TromboneChat

Hi, Newby here.

I have a King 606 student trombone and it seems OK to me so far.
I have had a small windfall and could buy a better one.
So my question is, what does paying more get you. I mean its a brass tube with a flair on the end. Would it sound much different ?
I get that the slide may be smoother and made to a better tolerance, but the Kings slide is pretty good.
Does paying 10 times as much get you 10 times better an instrument ?

Thanks
Laurie

If the King 606 does everything you want there's no need to buy anything else.

At some point you may discover that the instrument is limiting what you can do.  Sometimes it's because something is really broken; sometimes it's because you want/need to play outside the range for which it was designed (basically to play school music from F below the staff to Bb 4 lines above the staff); sometimes it's a snob appeal issue.

The instrument that costs a lot more may offer a few niceties:

o  It may have an F-attachment that makes it more convenient to reach the 6th and 7th positions or to extend the range downwards.
o  It may be better able to play very high if that's what you need to do.
o  It may allow you to have a more "symphonic" sound to match in with an orchestra.

Some things where I'd never use the expensive trombone:

o  Marching; especially for High School or College football shows.
o  Gigs where the band is placed behind a chicken wire screen to prevent being hit by thrown beer bottles.
o  Pep Band gigs where you are playing on a set of stadium seats with no room for the slide.

If you want a nice, new, and shiny trombone, avoid those real cheap ones on Ebay; espcially the ones where the instrument costs $100 and shipping is $349.95 (your purchase price refunded if not satisfied, but not the shipping).  Very inexpensive instruments often don't play well or don't hold up well (or both).

I hope that gives you a little idea.

The sound you get is mostly down to the player. A king 606 is a very good student instrument, so you probably don't need to change it for the present, unless it has a fault. I've known pretty advanced players use them all through their playing careers.  When you get to the stage that it is limiting how you feel about playing, and what you want to do,  then perhaps talk to your teacher, and  try some others. When that happens, make sure that you can tell there is improvement before buying, and don't just go on what your friends and other students think is the coolest to have.
What you get with a better instrument is better craftsmanship and individuality, and more responsiveness. But the improvements are not linearly aligned with cost, you pay much more for small, but important, improvement.

Laurie

Tell us more about your playing etc please as this may help you get the advice/ knowledge your looking for!

Your profile states your retired, so are you new to the instrument? 

Bruce and Stephen have made good points.... Nothing to stop you going to a music store that has a good range of horns......once you know what type of playing your looking to do, and the kind of horn you would like makes it a lot easier

Thanks guys.
I used to play trumpet when i was 12 in a brass band, then switched to bass guitar (far cooler in those days). Now 47 years later have taken up the tbone. I have been learning for about 3 months, and practice about 1 1/2 hours a day. Ive been practicing scales/appegios/long notes and working through 3 beginner books (a tune a day and similar) i can still remembed enough music notation, but am learning bass clef and ofcourse trying to internalize slide positions. At the moment i am interested in being able to simply play popular melodies, but i could see myself as part of a brass section in rock band in the future.
Regards Laurie

If there is any professional context in which a King 606 would be totally appropriate, it'd be a rock band.

Those types of gigs would likely put your horn in more perilous situations--i.e. like Bruce said, you wouldn't bring an expensive horn to those gigs.

And a symphonic large-bore and/or an F-attachment horn would sound/look/feel out of place in that context.



My $0.02-- tho' I am no gear expert, so if anyone says otherwise, listen to them-- save your windfall for something else. 

Quote from: lauriet on Dec 13, 2017, 03:32AMThanks guys.
I used to play trumpet when i was 12 in a brass band, then switched to bass guitar (far cooler in those days). Now 47 years later have taken up the tbone. I have been learning for about 3 months, and practice about 1 1/2 hours a day. Ive been practicing scales/appegios/long notes and working through 3 beginner books (a tune a day and similar) i can still remembed enough music notation, but am learning bass clef and ofcourse trying to internalize slide positions. At the moment i am interested in being able to simply play popular melodies, but i could see myself as part of a brass section in rock band in the future.
Regards Laurie


Are you having lessons??

I also came back to trombone after a long hiatus and it took a while to discover several important things:

I thought everyone played on a 12C mouthpiece because that's what all my high school bandmates had.  Everyone's lip/teeth structure is different and there are myriads of mouthpieces out there to suit just about everyone. It may take a while to find 'your' mouthpiece, but it will make your playing and your development so much more satisfying. For a rock band I would try a mouthpiece with a bowl-shaped cup and a sharper/less-rounded inner rim to give you more pronounced attacks/articulations.

If your goal is a rock band setting, then probably skip the large bore tenor horns. You may want to consider a straight horn with a nickel bell which will help project/cut through the musical din around you. A good used King Tempo or Holton Galaxy are good places to start, and neither will be expensive.

If I were your friend or teacher, I would tell you to set the money aside.Play for at least a year before before buying a better instrument. It takes time to develop enough on your own to appreciate the differences between a student and a pro model horn.Even though todays' student horns are far superior to most older student models(there are some exceptions).There are still differences.Depending on what you buy they can be subtle to large differences in build,playability,tone,weight.
 just my opinion.Take it  from a pro who teaches a lot.

Bob

Thanks guys, looks like I should stick with the King for a while, and keep playing until I know what I need next.
I just hope the wife doesn't spot a new pair of shoes she wants 

Quote from: lauriet on Dec 13, 2017, 03:33PMThanks guys, looks like I should stick with the King for a while, and keep playing until I know what I need next.
I just hope the wife doesn't spot a new pair of shoes she wants 

Buy her the shoes....makes it easier when you do buy a horn!!

The King is a great horn be happy and enjoy. They take some effort to play lead for a whole night, but other than that they're pretty good. Good rock band horn!
 

The King is a great horn be happy and enjoy. They take some effort to play lead for a whole night, but other than that they're pretty good. Good rock band horn!