Vincent Bach Stradivarius 36B Trombone w/ F Trigger Review

Posted by Kelvin Chung in Life on May 30th, 2009 | View Comments

Editor’s Note: And now something a bit off the beaten path for technology, here’s Kelvin with a review of his new trombone!

The Time: 11:43 PM

This review was long overdue, but I decided that I would, for the benefit of all the readers out there, thoroughly test this intermediate level tenor trombone to further enhance the relevance and accuracy of this review. (Thats a lie. I’ve been buried to the solar plex in Music History for the exam I took last Friday) I must thank the staff at the Coquitlam branch of Tom Lee in my area for such quick service back in the day. No, they did not pay me to say that. My trombone arrived in two weeks of the order.

Note: This is my third trombone, and my first trigger trombone. Ignore the bias. Please.

The Trombone Overview:

The trombone itself is pretty well made, with some slight aesthetic flaws to the material. Nothing to get too worked up about, its not noticeable. Probably.

Sound Quality:

I do not like the resonance. In fact, i prefer my ancient Jupiter horn for trombone solos. For a good, clear sound, this horn requires more air. However, the sound is steady, consistent, and very, very, bright. It lacks the mellow kick that I am looking for, but that’s okay. I still have my jupiter horn. 8/10

Slide:

The slide is wide. This design allows me to rest the trombone on my shoulder, and still have a proper 90 degree angle , without changing my head and ombrochure position to compensate for a thinner slide width. This is good. 9/10

Trigger:

The trigger is entirely metal. To reduce the change of an epic-ly accidental breakage of the rod, the rod is built so that a ball fits into a ring socket, much like the rings of the planet Saturn. This means that i can turn the rod without it snapping off on me. The action is just perfect, with enough resistance to provide ample support, but enough give for quick response in technically demanding situations. 9/10

Case:

The case is extremely well designed, able to protect the investment inside from harm. Also, the inside is really furry and soft. However, the pegs on the outside and the “leather” on the handle are fragile beyond belief. I’m already missing half the pegs, and a quarter of the “leather” on the handle. It seems that the pegs on the side and end of the case are more fragile than the ones on the bottom though. Currently, I am missing 3/4 from the side, 2/4 on the end, and none from the bottom. Strange. The case also has a handle on the top end of the case, and is held together by a zipper and a velcro flap. This two handle design is excellent for people like me who are dissimilar to characters like Sylvester Stallone as Rambo/rocky, or Chris Reidfield in Resident Evil 5 (review coming soon) 8/10

Overall:

This trombone scored fairly well. I only wish I ordered it in silver plating, instead of the generic laquer gold and silver. This trombone responds well for pedal notes, and notes in the higher register, helping with an consistant sound quality throughout. For technically-demanding pieces, such as Rimsky Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee, I would definitely use this trombone. I dislike the stock mouthpiece. It is not possible for me to get a good, clean, sound with a 7C. I was forced to purchase a 12C mouthpiece, with which i was able to reach High High Eflat on my second try. I can also reach Low B Flat pedal. (one octave below Concert) If it were efficent, I would definitely bring two trombones for a concert. If I needed to play something like Richard Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyrie from Die Walkure (I probably butchered the spelling) then I would definitely pull out my student model Jupiter. The sound is more… epic.