TromboneChat

Hi All,

In looking at mouthpieces and things more closely, I've noticed that all mouthpieces appear to wobble somewhat in my trombone. With my "normal" mouthpiece (Kurun & Gilbert T7B) I can "wind it in a bit" i.e. give it a bit of a twist and push and it stabilises. With the MP's I'm testing though, I dont really want to mark the shank (as I suspect some will find their way back to the shop).

I have 2 question areas really -

1. for testing will the wobble significantly impact the sounds or feel in a way that's going to make it harder to judge how each piece works for me? To avoid the wobble and minimise risk of damage to the MPs, I tried wrapping one shank with a couple of turns of plumbers PTFE tape. That stabilises things, but again, will that impact the testing or is it just a sensible thing to do to protect the MP and stabilise things for now?

2. In terms of the horn, is this likely to be something that can be repaired? Or is it even worth repairing if I assume I can "screw it in a bit" once I've made a choice on an MP?

For info, the trombone is a Besson Sovereign small bore (0.500) tenor from circa 1993, the leadpipe is fixed as far as I can see/tell (which is a little odd as everything I find about Sovereigns with a 941- serial suggest a 7.5" bell and interchangeable lead pipe... mine has an 8" bell.. but that's a side issue!). Mouthpieces tried, K&G T7B, Wick 12C (both "mine" and wobble a tiny bit, but stabilise with a push). M&B 5GS, 6GS and 6.75GS all wobble a lot, Yamaha 48S wobbles a lot and wick 6BS also wobbles a lot... The latter are all brand new. The wobble is very much in one direction - parallel to the slide tubes...

For now it's my only horn, so I dont really want to send it anywhere for repair just yet, but thinking for future planning!

Thanks in advance for thoughts and advice!

There were two versions of the Bessons, yours is the later one... history is here if you're interested.

Without pulling and replacing the leadpipe (which would then potentially give you different mpc opinions anyway), it is what it is. Use the minimum of tape for testing - anything that alters insertion depth alters how things play, but as long as the difference between "gently placed" and "twisted in" isn't too excessive, it's not going to be night and day.

ithinknot wrote: Wed Jun 11, 2025 7:59 am There were two versions of the Bessons, yours is the later one... history is here if you're interested.

That history is interesting, thanks! Mine doesnt have a GS or a BE on the serial, just 941-Serial (which starts 804). It is the rose brass 8" bell and the slide seems "standard"... I thought I picked up mid-1990s ish, possibly late 90s I guess... not sure. I've had it from new, local music shop owners (nr London, UK) were family friends and both trombone players. They picked up 3 similar Sovereigns from the B&H/Besson rep who I seem to remember said they were being discontinued or were perhaps ex demo or similar, so offered them to the shop at a lower price, and they offered me the 3rd one. All a bit hazy now though! Thanks for the info though!