TromboneChat

I just saw an announcement by Butler that they will be manufacturing a less expensive version of their outer slide, aimed at students, marketed through Brooks Mays. I think it was on Facebook but I can't find the announcement again. Has anyone heard anything about this?

Good for slide usability, I think probably bad for student development.

I like my carbon fiber slide, but it isn’t a brass slide and is more difficult to play, chop wise. I can’t imagine it being good to learn on, but I am not an educator or even close to an expert on such things.

Cheers,
Andy

These are bad for marching band, the outer slide does not like water, correct me if im wrong.

trombonedemon wrote: Wed Oct 01, 2025 6:27 am These are bad for marching band, the outer slide does not like water, correct me if im wrong.

I mean, doesn’t like water in that it gets a little sticky…. But if you’ve played one, a sticky 84gram slide is still pretty easy to move compared to a slick 250 gram slide.

From experience, works just fine in the rain.

My concern is purely that I have to be more locked in with my chops to make the carbon slide sound good. A student that has never played a horn may have a harder time doing that.

Cheers,
Andy

I think this is a tremendous idea. The fact is most school-owned trombones (at least where I'm from) have TERRIBLE slides, full of dings, out of alignment, dirty, the works.

Whether or not having a brass slide is better for student development for the best students, for the regular kids nothing will make them give up the trombone faster than an instrument that doesn't work, which is almost always because the slide is all dinged up.

An undentable slide is the best possible thing for 90% of band students.