Vlog post to update viewers on my progress with the previously unboxed Tromba Trombone. After three months with the Tromba Trombone I give 10 good reasons why you should not buy one.
I just got a Tromba Pro and I'm HAPPY with it. I'm not a professional player, took 20 years off but now I'm back. I have a Cleveland 605 that I play at church. The Tromba is a practice horn and I love it! Its a lot of fun. If you don't have a lot of money this is a GREAT choice. Not everyone can get a pricey horn. Go with it have fun and just play.
The one you show in the video is the old Tromba One version which is no longer made. The new Tromba Pro is a much better instrument now with a metallic lead pipe and slide to bell lock. Tuning, slides and overall playability is great.
+Patrick Stapleton I have a Tromba trumpet and the tuning slide stuck/frozen from manuafacturing process, so i bought a second one and it did have the same problem so i fixed both slides and the first Tromba trumpet I bought plays much better overall sound then the second! I am using a very nice mouthpiece for both. not sure if your mouthpiece is very good in the video. I would try another trombone especially if they made the lead pipe sleeve metal.
I bought an Allura pbone trombone, and I love it. It is really affordable, and it comes with a stand and cleaning kit. I hope that my slide doesn't look that bad after three months.
+Jeremy Horn they are great for introducing kids to playing, they don't dent when you band them into doorways or went the inevitably let the slide fall out. As a cheap way to get the concepts happening they are good (when you become accomplished buy a real one)
Excellent review, thank you. Does anyone know if Tromba has addressed any of the issues discussed in this video to improve the instrument? In general, from what I’ve seen Tromba seems to lead the lack in terms of plastic instruments. Hopefully they’ve modified the instrument in the years since this video was made.
You must have gotten a particularly bad one. The slide on mine has improved ten fold after just a few weeks. There are a few notes in the upper register that don't speak so well on mine, but even THAT issue has improved since I first got it.
+HarpothekidRS The tromba is rounded at the bottom as the one he is using is. The Pbone is squared off at the bottom. I have a Pbone and the F sounds like an F unlike this one.
there's a pink sort of selmer cork and slide grease that i'm sure would also work nicely on your plastic slide, it's nice and sticky, i use it for my trumpet slides, my dad tried it for his bassoon corks, he's loving it
I believe I have the old Tromba Pro model. Haven't played it in several months and just noticed that the brass was peeling off one of the stockings. I've read where this happened to someone's Pbone, too.
hahah. i agree with all of your points. experienced like all of your issues but i actually enjoy mine albeit from jiggs. The black water went away for me over time. For the leaky water key, i went to the hardware store and bought adhesive gel and cork pads. Then, I patched it myself. Whenever the slide becomes gunky, I wipe the slides with a paper towel and clean the interior tubes. I think the carbon fiber residue builds up and slows the slide. I don't really mind the corrosion on my tubes. For the connector issue, all you do is just throw the plastic trombone somewhere like a football - it's plastic haha. Unfortunately for the inconsistent tone and intonation, I found that I had to commit to the plastic trombone and not play my brass horns. Then, I got used to the plastic horn and those issues went away (not a solution anyone can make though, but playing a pbone is not an issue for me!)
Have you looked at the stockings? Most plastic trombones have brass stockings to help straighten the inside of the slide. That's why you get that black stuff in the condensation.
I can't suggest anything for your main slide friction problems, but many of your other problems might stem from that leaky water key. If you want to know for sure, remove the key and plug the hole with something like dental wax. (Put the key back on if you want to make sure air pressure doesn't pop it out, but you should be able to tell if it's working without doing that.) As for the tuning slide, you might try wrapping the inner slide segments in PTFE plumber's tape. I use it in many situations where things almost but not quite fit together on a wind instrument. It doesn't last forever, but unless you are the type to pull off the tuning slide specifically to watch the tape break down each time, it should hold up longer than it does on parts that get separated frequently (and even that is measured in days or weeks).
when I first bought my plastic bone, I absolutely hated it. I could adjust to the note clarity issues well enough, but the noise of the slide, the poor tuning slide and the black dust ju st really turned me off from plastic trombones.
I thought about buying a plastic trombone just for practicing and keeping my embrasure strong and consistent. But I ended up buying a brass instrument because I like the sound and feel of the real thing. Nevertheless, I'm still not opposed to the idea of owning a pbone.
