What are the best music stores for trying out multiple pro-level instruments?

[ClevelandErik48]

Hi - new member here. I'm getting back into playing and starting to think about buying a new horn. Any tips for music stores that would have a decently varied selection of pro-horns (Bach, Shires, Yamaha, Edwards/Getzen, etc.)? I'm in the U.S., Ohio to be specific. But please feel free to share any location. Thanks so much!

[Posaunus]

Schmitt Music in Bloomington, Minnesota (near Minneapolis) seems to have many trombones in stock.
https://www.schmittmusic.com/trombone-shop/

[Kdanielsen]

Virtuosity in Boston. Go there and visit Shires (which is near Boston) and you’ll cover almost everything.

[Matt K]

Dillon is hard to beat on the east coast.

[WGWTR180]

Dillon is hard to beat on the east coast.

Dillon has very little these days of any interest. I've completely given up on them.

[Matt K]

Really? Seems like they have around 100 trombones in stock at the moment.

[dwn8ve]

Schmitt Music in Bloomington, Minnesota (near Minneapolis) seems to have many trombones in stock.
https://www.schmittmusic.com/trombone-shop/

Schmitt in Bloomington, MN usually has a great selection. Their website often doesn’t seem to be the most updated though. If you’re planning to visit especially from distance I’d call ahead to see what’s on hand.

[RustBeltBass]

I visited Dillon Music in May of this year and looked around a bit. I was not blown away by their choices of bass trombones on that day, but they had a really variety of really interesting tenors there including some amazing vintage horns.

If you look bass trombones specifically, I think Virtuosity in Boston might be your best bet.

[bbocaner]

Most of Dillon's new instruments are not out for you to pull off the wall and try. You have to ask for them to bring them out for you.

[WGWTR180]

Really? Seems like they have around 100 trombones in stock at the moment.

Don't be fooled about what their website says. They do have some choices but they are a far cry from what they were.

[Matt K]

That might be true but there are still a lot of trombones there. Not many places have hundreds of trombones in stock anywhere. They've switched to not displaying as much on the floor and to having appointments during covid but if you were looking for something I've known a few people who have gone there somewhat recently and were able to try things w/o much hassle all things consider, just perhaps a little more than it was 10 years ago.

[Specialk3700]

Midwest clinic is coming up in december. Not the greatest place to really listen but lots of horns to try.

[dukesboneman]

Husonics in St Petersburg Florida has a great selection

[ClevelandErik48]

Thanks for all the great options, folks! Much appreciated.

[schuedoc]

I'm going to Schmitt's trombone shop in MN in a couple weeks. I'll report back

[schuedoc]

I had the pleasure of visiting Schmitt music in Bloomington, MN this past Saturday, and I have nothing but positive things to say about Keith Hilson, their low brass specialist, and the store in general. I visited with my 16-year-old daughter--who was also in the market for a new trombone as she was looking to upgrade from her Yamaha YSL-648R--and we provided each other valuable feedback as we combed through the absolutely fabulous selection of horns. Of note, I was in the market for both a euphonium and a trombone (former instrument was a Yamaha Xeno YSL-882GO). Also of note, my feedback is mainly to the amateur adult musician and the aspiring younger musician. Although there are many outstanding professional trombonists on this forum, please know I'm not talking directly to you.

We started with the euphoniums (I played all on a Schilke 51D):

1) Adams E1 yellow brass bell, silver plated finish -- Immediate response when you start your sound on the mouthpiece. Too immediate in my opinion. For that reason, it was very difficult to play with pleasant dynamics as there was nothing below mezzo forte despite a very gentle approach. Too much punch for me. Not a very pretty sound, either.

2) Adams E3 yellow brass bell -- Extremely easy to play in all registers, and this had the best intonation of all the euphoniums tried. Dynamics were ok though still on the louder side of things for my taste. The problem was that both Keith and my daughter agreed that the sound from 5 and 10 feet away was just not a good "euphonium" sound. After playing the other horns, I agree that I did not like my sound as it was rather meh. And a meh sound does not motivate me to practice and make good music, so I passed on this otherwise magnificent instrument.

3) Besson BE967-2-0 Sovereign silver plated -- Best sounding instrument of the bunch in the middle money register (from Bb low in the staff to F above the staff). We all agreed on that. Intonation suffered on a few notes in the same register. Low register was stuffy, and the high register did not sing. Articulation was smooth but not necessarily easy. But, man, was it a joy to play lyrical excerpts in the money register.

4) Besson BE2052-2GO-0 Prestige gold lacquer with free-floating leadpipe -- It was a combination of the Adams E3 in terms of response in all registers and the Besson Sovereign in terms of outstanding sound. It just sang beautifully. Articulation was excellent and easy. I kept going back to it over and over, so it was the one I ultimately purchased.

