Posted by Lew on September 18, 2002 at 09:38:46:
In Reply to: Low brass valved instrument help! posted by LV on September 17, 2002 at 20:48:27:
I play valve trombone with a little Klezmer band in my town. I have been using a 100+ year old horn with an 8.5" bell and about a .500" bore. Of the other valve trombones I have tried I found the King 3B and the older Olds ones to be the easiest playing for me. The Conn 5G is pretty close too. Of these I believe that only the King is still available new, but used Conns and Olds' seem to show up fairly regularly. I have tried Yamahas and Amatis too, but didn't like them as much.
The free-est blowing valve trombone I have played was actually a Conn 90G upright valve trombone. This is essentially a Conn 88H bell with a valve section grafted to it. It is upright like a trombonium rather than a valve trombone, so it may not look right, but it has a large bore, .547", and takes a large shank mouthpiece, both of which are unusual for valve trombones. They are also no longer made and may be hard to come by.