Buying a second slide, is it worth it?

[claf]

Hello dear trombonists.
My recently acquired Adams TB1 tenor has a yellow brass dual bore slide.
I was wondering if acquiring an additional slide in single bore would be useful.
Is the difference between the both of them really perceptible or is it minor?

[SamBTbrn]

Hi Claf,
I guess the first question to ask is, why are you looking for another slide if this is a new instrument for you?
Do you not like how the slide you currently have feels to play on / how it sounds? Or, are you just curios as to what the difference is between them?

A simple answer is, if you like how your current set up plays, then no, it is not usefull. A 2nd slide just takes up space at home and you will rarely use it compared to your "preferred" slide.

If you are not happy with the one you have at the moment, then when you buy a new one, sell the other.

Best
Sam

[CalgaryTbone]

A second (slightly different) slide can be useful for changing your sound for different repertoire sometimes. It can also be good to have some spare parts (enough to put together as an entire horn?) in case you need to get some repairs done so you have a backup instrument. Of course, many of us have taken this idea a bit too far, and have tuning slides and leadpipes in boxes in our practice spaces. I actually changed my everyday slide at one point because I sent my main slide off to the Slide Doctor and realized that after some time playing the other slide with a smaller crook, I preferred it.

Jim Scott

[MrHCinDE]

It‘s a slippery slope, I‘ve presently got five slides for my large tenor setup and do play two of them regularly. I‘m looking to downsize to three once I‘ve tried them out properly with sone recent changes to my playing (positive changes resulting from recent lessons).

I‘m planning to keep my Bach LT42 and Edwards T-STDN (prototype) as they sound sufficiently different (nickel silver vs. brass outers, tenor vs. bass crook) to justify the value I‘d get for selling one of them.

Candidates to sell/keep are: Bach 50, Custom Bach 0.547“/0.562“ and Edwards 0.525“.

Out of the Bach 50 and dual bore, the dual bore fits the stereotype of not needing much more air than a 0.547“ single bore with nearly all the sound of the 50 slide. I‘m tending towards keeping the dual bore for playing 2nd/3rd trombone and selling the 50 slide.

The Edwards medium bore is very nice but may not be different enough to the others for me to keep. Particularly with regards to the 0.525“ slide, the recent changes I‘m made to play more efficiently and less woofy with my 0.547“ setup have closed the gap between the 0.525“ and 0.547“ significantly.

[whitbey]

The first second slide I got was a second 547/562 slide. My main slide is a 547/562 nickle Edwards for my Edwards horns. I have 2 547 Edwards Bells. I found a 547/562 brass Bach slide. So if Something bad happens to my slide, I have second slide to cover with that is the same size. The variation between yellow and nickle is small enough to not matter when a needed repair is in the way. So my first second slide would be close to the same as my main horn is. If you play a 547 straight slide, then 2 of those would be the first choice.

Having a second slide has save me on a gig a couple times. But I have some medical issues that open the door to clutzville. Many gigs a just put a second horn in the truck just in case.

My second slide is different. 525/247 nickle. So now I have 3 slides for 2 bell sections.

Toys! Toys! I must have my toys.

[harrisonreed]

Meh. There are other ways to change the sound that aren't nearly as expensive. For me, especially since I'm of the Karl Pilkington mindset of "if you want to have a change, have a change" and grab a different horn, it's not worth it.

[claf]

A lot of very interesting answers here, thank you.
I think I should add a little bit of context here.

I like the current setup, i admit that part of the reason why I'm thinking about having another (different) slide is just because "I can, so why not?".
After that, I'm just wondering if a .547 slide (maybe in nickel silver) would help me having a slighly more focused sound with more brilliance than the current .547/.562 slide.
In my mind it sounds like " this horn is very good for 2nd trombone, could I do this to make it very good for principal?"

If the answer is that a slide change will not make enough of a difference, I'll just forget it and stick with what I have (which is already working really well).

I will not consider selling this horn because I like it very much and will not consider adding another one to my collection because I already have too many trombones for an amateur trumpet player

[hyperbolica]

I got a 525 slide for my 8/88h bells because I liked the lighter feel, and I do use both slides. I'm not sure the dual to single bore difference is that great, but if you were to go to the next dual - say 525/547 that would be noticeable and make a difference worth making.

