TromboneChat

I just stumbled over this https://www.customtrombones.com/photos.html and it pleases my eye. Greenhoei'sh, but more elegant, definitely something of it's own.

Question is just: do they play as well as they look?

Is there any forum member daring to make a short review or share their experiences with these instruments?

I've tried a few of them, both tenor and bass, at shows and from friends who own them. I really liked them - they play extremely well!

I've only played them in passing at Dillon Music but each one was a superb instrument. I really liked one that had a red bell and I think a narrow slide, which is unsurprising given how much I like my Shires with a similar configuration.

I haven’t played any of their complete horns, so I cannot give you a review of the horns, but I can give a review of the makers and people you would be dealing with.

In short, they are some of the finest brass craftsmen on the planet.

For a longer explanation, I sent them the slide from an ancient Conn Fuchs to see if we could resurrect it. Not really, it is pretty much destroyed and had some bad repairs in the past. So I asked them to make a replacement based on their TIS bass slide. Well, they made me a slide. It was not simply their standard bass slide, they made a faithful reproduction of the Fuchs slide that included some custom tooling. I still have work to do on the bell section (and I need to call M&W and see if I can just talk them into it), but this slide is amazing. It fits my Bach tapers, so I’ve been using it on my old Bach 50 single. Perfect sound and feel for a bass. It is open and full, but not nearly as spread as some of my other slides. And it is absolutely stunning. If you are on Facebook, there was a recent thread in the Bass Trombone Appreciation group about a twin slide they made for another Fuchs.

For me, I do not need another horn. I would happily buy one from M&W just so that I could see what they come up with for me.

Cheers,
Andy

I played their horns at ITF. Really amazing instruments.

Michael McLemore is on this website hes one of the cofounders of M and W he could probably help you out but Im not sure if he wants to just be outed on this thread with reviews of his stuff. If you want to talk to him Im sure with a little research you could find him on here. Never played his stuff but havent heard any negative reviews so thats a plus.

No reviews here. I'm pretty sure they'd be amazing instruments, and I trust the people who've chimed in about them.

That being said, I wish they were modular.

I have played them and they have the best feedback of anyhorn I have every played. If I ever thought my horn wasn’t cutting it... I would go M&W.

I believe they both worked for Greenhoe at one time... hence the “Greenhoe-ish” appearance. I’ve been told that appearances can be deceptive...

To respond to a couple of comments so far. M&W will make either hard soldered (ie not removable) bells, as well as detachable (ie modular) bells. Customer choice.

Regarding the similarity to the product if our previous employer, these are brand new designs, with "many" differences to the previous product. Both Michael and myself are active players, and we designed these instruments to encapsulate features that we knew would go beyond what we had done before.

We would love for anyone interested in our horns to give them a try!
Matthew

hornbuilder wrote: ↑Tue May 15, 2018 8:44 am To respond to a couple of comments so far. M&W will make either hard soldered (ie not removable) bells, as well as detachable (ie modular) bells. Customer choice.

Regarding the similarity to the product if our previous employer, these are brand new designs, with "many" differences to the previous product. Both Michael and myself are active players, and we designed these instruments to encapsulate features that we knew would go beyond what we had done before.

We would love for anyone interested in our horns to give them a try!
Matthew

Excellent. I love to hear that. Thank you.

Are there any plans to expand to the UK/European market some day?

I would love to test your instruments in Europa ...

We have a relationship with Bertram Musik in Freiburg, Germany (actually working on a project for them right now) We are in discussion with a couple of other dealers, in England and Portugal, so hopefully we will have more of a presence in Europe soon.
M

I personally prefer non modular horns. I think something is lost in the build of the horn because of the breaks needed to make the bell removable. I could be completely wrong though...

ZacharyThornton wrote: ↑Tue May 15, 2018 7:41 pm I personally prefer non modular horns. I think something is lost in the build of the horn because of the breaks needed to make the bell removable. I could be completely wrong though...

Right On!

Is there any tangible evidence to support that? I'm not suggesting that you're wrong in any way, I'd just like to know if it's a definite fact because of x, y, z...

Re the hard soldered/detachable question. Personally, I prefer permanently mounted bells. It may be psychological, but I feel there is a better "connection" within the instrument as a whole. There are some benefits from a construction point of view with both options, but that all generally comes out as a wash.

Of course it depends to some extent too, if you're talking about "modular" versus "interchangeable". While we will do modular instruments, we do not do interchangeable, since, in our opinion, there are too many compromises associated with doing that, from a "fit/tolerance" perspective. But that's another conversation...

