8B ergonomics

[Elow]

So, while i wait for my new bass, i am back on my schools 8B. The 50B and benge 290 are both being used and are far better horns, but the kids using them are older and have priority. That means i’m stuck with a half functional 7B. The slide doesn’t have a slide lock... so maybe a 290 slide? Because it’s so old, i can’t just use it like a friction fit horn. So i’m having to hold the slide together in a pretty awkward way. I’m holding it so the bell is literally at like a 45 degree angle and is like half an inch away from the slide. Not the best but it works. I was thinking about expanding the tenon just slightly so that it fits better but i’m scared of slide expanders. Our good tech is still not working so it’s just me and woodwind guys. I could also try and find 7B parts, but i don’t really want to spend a lot of money on a horn that i’ll only use for 1 or 2 weeks. It’s also not the best horn, it looks like it’s been through 2 wars and then used in 20 elementary schools. Slide is terrible and the bell rim resembles an octagon instead of a circle. The pain is even worse than the horn though. I can’t hold it for more than 15 minutes without feeling the worse wrist pain ever and im supposed to hold this for 2 hours daily. I’m really not looking forward to the next couple of weeks. Ive thought about using a tenor, but i don’t really have a good large tenor. I have 2 42’s that i hate, well not hate, but i don’t like them or play them enough to sound good on. If anyone near pensacola has a 5B or bass i could use, i would love to rent that or something. For now, i’m stuck with this. Anyone have thoughts about this?

[harrisonreed]

It's not worth it, especially pain. If all the other bases are signed out, play tenor -- no one wants to listen to a band with everyone on bass anyways. If the 7B is literally the only trombone they have left ... Then I'm confused because you seem to have sold more trombones already since you've joined the forum than I've even played in the last twenty-three years. How can you hate the trombones you still kept?

Also "I don't play my two 42s enough to sound good on" can't really be your final answer, can it? After telling us how the 7B is so bad it's unplayable, how can either of the 42s be a worse option?

But to answer your question, no amount of ergonomics will fix the slide, and trying to force a broken side will break you. Either fix it or move on. Sounds like it needs to be junked though.

FWIW, you posted a video of you playing euphonium and I thought you sounded really good -- if I look through that lens, I feel that there really is no way you would sound bad on the 42s you own unless they too are broken. I think your post is really that you're frustrated that the older kids have the schools good basses and the school let the 7B turn into junk.

[Elow]

It's not worth it, especially pain. If all the other bases are signed out, play tenor -- no one wants to listen to a band with everyone on bass anyways. If the 7B is literally the only trombone they have left ... Then I'm confused because you seem to have sold more trombones already since you've joined the forum than I've even played in the last twenty-three years. How can you hate the trombones you still kept?

Also "I don't play my two 42s enough to sound good on" can't really be your final answer, can it? After telling us how the 7B is so bad it's unplayable, how can either of the 42s be a worse option?

But to answer your question, no amount of ergonomics will fix the slide, and trying to force a broken side will break you. Either fix it or move on. Sounds like it needs to be junked though.

The 42s just feel like an alien horn. I can’t just pick it up and play like i can another horn. My main thing is tuning, and the low register isn’t too great on them. I’ll try my first day with the 8B and if i can’t then i’ll probably switch to a 42. I’m regretting selling my 71H now, it was a great horn and now i could’ve used it. I think my shop has a custom shires with a thayer so i might ask about that.

[Posaunus]

The 42s just feel like an alien horn. I can’t just pick it up and play like i can another horn. My main thing is tuning, and the low register isn’t too great on them.

Unless both Bach 42s are broken in some manner, either one should do fine on your high school music. Literally thousands of trombonists are playing daily on some version of the 42, and mostly playing successfully. I expect that you need to work harder on developing your low range and playing in tune. Practice, practice, practice!

[harrisonreed]

The 42s just feel like an alien horn. I can’t just pick it up and play like i can another horn. My main thing is tuning, and the low register isn’t too great on them. I’ll try my first day with the 8B and if i can’t then i’ll probably switch to a 42. I’m regretting selling my 71H now, it was a great horn and now i could’ve used it. I think my shop has a custom shires with a thayer so i might ask about that.

