Looking for opinions/advice on buying

[mstens]

I've been playing trombone since 6th grade and I just graduated high school on the 22nd. I'm looking to fix or replace my student trombone from when I started with a new slide or a used trombone in good condition.
I started out with a Andreas Eastman ETB-310 student trombone. A year ago, I got a used, custom Bach 42G and I've been in love with it ever since; however, I like to use the Eastman for jazz-related stuff instead because it's smaller and easier to shred on.
I have a hard time playing with a chunky slide, and as much as I clean the Eastman's slide, it doesn't seem to un-stick in the first, second and third positions. I haven't re-aligned the inner slide before and I haven't measured if it is unaligned. I've sent in the slide two years ago to have dents removed, but that hasn't done anything. It gets pretty smooth with a good Slide-o-Mix application, but that wears off within an hour of fast soloing.
My question is, should I look to keep it and replace the slide (preferably with a lightweight nickel or a Butler carbon fiber slide) or should I search for a entirely better instrument? Or is there a solution to get my slide to butter condition again?
I'm looking for a solution under $1000. Any advice, criticisms, solutions or offers are greatly appreciated!

[Doug Elliott]

Some repair techs are better than others when it comes to getting a slide working well. Who worked on it before? There are several good techs on here in different parts of the country, and there's https://slidedr.com/ in Georgia.

On the subject of Slide-o-mix, I have had the same experience, it doesn't last very long at all. Try the Yamaha stuff, it works great for almost everybody.

[Kbiggs]

+1 for the Yamaha stuff. Just make sure you clean your slide well before you start using it. It doesn’t work well with some slide lubes. If necessary, have it chem cleaned or ultrasonically cleaned.

[mbtrombone]

If you are serious of continuing to play jazz it would probably be worth it to get another horn unless you are in love with how you sound and how the horn plays that you are using now.

As for getting the horn fixed, a slide alignment might be the issue. This requires a very competent repairman. I had to spend about $200 to get my Shires slides perfect, and I do mean perfect. I haven't had a problem with the slide since spending the money and that was about 11 years ago. I use Bruce Belo out in Anaheim CA, but I have no idea if he is still working these days, I haven't needed work on a horn for 11 years now. Hopefully someone here knows what Bruce is up to.

Slides should never be chunky! The outer slide should fall right off if you drop the end of the slide 1 inch from parallel from the floor. Anything short of this means the slide could be better.

Good luck!

[Burgerbob]

Bruce is still in Anaheim.

[Posaunus]

Bruce is still in Anaheim.

But Bruce may not be working now; locked out of his shop due to Covid-19 as of a couple of weeks ago.

Lots of other good techs – depends on your location whether one is convenient.

You need to get your slide aligned / repaired – before it's unrepairable.

Or get a different (small-bore tenor) trombone with an already decent slide. Plenty of these available used at reasonable prices (<$1,000). I would not recommend getting a Butler slide for a student trombone. That is truly gilding the lily! Check out TromboneChat classifieds to see what's available if you're interested. Most of us are knowledgeable and reputable.

[Hobart]

To be honest, in terms of horns, I'd have to agree with Posaunus. At least from my rather small pool of knowledge, a carbon fiber slide isn't cheap, and you might as well pick up a whole horn for the price.
Upon a glance from their website, if you need an inner slide as well as an outer slide, it's a cool $1,500, and that's to fit a Conn 6h. I'm not sure how their prices change when going between horns.
It is not too hard to find good used professional horns with good slides for less than $1,000, which will likely have a higher resale value than the Eastman with a carbon fiber slide. It'll benefit you more in the long term to find a whole horn instead.

[tomchall]

Some repair techs are better than others when it comes to getting a slide working well. Who worked on it before? There are several good techs on here in different parts of the country, and there's https://slidedr.com/ in Georgia.

On the subject of Slide-o-mix, I have had the same experience, it doesn't last very long at all. Try the Yamaha stuff, it works great for almost everybody.

I agree with Yamaha lubricant. After a while the Slide-O-Mix waters down whereas the Yamaha doesn't.

[Bloo]

Is there a way to get a thinner form factor slide that fits the 42g? Or does it have to be that size because of the bore?

[Doug Elliott]

What do you mean by "thinner form factor slide" ??

[Posaunus]

Is there a way to get a thinner form factor slide that fits the 42g? Or does it have to be that size because of the bore?

Do you mean a slide with less distance between the upper and lower slide tubes (i.e., "narrower") like a Conn 88H, vs the "wider" slide of a Bach 42? If so, it has nothing to do with bore. Both 42G and 88H are the same (0.547") bore diameter. The slide "width" seems to be purely a matter of design choices.

[Bloo]

Is there a way to get a thinner form factor slide that fits the 42g? Or does it have to be that size because of the bore?

Do you mean a slide with less distance between the upper and lower slide tubes (i.e., "narrower") like a Conn 88H, vs the "wider" slide of a Bach 42? If so, it has nothing to do with bore. Both 42G and 88H are the same (0.547") bore diameter. The slide "width" seems to be purely a matter of design choices.

What do you mean by "thinner form factor slide" ??

Posaunus knows exactly what I mean. Sorry, I don't think I've ever actually had to reference that characteristic of the horn before.