[CalgaryTbone]

It depends on what kind of work you do, and how serious it is. Last night we played the Schubert 9th with the orchestra (great trombone writing!). I actually used my same slide with an 8" bell - no valve (on 1st). The second player used a lighter bell (Red VE Shires), and the Bass used a 50's Conn 70H. Nothing drastically smaller but all of the instruments took on a lighter sound that complimented the music. You get more of a fortissimo level of brightness at a single forte, so you don't overblow the smallish orchestra, and the softs have a nice clarity to them. Soft high A's and B's in the 1st part have a clearer less forceful quality as well.

Sometimes, a small change is enough - those horns would have not worked as well for us in Tchaikovsky 5th the weekend before. I'm not sure I would worry about these things if I were just getting started in my career, or was playing in amateur groups - then just playing one horn well is the goal, unless you want something different for classical-type playing and jazz/commercial playing. I would guess that a lot of the more commercial players on the forum have a couple of different horns/parts that work better for different types of gigs too.

Jim Scott

[ZacharyThornton]

I like having a back up slide. If something happens, I have one that works great even if it is a bit different. My normal is a dual bore and my back up is a single bore.

[MrHCinDE]

After that, I'm just wondering if a .547 slide (maybe in nickel silver) would help me having a slighly more focused sound with more brilliance than the current .547/.562 slide.

This would be equivalent to my Bach LT42 and Bach dual-bore 0.547“/0.562“ slides.

I find that with my red brass bell, the nickel silver slide works well by giving a bit of help for clearer articulations, though it can get a bit growly if really pushed. If I use the dual bore slide (with bass yellow brass crook) with the same bell, I have to work a bit harder to get a clean and focussed sound with crisp articulations. It‘s certainly possible to play that bell with either of those slides but the LT42 slide is just a few % less effort at the expense of a few % less quality loud dynamic range.

With my yellow brass bell, both of those slides work well, the slightly larger sound of the dual bore is good if I want the clean sound of the yellow brass bell with a bit of extra width (especially in the lower range), but not as much as the dark chocolate of the red brass bell. The difference is less pronounced than with the red brass bell.

I actually prefer the Edwards 0.547“ slide over both others I mentioned in this post and can get close to the results of each of them by using different leadpipes and just having a clear picture of the sound concept I want. That was the Eureka moment for me recently, you can do a lot more with embouchure, mouth cavity and air control than any slide change. I‘m not ready to get rid of all but one slide yet though, but at least a couple will be on their way out soon.

If the OP isn‘t taking lessons, it might be worth for them to try a few to really focus in on how to get the best out of the new horn. It might sound obvious but this hadn‘t occurred to me until I started lessons again recently after 20+ years break:
Apart from long suffering cohabitants, I wasn‘t playing on my own in front of anyone other than a quick phrase here or there at ensemble practice. I wasn‘t really analysing what I wanted to sound like and was definitely not receiving any individual guidance on how to sound as good as I can on the gear I have.

It‘s quite an exposed feeling to play stuff which challenges you and have a teacher listen and advise. The professional advice may help to get the best out of the 0.547“/0.562“ for principal playing.

[2bobone]

I think that the first consideration to be made is to establish a firm base from which to make any equipment decisions. In other words, are YOU in the best shape to make a determination as to the effectiveness of an equipment change ? If not, you will be chasing a "moving target" ---- something that is constantly in a state of change. Whenever I question a past choice of instrument, mouthpiece or leadpipe I always try to remember just where I was career-wise and why I chose that path and it usually makes sense. Once I was retired and didn't have a 6 day a week schedule to keep me in top shape, it became very obvious that my frame of reference had changed drastically. My most recent equipment change was from a single to a dual bore slide for my Butler C-12. I felt confident that I was in good enough condition to critically assess the change. It was successful and I even went so far as to suggest to Dave Butler that he should offer the C-12 with the dual bore slide and offer a single bore slide as an option ! A highly resolving audio system benefits from a warm-up just like a highly critical trombone player does. If you can hear a difference --- there IS a difference !

[chouston3]

I had a bach 42 with a single bore slide and dual bore slide. I greatly preferred the dual bore slide. I greatly preferred the dual bore slide but my teachers wanted me to play on the single bore slide.
If you are in a studio, your teacher might want you on something more generic. If you are just on your own, play on what sounds good.

I get more mileage out of changing mouthpieces and leadpipes than slides.