.547 trombone recommendation

[zentrombonist]

Hello

I am a .500/.508 bore player looking for a .547 trombone recommendation Bach 42, conn 88h, shires q30…which would lean towards a dark wide sound?

[hyperbolica]

Any of those could be good, but you probably should play the horn before putting money down on it, if possible. I'm an 88h type myself, but for 547 playing, there are a lot of good options.

[mbtrombone]

More importantly what are you using the horn for most likely? Also how dark and how wide?

I ask because there are obviously going to be trade offs depending on each horn you try. I haven’t tried a Shires Q series yet, but I have owned a few Bach 42 and Conn 88. I kept a Bach 42BOG, so a bach 42 Open Wrap with a traditional rotor, and a gold brass bell. It is a back up to my Shires Custom though. I think the Bach was nice and wide compared to the 88s i tried, but they were all thin bell models, or yellow bell models. I think my Bach isn’t as dark and wide as my Shires though. I also find my Bach to be a good light horn for me (it is the smallest horn I own other than my student model conn I started on). Not to say it is light though, most of my friends in college loved it in Orchestra and quintets wen they used it.

I guess the best is to try out some horns, bring a friend whose ears you trust or a teacher, and the music you want to play on the horn.

[Kingfan]

A King 5B might fit your needs.

[BGuttman]

One way to get a dark sound is to turn off the light in your practice room

On a more serious note, your sound concept can make any instrument sound darker or brighter. I played a King 4B, generally considered to be a "bright" instrument in an orchestral setting and got a nice dark sound from it with a suitably large and deep mouthpiece.

Supposedly the Bach trombone sound is supposed to be "darkest", as will any of the boutique brands configured to be Bach-like. Heavy bells tend to make the sound "darker" (but you will pay for this with a heavy instrument that will tire you out faster).

Coming from a small-bore you will probably play the larger horn a bit bright just because that is what your current sound concept is. A little time and a lot of long tones can help you achieve a darker sound.

Good luck.

[Matt K]

Have you tried any large bores that you liked? Might help to start from there. For example... if you wanted a super dark large bore... The Bach 42 with a 50 slide is probably hard to beat to some degree, but that isn't a 547 slide! Some players are naturally dark and even a medium bore Conn 88 sounds like a million bucks. Hard to go wrong with a well built, common large bore in the generic sense. Any of the ones you listed are. Getzen and Yamaha are relatively inexpensive and are horns I'd add to the list, not to exclude others because there are a dizzying amount of options.