Buying a Trombone Guide

This is easily the hardest question to answer. I won't even be able to get you a straight answer. There are so many great trombones out. It's up to you what you want to play now or in the future. jazz....Orchestral... Etc...

I PERSONALLY Prefer (and use) a King 3b 2103s for jazz. and I have a 42t for my orchestra stuff. That's my choice.

I hate trying to answer a question like this so I put up a few links that might help you decide.

http://brassnwoodwind.com.au/Buying-First-Trombone.html

http://www.yeodoug.com/resources/faq/faq_text/choosing.html

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/document?doc_id=97921

I don't know how much these will help but i hope they do something. Your best would to try allot of trombones if possible and see which one you like best.

This is the first step I believe everyone should consider. Both have their pros and cons but ultimately it's up to you to decide how you want to go about buying a trombone.

2a.ONLINE

The great advantage of buying a trombone online is the HUGE selection you get. There's Tons of places you can look to buy a trombone. Ebay, Trombone forums
and many online music shops. allot of these places will have the instrument brand new but the best advantages are buying them used. However you can't try the trombone before you buy them. luckily some online music shops will let you return the item if you're not happy with it. Be sure to check their return policy.

Here's the catch of buying them used online though. You can't always be sure of what you're getting. Ebay has a great selection of used trombones but allot of these people are usually selling their kid's old Bach 42 or something. Point being is that sometimes the people selling the trombone don't know enough about it to give you enough information. I've had people buy a trombone from a person who said it was in good condition. The listing went as followed.

"My son used it throughout highschool and after that stopped playing it. The slide seems to be working fine. It has sat in our closet for about two years now. We bought it from a previous owner who used it before hand."

This listing was for a Conn 88H. When the guy got it the slide was working OK, but the slide was starting to gum up towards the end and there was quite a few dents.

You know how high school kids can be. Eat lunch with allot of sugar then blow on the horn. All the gunk they stuck in the horn started to erode the slide.

Bottom line is that you don't want to go on description alone! ASK QUESTIONS!
This could be the difference between buying the right horn and a complete wreck

When looking at a trombone online, be sure to get the following Information

Used or new?
Serial number (to find out exactly how old it is)
Previous owner
Exact specs
Good pictures
any modifications

If one or more from above is missing in a product description be sure to ask them about it.

2b.Local

I can tell you straight off the bat that the selection is going to be much, much thinner.
Doing it this way comes with a huge plus though. You get to try the trombone out.

You might of been playing around on a friends trombone one day and found out that you really liked it. So you went out and bought the exact same model online new and found that it doesn't play the same. I will Guarantee that there are no two trombones with the exact same characteristics. Some of the difference might be so small that it wouldn't change the sound/feel much. If you tend to be a really picky player looking for specific sound I would suggest you trying a trombone first before buying it.

Buying locally is also allot cheaper since you don't have to pay for S&H