TromboneChat

Yesterday I got to play a Wallace and Williams medium bore trombone that belongs to well-known trad jazz player, Dan Barrett. It looked like this, except it was silver with gorgeous engraving on both sides of the bell. Had the TIS and everything else, but was silver, with yellow brass on the inside of the bell.



It really spoke and played free and easy across the entire range of the horn, from pedal E to double Bb. Beautifully in tune. Gorgeous sound.

The only thing I didn't care for is how soft the changes between partials was. Lip slurs didn't pop, but were kind of mushy. I use lip slurs in place of tonguing a lot, so this was kind of disconcerting. One thing I wondered is if I played it regularly would I adjust to it and the lip slurs would start to be more to my liking, or is it just a fact of the horn (and others like it), and it's something I would always be unhappy with.

Any wisdom out there on that?

Wow, no wisdom on that horn and the lip slurs, but what a gorgeous bone. I've been looking at a Conn 80h very similar. By the way, are you sure the inside of the bell isn't a gold wash? Often paired on better silver horns. I do think your chops will adjust to finding the center of each partial, and if you're ripping through them quickly, I imagine the hard edge matters less. Best of luck with the new horn if you get it. You gotta play it for us.

hyperbolica wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 10:37 am By the way, are you sure the inside of the bell isn't a gold wash?

Very well could be. I have no idea. It was gold colored and gorgeously etched on both the inside and outside of the bell. I should have taken photos.

Most of the Williams horns that size that I've tried were like that, a bit strange feeling. If I owned one I'd spend some time experimenting... but I don't have one.

Very interesting.
My Williams 8 which was built much later but should be roughly the same dimensions is super clear with the articulation and the "popping" lip slurs. Sometimes it even feels like I have to be careful to not overarticulate. Same with my Williams 6.

Both horns still are absolutely awesome and I love them both in a lot of contexts.

What Doug said is sth I'm experiencing as well. Those medium bore Williams are quite picky with mouthpieces. I might have to try some more. Haven't played the horn a lot the last few months. Always wanted to try out different stuff on it. The Doug Elliott XT E4 setup works pretty good, but I think there's still some room for improvement although I can't describe exactly what's the problem.

Maybe I can send you some variations to try.

Doug Elliott wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 1:36 pm Maybe I can send you some variations to try.

That would be much appreciated! If it's okay I will write you about it once I have found time to try all the options I have. Might take a few more weeks at least, could even be some months

Here are a few photos of my WW “SYM” model that I purchased from my friend, Niclas Rydh in Sweden. Bore size is pretty much the same (these measure at .520”), except this one has a large 8 3/4” bell, which is probably why it has SYM engraved on the bell. Just curious if you know the bell size of your friend’s horn?