Trombone Upgrade

[Invigoration]

Hello. I am located in an unfortunate place in which I cannot go anywhere to test play trombones unless I want to drive for over ten hours (twenty hours round trip) or spend $600 on a plane ticket round trip. I am looking at upgrading to a pro model horn. Budget is not a concern. What is good?

I have been looking at the following in no particular order:
Thein
B&S
M&W
Greenhoe
Rath
Adams
Edwards
Shires
Stephens
Antoine Curtois

Are there others I should consider? Any of these I should stay away from?

[Burgerbob]

They all make good horns. If you're willing to spend $5k on one, it's worth the plane ticket to try them out. A good place this year would be ITF in Salt Lake City, if that's on the same continent as you.

[Posaunus]

I am looking at upgrading to a pro model horn. Budget is not a concern. What is good?

I have been looking at the following in no particular order:
Thein
B&S
M&W
Greenhoe
Rath
Adams
Edwards
Shires
Stephens
Antoine Curtois

Are there others I should consider? Any of these I should stay away from?

Seems like a good list. I would add Getzen - made by the same folks as Edwards, but less customizable. Very high quality these days.

Many of these companies have customer service specialists who can help you select something appropriate to your needs. But as noted, nothing compares with actually trying before buying!

Where are you located?

[Vegasbound]

Another vote for the Getzen, a student of mine has just picked up a used 1052FDR in great condition for half the price of a new one, great horn.

Yamaha make great horns

[imsevimse]

Another vote for the Getzen, a student of mine has just picked up a used 1052FDR in great condition for half the price of a new one, great horn.

Yamaha make great horns

Yes, if I only was allowed to own one horn and it had to be a new horn and it wasn't possible to try before I buy then my only choice would be Yamaha. I haven't played a bad new Yamaha and all of the same model very likely play the same. If you can find one of their models to test, maybe you have a friend who has one, then you can order another piece of that model and expect it to be the same. I don't know about consistency of the other brands on your list but that's not the case with Bach's and Conn's, they vary a lot.

/Tom

[StephenK]

Also check out Getzen custom series. Same manufacturer as Edwards, more standardised. Some of the makers you list would make an instrument customised to you.

[Burgerbob]

Yes, if I only was allowed to own one horn and it had to be a new horn and it wasn't possible to try before I buy then my only choice would be Yamaha. I haven't played a bad new Yamaha and all of the same model very likely play the same.

/Tom

I can't agree with this. The Xeno line are highly variable.

[jbtb]

If do you end up considering Getzen as others have suggested, you can use their website to find stores nearby your location that carry their instruments and try them out there. I might be wrong, but I believe that Getzen only sells retail anyway and doesn't even do on-site appointments like Edwards and some of the other brands.

[ZacharyThornton]

If money isn’t an issue, then fly/ drive to where you are able to make an informed decision.

[CharlieB]

If you leave this post up long enough, you will probably find a recommendation for every trombone on the list.
Every player and every horn is different.
Play testing the sound/feel of the horn on YOUR face is essential.
Life is much better if you have selected a horn that fits your physiology and the music in your head.
You can't do that on the Internet.

[Bach5G]

What horn does your trombone hero play?

A place to start.

[Matt K]

Personally, I’d spend $600 to not buy blind. Actually, I’d do the drive. I’ve driven that distance for similar reasons before

[harrisonreed]

If you're thinking about Thein, the plane ticket might as well be considered a 2% service fee added to the cost. I wouldn't consider them, due to the price.

Courtois seriously needs to fix the ergonomics on their slide grips. Their horns were not impressive to play either

Concur that Yamaha Xenos are overbuilt and not fun to play. Tenors play dead and the basses have the strangest leadpipe design. The Xeno bass I use is extremely stuffy in the double trigger zone.

The rest, I'd leave up there to try out. Heck try Thein and Yamaha too. The best place to do it is like ATW or ITA.

[tbonesullivan]

Like others, I am a bit confused by the "Budget is not a concern" but at the same time not wanting to spent $600 on a plane ticket or spend a ton of time driving. That is exactly what people do every day when they travel to the Edwards fitting room in Elkhorn, or one of the other custom maker showrooms. People travel to various conventions just to get fitted, and there are also still people who make trips to places like Dillon Music just to spend hours trying out horns.

What is good? Any of those makers you listed "could" be good for you, but if I was going to spend that amount of cash on a single horn, I would want it to be exactly suited to my needs, and IMHO that's not going to happen without in person testing.

[Kbiggs]

I see this is your first post. Welcome to TC.

The next trombone you purchase depends on a lot of things, not just brand. To start, there's a few things that would be helpful for the TC community to know:

• What kind of music do you think you're most likely to pursue? Classical? Commercial? Jazz? Teaching? historically informed performance?

• What's your age?

• Are you in high school? Do you plan to attend college or conservatory?

• What is a reasonable budget for you? If you can afford a $5K horn that's great, but it might not be the best horn for you and the kind of music you want to play or will be playing.

All of the brands named above are reputable but different. Some take more care and attention in materials and manufacture, while others are assembled without as much quality control. Some pros and teachers prefer one brand over another.

[Invigoration]

I originally thought with my schedule, making ITF would not have been possible. The cost of the flight would not have been the concern as much as finding the time to do so. However, I have been fortunate enough to schedule and plan for making ITF next year. That being said, I have happily made the decision to hold off on buying a new horn until then. Thanks to those who helped pry open my eyes to the possibility of being able to test play things, and giving me the constant reassurance that test playing was the way to go.

[timbone]

FWIW, the Courtois horns are great, and that is why many of the top players in the world play them. They make curved and straight handgrips so I don't see a problem there. Personal choices aside, the last ETW I went to just before covid, I tried all the large tenors in the room. The best sound and feel came from three horns; the alessi edwards, a getzen open wrap, and a courtois ac420bo standard rotor. The fact is you don’t have to spend a lot of money on a custom horn to get a horn that plays. well.