Members TCL1of4 Posted July 21, 2008 Members Share Posted July 21, 2008 Hello I have a 13 year old daughter that plays a trombone. She has been playing 3 years and started taking private lessons about 6 months ago. She is a very good trombonist for her age, and already plays in a community band and orchestra pit for an area theatre company. Her trombone teacher has encouraged us to move her up to trombone with an F trigger. He suggested a Blessing 88 and some other models. Our problem-the instruments are very expensive-even used ones. I would like to purchase a quality used instrument, but am overwelmed. Our plan is to put some money aside to purchase the instrument and look for a good instrument at a good price. We do not have a lot of excess income, but she loves playing, it will just take a good 6 months or so to have the extra money put aside for the purchase. So my questions- What are some good models we should look for, and if you know what price range is a good deal for a used instrument? Also, her current student trombone is in need of about $60 worth of work. We have the opportunity to purchase a Bach TB200 trombone for about $90 dollars. There aren't any major dents or dings and the slide moves smoothly-but it has a broken spit valve. Is this an instrument worth purchasing in lieu of the $60 repairs on her student? I haven't got a clue how much it would cost to replace a spit valve so I am unsure at this point what is the better move. Any other help would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sunburstbasser Posted July 21, 2008 Members Share Posted July 21, 2008 The Bach won't be a major upgrade from your daughter's current horn unless its REALLY a piece. If a shop is willing to work on it, its doubtful that its too bad. Servicing will make it play much better. If your daughter wants a "shiny" horn as opposed to a better horn, there isn't much you can do. If being a great horn is more important to her, I'd be browsing Ebay and sites like Dillons or Levins for a used Bach Strad trombone, pro-line Yamaha, or maybe a good Conn. If you go for a much older horn, say something from the 60s or earlier, King and Conn trombones were tops at that time and you can still find them at good prices with some searching. Yamaha also updates their lineup about every 10 years, which KILLS resale value on old ones but means that a pro-quality trombone can be had for about $1000 in good shape. Personally I find most Yamaha horns lack a certain "character or X factor, but they are almost always well made and are some of the best deals out there used. For new, I would recommend AGAINST Blessing. At best, Blessing's current lineup is upper-intermediate quality, which means your daughter will want to upgrade again in a few years. I'd personally rate them on par with Jupiter, but Jupiters are usually somewhat less expensive than Blessings. If you are willing to look, Getzen and Kanstul make very nice trombones, but they aren't very easy to find used it seems. They both tend to be affordable compared to Bach/etc., without skimping on quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jonathan_matos5 Posted July 21, 2008 Members Share Posted July 21, 2008 Hello I have a 13 year old daughter that plays a trombone. She has been playing 3 years and started taking private lessons about 6 months ago. She is a very good trombonist for her age, and already plays in a community band and orchestra pit for an area theatre company. Her trombone teacher has encouraged us to move her up to trombone with an F trigger. He suggested a Blessing 88 and some other models. Our problem-the instruments are very expensive-even used ones. I would like to purchase a quality used instrument, but am overwelmed. Our plan is to put some money aside to purchase the instrument and look for a good instrument at a good price. We do not have a lot of excess income, but she loves playing, it will just take a good 6 months or so to have the extra money put aside for the purchase. So my questions- What are some good models we should look for, and if you know what price range is a good deal for a used instrument? Also, her current student trombone is in need of about $60 worth of work. We have the opportunity to purchase a Bach TB200 trombone for about $90 dollars. There aren't any major dents or dings and the slide moves smoothly-but it has a broken spit valve. Is this an instrument worth purchasing in lieu of the $60 repairs on her student? I haven't got a clue how much it would cost to replace a spit valve so I am unsure at this point what is the better move. Any other help would be appreciated. go over to tromboneforum.org and talk to a guy named DJ Kennedy he is a connoisseur of used trombones and would be able to help. buying used can be tricky good horns are out there but can be elusive. id say $300-$600 could find something decent used.i'm sorry if that is too much, but with the exception of the "rock band" type instruments, musical instruments tend to jump in price after the student instruments. as for the spit valve that is probably a $15- $25 repair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TCL1of4 Posted July 21, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 21, 2008 She doesn't really care about having something shiny. Her very first trombone was a freebie that had seen much better days. After her first year of band, we had to retire it, because it wasn't worth sinking money into in order to fix it. Right now she uses a Yamaha student model, but says she gets a better sound from another player's old Conn, so she gets that some instruments have better sounds even when they aren't all shiny and new. She does very much want to upgrade her trombone. I just know I want to find an instrument that will provide the best quality for our target budget-and I don't think $300-600 is unreasonable-although $600 is probably the top end of the budget. I think I am mostly overwhelmed as far as what is out there, and what is or isn't a good buy. go over to tromboneforum.org and talk to a guy named DJ Kennedy he is a connoisseur of used trombones and would be able to help Thanks for the tip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundministries Posted July 21, 2008 Members Share Posted July 21, 2008 I'm going to go agains the grain again and reccomend the Jupiter model as a good choice, especially for the price:thu:. They are a very good intermediate model at a very good price, but make sure that you buy one made within the last 5 years. Anything before that and they get kind of sketchy. I have the Jupiter bass trombone and find it to be a great player; just as good (maybe even better:eek:) than the Conn 112H that it is modeled after. A few places to check for good used horns:http://www.dillonmusic.comhttp://www.1800usaband.comhttp://www.thevillagetinker.com/ All of these are reputable dealers and go over all of their used horns. This is opinion, but if it were me I'd try to buy one with an open wrap rather than a tight/closed wrap on the f-trigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TCL1of4 Posted July 21, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 21, 2008 All of these are reputable dealers and go over all of their used horns. This is opinion, but if it were me I'd try to buy one with an open wrap rather than a tight/closed wrap on the f-trigger. What is the difference? Thanks for the links I will check them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jonathan_matos5 Posted July 22, 2008 Members Share Posted July 22, 2008 What is the difference? Thanks for the links I will check them out. closed wrap open wrap its really a personal preference thing. the closed is allegedly more restricting on airflow. if it is her first trombone with an F trigger she probably wont notice a difference playing. take her to the local shop (if there is one) and haver her play all of the pretty new ones so she can decide what she likes, then find something similar in your price ranfe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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