Yeah, Bach 42s, as said in the thread about good/bad years for Bach, are pretty bad in general more often than not. But a Bach 42 (or two) with a functioning slide is going to have far better intonation than a King bass (8B now?) with a slide that barely moves. Intonation is or at least can be 100% a function of the handslide, after all.

As for the low register ... well if you're talking about how only a large bore tenor will do then you can't be talking about a jazz combo or big band. Must be concert band right? Sounds like there are already two people on bass trombone to me (and that is already one too many). I wouldn't worry about your Bach's low register, though I'm sure it's better than you think

[Elow]

I’d be using it in my high schools big band. Yeah, i got it out today and realized that bell looked and play bigger than a 7B. I just played some of the charts on the 42, meh. It will do. I’m hoping UPS doesn’t take too long

[harrisonreed]

I’d be using it in my high schools big band. Yeah, i got it out today and realized that bell looked and play bigger than a 7B. I just played some of the charts on the 42, meh. It will do. I’m hoping UPS doesn’t take too long

Big band? Small bore, play not 4th bone!

[BGuttman]

A large mouthpiece on a symphonic bore can be a pretty good substitute for a bass -- as long as you don't have to play any low B naturals.

I've used my Yamaha 682 (and a King 4B) with a bass sized mouthpiece (Marcinkiewicz 3) to cover bass parts. I'd probably prefer to use my bass but sometimes you have to use what you have in your hand.

Is this an old 8B or a new 8B? The difference is that the older 8B has the bell brace set so you can support the weight of the horn with the webbing between thumb and 1st finger of the left hand. This is how my 7B is set up and I like it (though it seems a lot of folks don't).

[Kingfan]

The slide lock is what you move to keep the outer slide secured in place when you are not playing. Are you talking about the threaded ring that holds the slide to the bell section? Yeah, if that is missing, it should definitely be fixed. I found a Neotech grip helped cut my hand/wrist pain on my 7B, but when I get to playing again will try an Axe Handle brace or an Edwards Bullet Brace which I think will help even more.

[Splendour]

Having had problems with an old Holton bass that wouldn't firmly lock the slide to the bell section and kept slipping, as a temporary measure I used a length of string or wire looped round the bell and strut and round the slide below the mouthpiece - tensioned up it stopped the bell section slipping further round while playing but it was a bit in the way. Better then nothing, but I was so much happier when it got it fixed properly.

[Hobart]

Tbh, with the number of horns you have, you can probably find something good, keeping in mind that you're gonna have to get used to how it plays. No two trombones are created equal, no two 42's are created equal, it's just something you have to deal with on your end.
You gotta put in the work on a different horn to get used to it, you can't just immediately throw it out right away.
Plus, like some of the other commentors mentioned, if everyone's playing bass anyways, why do you need to play bass in the first place? A tenor would probably be well received by your director if everyone else in the section is already on bass, there's three different parts and a bass isn't gonna cut the mustard too good on two of them.
I'd say to find a tenor and play it instead of fussing around with the 8B. That 8B is a rare beast that someone extremely cheap (me) would buy, for no good reason at all. You mentioned having a 447, that would do good unless you're actually playing fourth trombone parts, in which case I'd say to suck it up and play on the 42, because you have a new horn coming in soon anyways. They might not be the best if you have to play fourth, but they're not bad and, more importantly, free. Why would you pay someone to rent a 5B for just two weeks when there are other horns of similar specs you can take for free if you do some small adjustments?

In regards to the 8B, have you tried pushing the bell onto the slide more before doing the screw? My Reynolds flops all over the place unless I do that, act like it's a friction fit horn first and then do the screw.

[Elow]

To clarify, i am playing in a medium large jazz band. I am the only bass, the other two use them in different classes. I played the 8B in class today, and meh. I was standing half the time so that didn’t really help, but the pain wasn’t unbearable. I’ll play the 42 on wednesday and make my decision from there.

[Elow]

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bwwkj2qssxgr ... VgzKa?dl=0 Turns out a shires can pull off a bass trombone pretty well. 9 inch bell and every other big tenor piece that we had