Making a super-bone?

[Bloo]

I'll start with this: I have little experience soldering.

My school has a Bach Valve Trombone, but the part on the slide that goes into the bell section is snapped off. The school was trashing it, so I took it. Repair on the receiver (is that what I would call it?) would be pretty cheap or easy to DIY.

However, I've got an extra slide from a Blessing bone that fits the Bach bell perfectly. How difficult would it be to cut out a portion of the bell's tubing and insert the valve block? Having a Super-Bone would be way past cool.

[BGuttman]

This is not a job for the faint of heart (or an untrained newcomer).

The tenon replacement is pretty straightforward, but fitting a slide to the valve section will be a challenge. Also, to keep the pitch you will need to modify the slide to be shorter. I believe the Superbone only has 6 positions. Modifying the slide means a lot of cutting and soldering.

My best suggestion: repair the tenon with a new part, and have slide and valve units that plug in.

Maybe one of our resident techs can be more explicit.

[harrisonreed]

But, it can have more positions if you're really ingenious. The Firebird/Phoenix trumpet that Maynard had was a "Soopuh-Trumpet", and when it was for sale, it only had 4 positions. But Maynard's was special. The inner slide tubes were actually two pieces that telescoped past 4th. So, even though the outer slide was only long enough for 4 positions, you could keep going past where the outer slide should fall off, and get 7 full positions.

On trombone, your arm would have to be pretty long for that to work, even if you could design it. And then, you'd have to ask how badly you want a 7th position, when 6 are already plenty for a small bore with any combination of valves behind the slide.

[imsevimse]

I believe the Superbone only has 6 positions.

No, it has seven positions. I don't know of all brands but the Holton I own has all positions.

/Tom

[brassmedic]

So you want to take out part of the neckpipe and put the valve section in there. You could do that, but the problem would be that the mouthpiece would have to be before the valve section, so it would be up near where the tuning slide is. That would make for a very awkward instrument to hold.

[CharlieB]

What Brad said above. The geometry is all wrong.
I just checked this out with my valve trombone.
To demonstrate, lay the bell section, the valve section, and the slide section alongside one another in approximately the planned new configuration. The extent of work required to make the horn playable will be obvious. Making it ergonomically playable would involve modifications to the both the bell section and the valve section, with an unknown effect on the acoustics of the horn.
I'd rather do as Bruce suggested; repair the damage and enjoy a slide/valve convertible trombone.

[greenbean]

For reference, here is my Superbone:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nZ1GtgQYJ1eAzJYX6

[Matt K]

As others have indicated, the problem is you'd have to either figure out how to put a valve block in the neck pipe which would be wicked uncomfortable for your left hand or have a lathe and the ability to custom make parts to surgically alter both the neckpipe, lower bell brace ,and the cork barrel.

Alternatively, if you really want to think outside of the box, you might be able to rig something up that depresses the valves that you hold in a more ergonomic position. OR possibly if you want something that just transposes ilke a capo, you could put some kind of stop that would keep a particular combination of valves depressed.

Another possibility is that if you do have reasonable soldering skills, maybe a repair shop would be willing to hire you and or give some training to you. That would either give you the ability to use a lathe (maybe) or at least after a month you might just be able to save up for a superbone from Wessex.