Bass Trombone Suggestions

[HeavenlyLui]

Hello all, I’m a young trombonist looking to buy a dual rotor bass trombone. I’m looking for something not very pricy yet not terrible . I’m new to the whole instrument purchasing ordeal so I’m hoping I can get some suggestions. I’ve been using a student level bass trombone provided from my school for about 5 years now and am looking for a solid upgrade. My director is always telling me that I should invest in a bass bone for my own. Anything will help, thank you!

[BGuttman]

Wha do you consider "not very pricey"?

Most of the very low priced Chinese instruments are not terribly good, although they may work OK for you until you progress a bit more.

A good used King 7B or Conn 112H will be about the same price as a medium Chinese insrument and be a better investment. Even better is the like of a Conn 71H, Holton 180, or Yamaha 613.

If a double trigger is not necessary (you will need the second trigger in High School and later) you can get any of a number of excellent single trigger bass rombones for not much money.

I would strongly suggest you work with a teacher or coach to see if a good instrument can be had for a good price.

Many will try to convince you of he benefit of a nearly top-tier instrument tha may cost $3,000 or so. If you can afford one, good luck.

[Bach5G]

May I suggest keeping an eye on the T-Chat classifieds? It seems decent horns come up for sale at all price points on a regular basis. If you can’t try before you buy, it’s probably the next best thing.

[HeavenlyLui]

Wha do you consider "not very pricey"?

Most of the very low priced Chinese instruments are not terribly good, although they may work OK for you until you progress a bit more.

A good used King 7B or Conn 112H will be about the same price as a medium Chinese insrument and be a better investment. Even better is the like of a Conn 71H, Holton 180, or Yamaha 613.

If a double trigger is not necessary (you will need the second trigger in High School and later) you can get any of a number of excellent single trigger bass rombones for not much money.

I would strongly suggest you work with a teacher or coach to see if a good instrument can be had for a good price.

Many will try to convince you of he benefit of a nearly top-tier instrument tha may cost $3,000 or so. If you can afford one, good luck.

Well I've been given a price of $2500 for two bones, one bass and a new tenor. I already have a Bach Soloist with an F attachment, which I'm planning on selling for about $650. I'm planning on spending most of that budget on a decent dual rotor bass bone and the rest for a new large bore tenor. Also, I'm entering my senior year in high school and have been bearing through all my years with a single rotor student bone.

[brassmedic]

You are not going to get a good tenor AND a good bass for $2,500. If you can spend the $2500 on a good used 2 valve bass, like a Getzen, Bach, Conn, Yamaha, or even an old Holton, you should. You can get a Chinese horn for less, but you get what you pay for, and more likely than not will end up sorry you bought it. A quality used horn will hold its value. A "Top grade tuning slide copper mouth gold color" horn will not.

[braymond21]

It would definitely be difficult to get two new horns for that price but you can definitely get a good bass for around $2,500. Check out the selling forums here as well as Reverb.com and eBay of course. There are all sorts of good deals if you look in the right places. You could also get a dependent horn if you like those since they're usually cheaper than independent.

[DougHulme]

I suggest you look at the Jupiter Xo series they are good quality and cheaper. Quinn the Eskimo has several decent horns for around $2,000 of various makes (check him on ebay). As braymond21 says the dependent horns usually go a little cheaper too. Contact DJ Kennedy (he is a member here and a friend of mine) and see what he's got he has a house full of horns and he never asks top dollar he is always very fair. I suggest on your budget you need both your horns to be second hand. You will get much better quality horns going second hand than buying new, Bruces advice is sound. I have bought slightly better Chinese horns for my students and they are better than the press they get but are still at best intermediate horns, better to have an older but 'classier' horn and if the person you are buying it from is a player and especially if he is on here as a member you will get a great critique on how it plays and what if any work needs doing on it. Which leads me to my last point, if you have a good tech dont be afraid of getting a really good make of horn that needs a little bit of work doing on it. A good tech will work wonders with any horn for not too much money. You can get a horn cheap because it needs work spend a few $ on it and get a really good horn out of it for less than you would have paid for it in good condition. Perhaps thats a bit too ambitous at this point in your career and knowledge of insruments though.

[BillO]

I suggest you look at the Jupiter Xo series they are good quality ...

I'll 2nd this. I've had a 1240RL for 3 or so years now. Very happy. Well made, big bold (can shake foundations) sound when you want it, but responds well at pp too. You might indeed find one for $2,500.

[DougHulme]

$2,199

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jupiter-XO-M ... SwuDFcio3r

[BillO]

That's a great price! Dillon's has the axial version listed for more than $5,500. That would place the rotor version at around $4900.

Although they don't use Thayer branded valves anymore, they now have their own axial which is actually an improvement over the Thayer.

I have the rotor version, just like that one on fleaBay and can attest that those rotors are enormous and very free blowing. Looks like a great deal.

[DougHulme]

Quinn is a reliable guy too. He once shipped a horn to me that got trashed in the post and he simply refunded the purchase price and let me keep the horn.

[braymond21]

If you're still looking for a bass, I have a getzen I'm looking to sell soon. PM or email me if you're interested

[mfellows821]

Getzen Conn Bach King Holton Benge Yamaha are all good horns and if you look around quite a bit should be available used for under $2000. Edwards Shires Rath will be out of the price range

[PaulT]

I have purchased two horns from Quinn. He described them as mint. They were MINT!

(I don't have a lot of ebay experience. I'm sure there are lots of good sellers. All I know is Quinn has been real good to me and I'm grateful. So, when (I hope) it is appropriate, I recommend the guy as square and fair.)

[MTbassbone]

Watch Craigslist in your area. You never know what might show up, and you would be able to try it most likely. Also don't discount traveling a bit to other nearby areas. If you use searchtempest.com it will search Craigslist nationwide. Letgo.com is also another option.

[mrdeacon]

Since this thread seems to have evolved into talking about places to purchase used horns from I figured I'd chime in.

I wouldn't buy off of eBay for your first time. There's sort of a sixth sense when it comes to eBay and it takes getting burned a couple of times to figure out what's good and bad.

I cannot recommend Noah Gladstone at the Brass Ark enough. His prices are on the high end of the spectrum but he does a good job fixing up the horns before mailing them. He'll treat you well. Also offers a return policy although the window is fairly narrow.

Dillons is not a half bad place to pick up a used horn BUT!!! I would call about the horn in question before buying. I got sort of burned purchasing my first bass from them. They had one blurry picture and the horn was in worse shape than advertised. Not a big deal but still. Great guys and this problem would have been moot had I purchase directly from their store.

The forums here aren't a half bad place to pick up a horn. Make sure there are pictures and you know who you're buying from. Snoop around their history and you can see if they have been around for a while. I've had good luck buying horns and mouthpieces from these cats for years. I luckily have not been burned yet! But I have been smart with who I've dealt with.