The horn just doesn't sound that great, and I'm inclined to believe it's because that spit valve leaks. When you get into the upper register, the horn sounds really airy. You pretty much confirmed what I've thought about these plastic horns. Granted, in some cases, Maybe they're a good alternative to beating up a quality brass instrument, but other wise, why bother.
I think you might be expecting too much from a plastic instrument? Also, most of these issues are just inconsistencies in manufacturing, you could probably have returned it and gotten a replacement.
Cardenal Collins pBones are horrible, i like tigers, but these are not for beginners, i dont know why they advertise it like that, these are for a warming up and practicing and could create bad habits if you dont have experience.
Thanks for showing me the F isn't right in 1st position. The allora does have a connector nut, But its got all the other problems. Not for a student. Okay for an older player for a different sound. Just like I would not want to play with a mute in all of the time this is not for every occasion.
honestly some of it depends on you your self and other things are just standard things that trombone does but i play a silver trombone that is great and sounds good ( it is a great instroment but that one is pretty much JUNK ) mine has taken a beating and is still great but trombones can be used fir a wide verity of purposes but it also depends on the user ( iv never had a problem if being heard - people know when im playing or not )
By the way, mouthpiece: I also prefer metal, but not with my cup mute. Don't know why, but with that mute the pBone speaks better with original plastic mouthpiece. But unmuted the pBone sounds very much better with metal mouthpiece.
I have been performing with a pBone for years and let me share my experiences. Tuning slide is easy to fix : just cream it (you need some force then to tune the instrument, but it will stay in place). The sound and how it speaks: First I hated it but I got used to it. Finally I didn't find it bad anymore. The instrument cannot adjust to me--I have to adjust to the instrument. Although I have to admit, I play rather traditional 30s jazz and rather not bebop. So I don't have to be all that fast. The slide works as long as it is DRY! Metal and plastic are self-lubricating and any oil or cream will not improve it. What keeps the slide going is absolute dryness! Resting a plastic trombone on a trombone stand is a bad idea, because the moisture will run down into the slide there. It is much better if you rest the instrument horizontally on a table. Personally I was resting my pBone upside down. Which made it possible to play a set of jazz tunes with my 3 wind instruments (tp, cl, tb) for about 30 minutes. Afterwards I had to pause and dry the slide. On my channel I show how and I explain it on my Blogspot blog my video is linking to. While drying and cleaning the slide you see the black or grey matter on the cleaning cloth (like you said). I do agree this is nasty. I came to the result, it's advisable to wash the cloth afterwards, because if it dries you're gonna have that dust which partly might fall off the cloth and pest your apartment with glass fiber dust. It is NEVER a good idea to inhale glass fiber dust, because this can lead to lung cancer. But I have a wonderful method for fixing the connection between bell and slide so they hardly will fall apart. Moisture does help--keep that place moist and it will be more stable. But having been using beer as hair mousse for many years, I knew at once: beer sticks like crazy. And it does; it's very difficult to separate bell and slide then. But I have been performing with three wind instruments (all hung around my neck and my shoulders) and couldn't afford to have my plastic trombone dismember in the middle of the show. But I could not be a 1GirlJazzBandToGo (all instruments and PA fixed at my body) without plastic brass instruments. Which might be to only upside of a plastic trombone. I do present the tromba plastic trumpet on my blog and I'm defending the instrument. I can use the sound to play things I could not do on a good brass trumpet. It is a different style then which uses the not very bright sound as stylistic feature.
I too have a PBone now, a much better instrument than this Tromba. I'm travelling all the time now and needed something light and easy. I played the newer Tromba trombones and some PBones and settled on a purple PBone, I must say i'm pretty happy with it. I will take your advise on the dry slide approach. The glass fiber dust is a worry. I notice this much less with the PBone it was excessive with the Tromba. I always use throw away tissues so that works out ok. Really appreciate this input, have not seen much smart stuff from other folks in reply to this remarkably viewed video :)
This is really mostly my opinion, but I don't think the purpose of a P-bone would be to perform with it. It's just a cool knick-knack to warm up with or something. Maybe it's a marching band purpose? Just my opinion though.
I think it's hard to look at this instrument and judge it seriously. I imagine that most people will buy a plastic horn for either pep/marching band or purely for novelty, and with the latter, essentially all seriousness is thrown out the window. With the former, the poor sound quality is most likely reduced slightly when you're pushing fff through the horn, as tone quality will decrease anyway. The grippy slide, while annoying, can be seen as an extra protection against slide loss, and the noise is masked by the fff. There's my two cents.