5) Yamaha YEP-642SII Professional NEO, silver plated -- solid euphonium with a solid sound. Easy to play. I can see why others gravitate toward this model, but it did not compare to the Besson Prestige when played head to head.

Euphoniums I did not try (because the chops needed a break, and it was time for lunch): Shires Q91, Willson Q90S, various Eastman models, Lake city.


Trombones. We were in the market for large bore tenors to play in concert band, chamber group, and orchestral settings. I'm not going to include every instrument for brevity. My experience with my Bach 5G mouthpiece:

1) Yamaha Xeno 882OR -- I started with a horn near my home base to warm up. Though it played quite a bit different than the 882GO, it was not exciting enough to play more than warm up exercises on.

2) Lake City TB415II .547 bore, yellow brass bell -- the absolute star of the show that offered the biggest surprise of the day. This trombone was advertised as an "intermediate to professional level instrument" that could be a nice step up for a high school student. It was soooo much more than that. I could have played this thing all day. It produced beautiful sounds in all registers and was just easy to play. My daughter played it, and the sound she produced was simply miles better than her Yamaha and any other professional level trombone she tried. At ~$2100, it was far and away the best value on the wall. I purchased it for my daughter. Easy decision.

3) Conn 88HO -- I'm not a Conn player. Never have been. I put it back on the shelf after 2 scales.

4) Shires TBQAlessi -- The Alessi Q series may work for some, but we could not make the sound we wanted to hear. Not the easiest trombone to play. It did not compare with the Lake City we just tried.

5) Shires David Rejano model -- heavy instrument. It did have a nice sound, I'll admit, but it took a lot of work to get there. And I was looking to make my musical life easier; not harder, so I put it back.

6) Getzen 4047 ET -- The Enzo stole the show for me. The instrument is a bit on the heavy side, but it plays many different styles of music with comfort, ease, and with a very attractive sound. Very Bach 42-like. Articulation is smooth and not too punchy. All registers sang, particularly the high register. The rotor was smooth with good trigger range, feel, and sound. Though I tried many other trombones, I kept coming back to this one over and over, which was--in the end--the reason I purchased this horn. Just a joy to play.

7) Getzen 4147 IB -- The Bousfield arguably had a better sound than the ET, but when I played several excerpts back to back with the ET, both Keith and my daughter agreed that--with my articulation and style--the IB was too "punchy" and the phrasing more uneven in comparison. It was still a trombone that I'd play and enjoy every day if I had one. Just wasn't a full fit for me.

8) Greenhoe GC4-1R-TIS -- The tuning in slide, red brass Greenhoe model made, hands down, the best sound for me in the money register. Super easy to play. Light weight; comfortable. And the slide was not particularly heavy. For amateurs, the slide would almost never be a problem in any setting. The only time the slight heaviness could be an issue would be virtuoso playing at a professional level. Personally, I could play fast, articulated passages as fast as I could without issue. The only way I can describe the overall playing experience with the Greenhoe is butter. Soft butter. I kept going back and forth between this instrument and the ET. What finally steered me away from the Greenhoe was the high register above high C. Admittedly, I'm not going to play above that all that often, but the high register was slightly stuffy. That's my only complaint for this otherwise awesome horn.

9) Bach 47BO Artisan model, yellow brass, standard rotor -- This trombone sang and was easy to play, but it suffered from being played toward the end, and I quickly realized it did not stack up to the others I'd tried. I was not happy with the trigger register, either.

10) Bach 47XPS Peter Steiner model -- meh. I had high expectations for this one. And just meh. Trigger register left a lot to be desired.


In summary, it was a great, exhausting 4+ hours trying every instrument on the shelf. But it was worth the time and expense to fly from Atlanta up to Bloomington for the experience. There may be other low brass shops out there, but for those musicians like me in my phase of life, I think there's no better place to go comparison shopping.

And let me repeat my plug for Lake City instruments. Try them out if you have the chance!

[Posaunus]

I had the pleasure of visiting Schmitt music in Bloomington, MN this past Saturday, and I have nothing but positive things to say about Keith Hilson, their low brass specialist, and the store in general.

Thanks for the thorough, insightful, articulate review, and your enthusiastic recommendation.
(You seem to be a pretty advanced "amateur.")

[GrecoTrombone]

Little late to the party, but Baltimore Brass has a decent selection (I might be a bit biased...). I'll be bringing everything we've got to the Army Trombone show in DC this March. Stop in with me and check out what I've got. Not much in the new market, but I've got plenty of used and consignment.

-Chris, Manager @ Baltimore Brass Company