TromboneChat

Crazy4Tbone86 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 27, 2020 10:07 am There are pros and cons to the Best Brass practice mute. For example, most people assume you simply store it in the bell in your case/gig bag. For some cases/bags it works. However, I have seen some situations where the case has padding facing the middle of the bell.....these people force the trombone + mute in the case. It shifts the entire horn and sometimes they end up bending their F-attachment tubing.

In terms of resistance, I have not found any "practice mutes" to be near the natural resistance of an open horn. They all increase the resistance and I would rate Best Brass in about the middle of the pack. The Yamaha Silent Brass system has considerably less resistance, but it is costly and not as compact. The intonation on the Best Brass mutes is acceptable.......you just need to accept that the mute will shift you about 25-35 cents sharp.

The one thing that I find a huge plus for the best brass mutes is their repairability. I have removed dents from many mutes and the Best Brass repair much better than most.

Crazy4Tbone86 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 27, 2020 5:46 pm The tools used to remove brass instrument dents are the same tools used to remove mute dents. The dents that are fixable on a Best Brass mute are the ones down at the wide end (by the label). If you get a dent up near the hole, it is much more complicated to fix because of how those mutes are designed.

I think there should be plenty of shops down in the Lone Star state that would remove those dents. I would start with some of your local shops. Most shops here in the mid-Atlantic charge between $60 - $75 per hour for dent work. Most of the dents I have removed from mutes have taken me about 15 minutes....usually 30 minutes tops. Some shops have minimum labor costs, so it is good to ask about labor charges in advance.