Fixing loose slide to bell connection

[braymond21]

Question for my fellow techs:

What's the method for fixing trombone slide to bell connections that are loose? I usually just expand the slide receiver a little bit but this one is a really old Conn and it makes absolutely no contact with the bell receiver and won't expand. Also no replacement parts available (probably), being so old. I also thought about machining a sleeve but I'm not good enough with the lathe to machine tapers yet

[Crazy4Tbone86]

It all depends on the parts and which taper (if any) is best suited for keeping. On many brands, the bell-side receiver is also the same piece as the bell brace flange. Thus, I try to keep that piece and replace the slide (male) tenon. However, the bell-side receiver is often the taper that is most worn, so that game plan is not always the best.

I replaced a couple of old Conn connectors not too long ago. One of them was originally a friction fit. I ended up just replacing both sides with modern day .500 bore parts.

For the friction fit, I just turned down the threaded part to create a smooth surface. I also had to smooth down the edge of the bell side because the lip (part that normally stops the threaded ring from falling off) was exposed and had a sharp edge on it.

Just be careful if you need to buy parts. Some slide tenons are only the tapered part plus the threads (which is probably all you need). Some other brands have the tapered part and the cork barrel as one unit. Not a big deal to cut the cork barrel off, but you can end up with a few useless cork barrels in your parts bins.