M

hornbuilder wrote: ↑Wed May 16, 2018 8:12 am Re the hard soldered/detachable question. Personally, I prefer permanently mounted bells. It may be psychological, but I feel there is a better "connection" within the instrument as a whole. There are some benefits from a construction point of view with both options, but that all generally comes out as a wash.

Of course it depends to some extent too, if you're talking about "modular" versus "interchangeable". While we will do modular instruments, we do not do interchangeable, since, in our opinion, there are too many compromises associated with doing that, from a "fit/tolerance" perspective. But that's another conversation...

M

Can you elaborate more on the difference between the two? If I were to buy a "modular" tenor with a yellow bell from M&W, and then later buy a red bell here on TC, does that mean they might not fit?

I'm probably misunderstanding the fundamental difference.

Neo Bri wrote: ↑Wed May 16, 2018 8:59 am I'm probably misunderstanding the fundamental difference.

Me too!
and I'm curious

Yes, you have the idea. Every manufacturer makes a choice as to how "tight" or "loose" any given tolerance needs to be. We feel that to make every component that comes out of our shop "interchangeable" with another one that may have been made days, months or years before, requires too much of a compromise on what we consider to be a "correct fit" of things like the tuning slide tubes and the cross braces.

We hand fit the tuning slide tubes as pairs, for example, as opposed to machining them to a given size. (Even with CNC machining, there is variance in the dimension of the final part) We build a bell section as a complete unit, with the tuning slide and valve section that goes with that instrument, as opposed to building those components separate to each other and then combining them, with the fit being acceptable "however it comes". This attention to fit actually reduces he difference between a modular and hard soldered instrument to a minimum, IMO.

M

^ and this is why they are the best.

I originally wanted him to rework an old f attachment that was not done well (by someone else). He declined, but tried to sell me a premade f attachment for $2750; I declined. I eventually asked him to remove it and restore my Holton TR-156 Jay Friedman model to its original condition, which he did, doing a great job. Superlative craftsmanship.

I don’t think it’s about the player, more about wanting the horn to be as perfect as possible. If you’re a perfectionist, then the only way to ensure the valve section is built perfectly, is to build it by scratch.

drbucher wrote: ↑Wed Feb 16, 2022 8:28 am I originally wanted him to rework an old f attachment that was not done well (by someone else). He declined, but tried to sell me a premade f attachment for $2750; I declined. I eventually asked him to remove it and restore my Holton TR-156 Jay Friedman model to its original condition, which he did, doing a great job.
Overall, I got the impression that he doesn't respect amateurs, which is all I care to say on that subject.

Knowing Matthew personally, this is not true and it's unfair. Of course I don't know the details of your situation, but I strongly suspect he gave you specific reasoning for declining your original request (which you conveniently left off of your post). I'm sure the reasoning is along the lines of Elow's post below yours. Matthew "is" a perfectionist, and thank God! The lion's share of manufacturers out there today, simply can't compare when it comes to quality control and accepted tolerances.

Anyone reading this thread that is unfamiliar with M&W instruments, RUN, don't walk to try one. You won't regret it. They are among the very best trombones ever made in the world. I'm proud to play on their products every day.

drbucher wrote: ↑Wed Feb 16, 2022 8:28 am I originally wanted him to rework an old f attachment that was not done well (by someone else). He declined, but tried to sell me a premade f attachment for $2750; I declined. I eventually asked him to remove it and restore my Holton TR-156 Jay Friedman model to its original condition, which he did, doing a great job.
Overall, I got the impression that he doesn't respect amateurs, which is all I care to say on that subject.

Reviving a 4 year old thread!! You would be foolish to think he doesn't respect amateurs. Matthew does work for whoever wants to purchase his instrument or have work done on their present one.

When I first met Matt he was (and had been for several years) The Bass Trombonist of The Sydney Opera House. If you live in Australia theres not really anywhere else to go from there, yet we met on equal terms and were able to exchange views on playing and instruments and he was quite prepared to listen and to entertain my views and was interested in anything I had learned. He has been kind enough over the years to ask my opinion on some of his work and how a model or two he had built played. The only reason I dont play one of his horns now is one of finance.
He is a professional, he is a perfectionist, he builds remarkably good horns. I am an amatuer, I would like to be a perfectionist but fall short, I dont build remarkably good horns but Matt Walker has always treated me with utmost respect and I am always pleased to meet him, which is all I care to say on that subject... Doug