Older Yamaha 321 and 322R basses

[mrdeacon]

Has anyone spent time on an older 321 or 322R Yamaha bass?

I might have a chance to pick one up for dirt cheap. This is one of the early ones. It's got a nickel slide and a red brass bell. Almost like a Holton?

I've only ever seen the newer ones with the yellow slides and never tried one with the nickel slide. Are the older horns better or worse then the newer interations?

Thanks!

[Tooloud]

Had one back in the 80's... Yes, really!
It was the first trombone i ever bought - and put me on the bass trombone for the rest of my life.
Very versatile, light bass, more an all-round instrument. Very usable. Mechanically flawless.
Got me through university - those were the days... Today every very average high-schooler seems to need an Shires or equivalent...

[imsevimse]

I'm a collector. I have one 321 and one 322. They are truly great! I have no Shires. I have tried but I can't find a reason to buy at those high prices. Old instruments are as good, sometimes better, and definitely cheaper.

/Tom

[JTrain]

I own a Yamaha YBL 322. It has a pretty low serial number, but the slide is all yellow brass, as well as the bell. I wish I could comment on the difference between the older, nickle silver slide and red brass bell, but I can't.

I am at least the third owner of the one that I have. As there aren't any Yamaha serial number lists I can find, I can't put a date on it.

It's a great horn! I have played two different examples all in yellow brass. Both have been great horns, though one had been through more use and abuse.

Having the pull to E for the trigger is very helpful. Lots of newer open wrap horns don't have this option, so it is nice to have it here.

If you have a chance to give it a blow before you purchase, go for it! Let us know if you end up getting it. I would love to see some pictures of the nickle silver slide variant.

[bellend]

I have never seen a YBL 321 with a nickle slide are you sure it is original to the instrument??

All the ones I've seen had a brass outer slide with nickle sleeves at the top

Could be someones put a YSL 641 tenor slide with the bell section?.... I would get it checked out if I were you.

Just sayin'

BellEnd

[DougHulme]

I've still got my 1974/5 321 and just spent 3 days playing Christmas music in Helsinki with it, Superb instrument. Direct and flawless copy of The Conn that was in production at the time (62H?). I dont use it very often but I wouldnt be suicidal if someone told me it was the only trombone I could ever play again. They must be the best value Bass Trombone you can get your hands on. People dont realise how good they were. The early ones into the UK were virtually hand made horns with a very high quality check. Much underated and I have seen ebay adverts describe them as student or step up horns... Far from it if you want a single plug horn you couldnt do much better... Doug

[imsevimse]

They must be the best value Bass Trombone you can get your hands on. People dont realise how good they were. The early ones into the UK were virtually hand made horns with a very high quality check. Much underated and I have seen ebay adverts describe them as student or step up horns... Far from it if you want a single plug you couldnt do much better... Doug

Yup, much better than the reputation they got at the time. The ones who played them liked them, it was the others who gave them bad reputation and the 300-series was marketed as a student line. The horns from Japan had the same reputation as the Chinese horns got today. When my friend showed up with a new student Yamaha in the late 70-ies our teacher laught and asked if it was a motorcycle. That was what Yamaha was known for back then and the rest is history.

/Tom

[BGuttman]

It's kind of interesting that Yamaha was known for motorcycles back in the 1960s and 1970s (I remember those days). The logo is three intersecting tuning forks and their first product was actually a piano.

[mrdeacon]

I have never seen a YBL 321 with a nickle slide are you sure it is original to the instrument??

All the ones I've seen had a brass outer slide with nickle sleeves at the top

Could be someones put a YSL 641 tenor slide with the bell section?.... I would get it checked out if I were you.

Just sayin'

BellEnd

It was genuine to the horn. I've handled enough old Yamahas to confirm that. However unusual it was, it did, in fact, have a nickel slide for a model 322.

There's a guy on the forums here selling a Yamaha .525 from the same period with a nickel slide!! Sure haven't seen that before!

[dukesboneman]

About a year 1/2 ago I wanted to make myself more marketable as a player so I bought a Yamaha 321 Bass Trombone.
It`s a wonderful horn. I had (in the past) an Elkhart 72H and it was a dog. I then used the school where I taught`s King Duo Gravis - good horn but had been a school horn since 1978 and had seen much better days.
The 321 has a great sound and does every thing I need it to do. Took me a while to find the right mouthpiece. And a Yamaha 59 works perfect for me.
And mine has a nickel slide on it

[PhilE]

I have a 321 that I use for marching when the need arises. As others have said it a good bone. Good solid sound. Not too heavy to carry. I also found the Yamaha 59 to be a good match.

[JohntheTheologian]

I just bought a very nice Yamaha 322R and received it less than 3 weeks ago, but so far I'm enjoying it very much.

I've used it in Big Band--my primary reason for buying it-- and in place of a tuba in a brass quintet at church-- we have no tuba player! It handles both very well. Wonderful sound in the low range.

I haven't played bass bone for years and my venture was so brief and so long ago that I have no real memory to make a comparison with the Bach 50B I played then, but so far I can 2nd everything said about my experience with this horn.

I'm a Conn guy at heart-- OK, my large bore is a Blessing B88, but someday I'll get my nice 88H -- my small bore is a vintage Conn--and this horn has been a smooth transition as i get adjusted to the slightly heavier weight and the larger mp-- I'm using a Marcinkiewicz 3 right now-- rim size about that of a Bach 2 with deep cup and a nice open throat and backbore and it matches well so far. Maybe I'll go bigger when my bass bone chops are more developed.

Overall, I'm very pleased with my purchase of this horn-- got it from Tom Rice-- AKA Greenbean-- on this forum. He was very good to work with.

[sgreatwood]

I love my 321 - it's a fairly early example, I think. Yellow brass slide, Commercial Bronze bell. My parents bought it in the mid 90s when I was at high school and I still play it (though it now has a dual-independent Shires section). I like it so much that I bought another bell section from DJ to go with the spare slide I had. I used to find the valve section a bit tight (the original valves were REALLY small) but the 322 and maybe later 321s had a larger valve.

Simon