TromboneChat

Hey, all!

I come with a weird issue. Most of the gigs I'm required to do, outside of the standard tux for orchestra/wind band work, require black or white button-downs. I've been able to find shirts with loose or adjustable collars, as well as comfortable material that doesn't scratch up my neck too badly when I put it between the instrument and my neck (this is more comfortable with standard collar heights than trying to squeeze it under where the instrument makes contact with my neck). However, I've now lost 2 white shirts in about 4 months, because a hole in the outermost layer of fabric starts to appear, specifically when I'm playing bass trombone with my Edwards double-Thayer.

For those of you that have run into the same issue, what sorts of remedies do you use to avoid destroying your shirts? Do you put a cover on the instrument or shirt? Is there a shirt manufacturer that makes lower-than-normal collars? It's getting a bit embarrassing to show up in nice pants/shoes/tie and have this weird blemish right (left) on my shirt collar. Help!

Leather Specialties neck guards

You could always take the Christian Lindberg approach of wearing a shirt with the collar flipped up so the trombone never touches your neck. But I guess that doesn't really solve your problem.

Mandarin collar maybe? Muji sells a bunch of versions of that, including hemp clothing which is the most comfortable clothes I've ever worn:

https://www.muji.us/collections/mens-sh ... t-aca3723s

They have "normal" materials too, if you don't like wrinkles. But... hemp is the way. The linen and hemp jackets are made for hot and humid summers, when you still need to wear a suit but it's too hot to wear one. I swear by this brand.

I'm 6'1", 36" waist. XL fits me perfectly for all the clothing on that site.