TromboneChat

I recently bought a Holton Collegiate from a thrift store, upon bringing it to my band teacher he said the slide needs work as it's not very smooth. I was wondering how much money is really worth pouring into this horn, I only got it for 85 dollars.

What does it need? It certainly would be worth $50 or so to straighten out the slide. I found the Collegiate to be a pretty good student horn, but not good enough to trade my Statodyne for one.

BGuttman wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 6:29 pm What does it need? It certainly would be worth $50 or so to straighten out the slide. I found the Collegiate to be a pretty good student horn, but not good enough to trade my Statodyne for one.

From what I heard, it would probably either need a new slide, or to be replated. I am a *very* new player so I don't need a fancy horn yet.

I doubt that you need a major slide job. That can cost a pretty penny. If there is just wear on the chrome plate, you can polish it and then put a bit of extra slide cream on the bare spot to get decent slide operation. Certainly not the end of the world for a newbie.

BGuttman wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 6:54 pm I doubt that you need a major slide job. That can cost a pretty penny. If there is just wear on the chrome plate, you can polish it and then put a bit of extra slide cream on the bare spot to get decent slide operation. Certainly not the end of the world for a newbie.

I will bring that up to my teacher, he didn't say the whole slide was junk, more that it would be extremely hard to play

A "bad slide' is often more than a matter of worn chrome plate and lubrication. The OP's slide is possibly "jacked" - and may need a major realignment to bring the tubes back to their ideal straight and parallel condition. Very likely a decent tech will charge more than the $85 he paid for the trombone. But still may be a good deal. Also probably less than buying a new reed for his oboe every few months!

Nothing is more discouraging to me than playing a trombone with a bad slide!

Posaunus wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 11:32 pm A "bad slide' is often more than a matter of worn chrome plate and lubrication. The OP's slide is possibly "jacked" - and may need a major realignment to bring the tubes back to their ideal straight and parallel condition. Very likely a decent tech will charge more than the $85 he paid for the trombone. But still may be a good deal. Also probably less than buying a new reed for his oboe every few months!

Nothing is more discouraging to me than playing a trombone with a bad slide!

Every few months lol. I wish. More like ever 3 weeks. And it seems to slide alright, it’s just a little rough.

Does the slide have "catches" where it seems to hang up as it slides? Or is it just gritty feeling?

Catches are due to dents in the outer slide and are easy for a good tech to fix.

Gritty feeling means you need to polish off some oxidation. Sometimes it's inside the outer slide and sometimes it's on the inner slide.

If you can "sorta" make it move, it's probably worth a little investment in slide maintenance. Just get somebody who understands the process to do the work -- not the Gee-Tar Doktor.