TromboneChat

Hi all,

For a while I've thought about taking a Bach 16M and modifying it by swapping out with a larger bell, kind of like the horn Luis Bonilla plays. Recently I managed to get ahold of an Elkhart Conn bell that had a Bach 16M connector tenon attached so it could fit 16M slides. I was looking for suggestions on if there are any particular era of 16M that I should look for or any I should avoid. Additionally, if anyone else has played a horn like this one and whether they liked it or not.

Thanks!

If you already have it, why not just play it and see if you like it?

Quote from: BGuttman on Dec 06, 2017, 08:09AMIf you already have it, why not just play it and see if you like it?

Because I only have the bell. I need to either buy a full 16M or find a slide. When I saw it I decided to pull the trigger because if I waited until I had a slide I might need to go through the process of paying to have the modifications done myself.

I'd avoid Strike era slides, although there probably are a few good ones from then also.

You can use any small bore slide and you may find that a 12 may be even better.

If you have a friend with a Yamaha 691, see if that fits.

Like Bruce said,

All small bore Bach slides will fit from model 6 through to 36! If you have a 6H bell the model 12 slide might be a good starting point. Don't forget all Bach slides come in standard brass and nickel lightweight versions so you do really have a great deal of choice available just from Bach. (Not to mention any other brands that might be compatible.)

Frankenbones can be a bit hit and miss and it depends what you are looking for. I've a 42G bell flare mated to an 8H bell section. It works, but a Conn 8H bell flare works better, and a Bach slide works better with the Bach bell. It was interesting to find out though and my curiosity was definitely satisfied.

Good luck in  your search.

Luis`s horn is a 16M slide and gooseneck and a 36 slide.
I talked with him about it one afternoon. It`s a pretty unique horn

Along the same concept, but with a different brand, J.J. Johnson played both a 3B bell with a 2B slide and later a 4B bell with a 3B slide section during the time he was playing Kings.

 Buying a slide or horn from the 70s-80s should be quality and affordable.  If you can try the slide first that would be preferred, not all Bach’s are assembled equally.  However, NY Bach 6s are pretty cheap on eBay these days. A Bach 6 .485 Bore may work but might be weird if it’s a conn 6H 8 inch bell.

Sidebar: speaking of Frankenbones...

Does anyone have experience putting a Conn or any non King .500 bore slide on a King 3B Bell????

Speaking of Frankenbones, I have a silver Conn 4H bell with a Yamaha yls200 slide that works very well.  Purchased from a member on this forum.

As long as the intonation is good I imagine it’d make a good horn. I have the opposite... sort of. A Bach-ish bell with a Conn-ish slide. I like it better than a factory Bach slide.

Thank you for the feedback everyone!

It's very good to know that the connecting tenon should in fact fit all bach small bore slides! That should make for some nice experimentation. The reason why I think a 16M slide would be a good fit for me is because I normally play 6Hs, but the bottom end of those horns aren't as full as I'd like them to be. I've played 3Bs but I'm tired of trying to find a good one. I absolutely loved how even every 16M I've played has felt but could never get comfortable on them, so I think a 16M slide with the 6H bell would be a good fit. Basically I'm trying to create essentially a bach-ish 3B, or a Conn-ish 3B.

What I wasn't sure of was this:

With something like this, does it usually work better to take a complete trombone and replace just the bell, while keeping the gooseneck and tuning slide (a la Luis Bonilla's horn with the 36 Bell), or does it work just as well to do what was done to this bell, which is keep everything on the new bell EXCEPT the connector tenon.

My guess would be that the former is the most ideal, but I guess I'll have to see. This idea makes me inclined to look for a whole 16M instead of just the slide, so that way in case I don't like the Conn bell with the conn gooseneck, perhaps I could send it to somebody to mount just the bell on the 16M goosneck and tuning slide.

A friend of mine in Buffalo has the JJ horn mention above

It will probably be easier to find a complete 16M in good condition than just the slide. The 16M has the more open “M” gooseneck. I don’t know he specs on the Conn bell (even though I own a 6H), but unless the gooseneck taper increases in Bore it may be weird to blow through a .508 Bach slide and then hit a smaller Conn taper in the neck pipe...or it might work just fine for you!

It will probably be easier to find a complete 16M in good condition than just the slide. The 16M has the more open “M” gooseneck. I don’t know he specs on the Conn bell (even though I own a 6H), but unless the gooseneck taper increases in Bore it may be weird to blow through a .508 Bach slide and then hit a smaller Conn taper in the neck pipe...or it might work just fine for you!