Posted by Erik on November 28, 2001 at 01:25:13:
In Reply to: Re: Re: off topic - help me select a trombone posted by Kenneth Sloan on November 28, 2001 at 00:51:51:
If he went to a bass bone, would he keep the tenor, or would he trade it in to help finance the purchase of the new horn? If he'd keep it, then I agree with you, but if he'd trade it in, it makes the decision more difficult.
FWIW, my parents helped me buy a 42BO in 7th grade. When I got to high school, I used a school-owned bass trombone (first a King 7B, I believe, then a Bach 50B) in jazz band. There were times when I had to play the 3rd trombone part in other jazz bands at my school (to fill in), playing in the pit orchestra for the school musical, and also playing in a tbn quartet when having the smaller horn came in handy. So, if it is possible, having two horns certainly does come in handy simply for the flexibility that it offers. However, I only owned one of the two horns, and I would have to imagine that owning two as a high school student would be a relatively large cash outlay.
Also FWIW, I personally like the sound of Bach trombones. Perhaps that's because it's all I heard for a large portion of my life. When I went to the Brasswind last year, I played all the bass trombones they had there briefly (I was in search of a tuba). I remember that while the Getzens (w/thayers) were perhaps a little more open, especially with the valve engaged, they just didn't give the sound that I wanted to hear. And while the thayer valves were nice, the difference in cost and availability of the Bach models would have probably convinced me to go with standard rotors, probably used.
Soooo... What to make of all this... There are a couple things I'd recommend doing, if possible. If you can go to a store such as the Brasswind or Dillons or someplace that stocks a variety of horns, go there and play them. If you know a pro (if your son is taking lessons from somebody, for example) who could come too, that would be helpful, as it would give another pair of ears and could help chose between good specimens and dogs. Finally, as much as I like big tombones, I think that going with a .525 bore trombone at this point is probably best. It's the most versitile (you could probably do everything from most 3rd trombone parts in orchestra to being able to play the higher jazz parts) and will still be very useful should he move to the bass trombone route. Should he decide to focus on jazz, he could swap it or add a .500 or smaller horn, or if he goes classical tenor, he could swap it for a .547 bore horn if he so desires (though I would think a .525 would do fine in an orchestral setting).
Wow, that was a lot of random talk. Hopefully you can find something useful in there. Feel free to email me if I wasn't clear.
Good luck.
Erik