I don't know which is more interesting the issues with the trombone, or the comments on your playing. I am surprised a lot of the blather can't see past the horn you are having problems with to evaluate your playing. Nor do the people commenting bother to check your other videos to see the quality of your play (like the quartet) and think hmmm....wonder if its the trombone causing the problems??? It is like arguing politics with someone who's dug in and not interested in the facts. I bought one of the Jean Baptiste rubber bones with the brass insert lead pipe and metal stockings. I suppose I'd drag it out for a stinky cold weather job, but that's about it. I paid $80 for it and its worth that. The first thing that seems obvious to me with yours is that the water key leaks continuously. That leak is going to give the horn a stinky tone and make it hard to play consistently in tone/pitch. Some goo on the slide might help there too, as it might be leaking at the stockings and at the friction joint. Who hasn't experienced these symptoms with a leaky water key??? I doubt anyone could play much better having to deal with that. I play a number of vintage horns and the valve wear causes the same issue. I have to really concentrate to get a consistent good sound and I use heavier valve oil to get the compression back and it make things much easier. I bought one of the jin bao contra bass trombones and it wasn't very good. When I showed it to my repairman (20+ years in an opera orchestra) he thought it was a miraphone down to the scroll work on the FF valve and case. When he played it, he thought it had a real problem with something jammed into it and we ran water and brushes through it. Bottom line is that Jin Bao's slide was lighter than the miraphone contra's slide (an older one) and I think that make it more playable but, lost a lot of sound. Very stuffy and I tried for 6 hours with lots of mouthpieces to make it work. The miraphone contra I played months later was better, but really heavy. I think after a few months I could get a half decent sound out of a miraphone. The jin bao was a lost cause and I returned it. If I made a video like this of the jin bao, people would tell me how much I stink. I think someone should make a contra bass with each set of slide tubes increasing in size. Be a lot harder to make, but would let the sound expand like a tuba and probably work a lot better. Anyway thanks for the review and welcome to troll world.
I was interested in this until you suggested that the F partial was flat. It was in tune earlier in the video, you're clearly lipping it down to make a point. Just be honest.
I have played the trombone for the last five years, and slide grease shouldn't be used on a trombone main slide, just the tuning slide up on top. Perhaps you're referring to slide cream or oil instead? Those aren't great with a tromba, though.
Shame about your personal experience, it is an old version trombone although many have been sold of this version with great reviews from owners, however many improvements and differences are on the new Tromba Pro. Many many thousands of the new Tromba Pro have now, and continue to be sold, to players of all levels (and abilities) with great feedback and positive comments. Maybe you should risk purchasing a new Tromba Pro, go on - you may even like it. If you want 10 good reasons to buy a Tromba Pro just reply back to me.
Number one reason to buy a Tromba: It's nearly indestructible and you can take it anywhere without fear of damage. And it's cheap enough that if you do managed to destroy it it's no great loss. Number one reason to not buy one: It's never going to sound like a brass instrument.
1 its plastic 2 its cheap 3 your too picky on a few things there,4 your supposed to use slid cream only on the brass parts and water on the rest of the slide, i played trombone in JH and HS and i played ona Bach and the slide cream worked best with it and it was a brass trombone .. these new plastic Trombones are cool but they are not without problems that iam sure you can find some fixes for easy enough..
Bryson Hill No that is a tromba. At 6:05 you can see the tromba logo on the bell. Also, the counterweight on the pbone is black. I can see how you would mistake it as their design is pretty much identical.
It isn't the spit valve, it's the plastic material. In the same way that lacquered brass instruments sound different from unlacquered ones, the material a horn is made of affects its sound. I've used the pbone in the past (not a tromba, though) and the difference between that and my tenor trombone is huge. Definitely not from the spit valve, actually, because I've just had my leaky spit valve repaired. The sound difference isn't that much different unless your spit valve is entirely open.
I wonder what you sound like on a brass Trombone. Because you sound awful right now. Maybe learn Trombone better and you won't have these problems. And even though the Trombone is playing flat. You could have serious mouth issues to keep you from playing in tune.
I just learned that plastic instruments were a thing. I wish they weren't, because this one in particular sounds pretty awful. Will definitely be staying away.
yes it has problems, and its not good for a professional or even just experineced player, but it isnt made for that, its made to teach kids, id rather give a kid a metal trombone if they had never played trombone. as a first instrument it is ok but reviewing it from a proffesional point of view seems unreasonable
