can only play certain horns in certain genres but if you do so you'll get a lot less grief from the eye listeners. A nice middle of the road 2 valve bass and a lighter trigger tenor (.525? maybe even a good 3BF or a Kanstul 760?) will cover a lot of ground. If you can only get one nice horn I suggest a bass. A regular tenor can "do more stuff" (though you CAN throw a bass into a lot of scenarios and be ok) but I like the combination of tuba and bass trombone too much to get a tenor. Also, I will award you 50 internets if you get a bass first. Check out the Dillon bass; my F wasn't that hot but a bass trombone is probably easier to make.

[TheHatTuba]

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't mind using my schools Bach 50 for the time being so I'll ask what is the best bone that "can do (well, as much as possible) everything" that a bass bone cannot.

[rodgeman]

I was a music major on Trombone for a couple of semesters. I used a King 4B Sonorous .547" bore with a F - attachment for Jazz, Orchestra, Rock, Trombone Choir, and Band.

The F Attachment gave me enough to play some bass trombone. The symphony bore help me achieve the power and projection I wanted.

I would suggest a .547" bore, f-attachment trombone for an all around horn.

[Ace]

I've had a lot of trombones over the years. My favorites were the Bach Strad 42BO tenor, and the fabulous Benge 290 bass trombone, dual independent rotors, with two-part G or Gb slide enabling low Eb or D in first position.

[MartyNeilan]

If you are looking to buy a trombone go to the Trombone Forum and look up DJ Kennedy. He has a good reputation.

DJ has anything and everything for sale in the way of used trombones. Definitely worth talking to. Be persistent, as he is not the easiest person to get a hold of.

[TubaTodd]

** Disclaimer: I am NOT a trombone player **

Shires

http://www.seshires.com/

I colleague of mine in college played one. It had a red brass unlacquered bell, dual thayers and removable lead pipes. If I remember correctly he took one of the lead pipes and chopped it down to a few inches. I guess that was almost like boring a huge backbore in a tuba mouthpiece. THAT was a serious horn!!!!!!!!!

[ken k]

i have three Benge trombones and love them all.
The 175F is the .525 bore with .547 oversized valve section
The 190F is the .547 horn with a .562 valve section
and the 290 bass is a .562 slide with a .580? valve section

The oversized valve section was Benge's answer to the thayer valve and it worked, such a simple solution I don't understand why no one else does it (perhaps someone is doing it now). They were basically Kings with a gold brass bell and the oversized valve set.

The Benge trombones had an annealed gold brass bell which gives the horns a sound of butter and they slot right in between the conn sound and the Bach sound.

The 175 is my favorite for most playing, think of it as a King 3B plus with a slighter richer tone quality.

The 190s play lighter than Bach and can have a nice slight edge to the tone at higher volumes, just enough to give the horn a little more pop on accents and sfp type artix.

ken k

[Bob Kolada]

The oversized valve section was Benge's answer to the thayer valve and it worked, such a simple solution I don't understand why no one else does it (perhaps someone is doing it now). They were basically Kings with a gold brass bell and the oversized valve set.

The only ones I know of that DON'T are the Kings.

[ken k]

The oversized valve section was Benge's answer to the thayer valve and it worked, such a simple solution I don't understand why no one else does it (perhaps someone is doing it now). They were basically Kings with a gold brass bell and the oversized valve set.

The only ones I know of that DON'T are the Kings.

Well let me say that back in the 80s and 90s Benge was the only one doing it. I think most of the boutique valves like thayer and hagaman, etc now use larger bores but i don't know about your standard Bach 36, 42 or 50 with a rotor valve, Yamaha and/or Conn, etc.

Admitedly I have not looked at trombone specs recently.

k

[Bob Kolada]

The Bachs are still messed up , but the Conns, Yamahas,... all have the one step bigger valve attachment. Which seems more natural than evolutionary- the valve IS a bit further down than the slide.

[martin90]

I would recommend the Holton TR602, Yamaha 354 or the Bach 300. Try to go for an established brand even if it is more expensive than the newer brands, at least there will be no compromise on quality.

[tbn.al]

Holton TR602, Yamaha 354, Bach 300.

Huh? These models are all student line trombones.

[pjv]

I didn't quite catch "what" you want to play on trombone but these are my 2 cents.

Trombones, above all brass instruments can be quite inexpensive second hand. This opens the door to a lot of experimenting without having to give out all that much $$$. So go ahead, buy a nice King 3B. Buy a Bach 36. And if you can find it, a Conn 78H. These are 3 different horns, the 36 and the 78H being roughly the same size, the 3B being smaller than the 2 a for mentioned but tad larger than the Conn 6H & 48H (also nice jazz/pop horns). Try them out. Try out other horns. Find out what you like. After that you can contemplate giving out more bucks on a modern horn and compare it to what you got. Vintage horns, when kept well, can often be resold for what you paid out. Wipe down the slide on the inside and the outside after every daily usage and run a snake through the slide once a week. This will help eliminate the excess flora and fauna trying to move in at the bottom bow of the slide. And always use distilled water. Calcium's murder on slide action.

I personally like the 78h (.522 - .525, depending on the year), because of it's sound versatility; not too big, not too small. I have a lovely '50's 88H as well but I just can't get into that sound for a lot of my work. Too much sonority, not enough bite. Having said that, there are enough cats that use a .547 bore for everything.

Modular trombones are very popular. Shires has a nice .525 bore set up, with & without F-attachment, which can take a small shank leadpipe and a large bore leadpipe.

Red brass bells. I love practicing with them and they're great for keeping your sound round at higher volumes but they can really bust your balls when it's your intention to stick out or rise above the group (like in a solo). Yellow brass will get you everywhere. Red brass is nice when you know what you want it for and the results you're looking for, and when you know that it won't make your life more difficult whenever you need a brighter or an edgier sound.
eh, my 3 cents.

[tbn.al]

I would be willing to bet that in the three years that have elapsed sine the first post he has either fulfilled his trombone ambitions or given up entirely.