| Model |
Key |
Description |
Price |
| S.E. Shires  |
Eb |
Steve Shires' custom shop in Massachusetts has
been making beautiful top of the line modular tenor and bass trombones
for a few years now. At last, he adds an alto to his offerings.
It's pricey, but it's a true work of art, and an instrument you'll be
proud to own. It has a beautiful warm tone, an immediate response,
excellent pitch, and it's a joy to play. There is hardly a better
alto trombone anywhere. As you read on, you'll see we represent
numerous brands of alto trombones. But, this is truly a contender
for being the best one. Period. You'll notice that this horn
is one of very few that tunes in the slide. The slide is lightly
built, so we think you won't notice any weight penalty, especially when
compared with the old vintage Conns or the ailing Weril, all of which
were over-built. Steve chose this version in order to make the
slide long enough for a comfortable E and A in seventh position.
With bell tuning, he couldn't get the bell section taper quite right,
and it didn't play in tune with itself. With the one-piece bell
branch, all problems were solved, and an artful horn is born. The
7" bell also includes the beautiful engraving that Shires trombones are
know for. Bells are available in many weights and colors, but
we've found the most popular to be medium weight in brass, gold brass,
or rose brass. We have yellow brass slides in stock, and the bore
is .485"/.495". Sold
without case or mouthpiece. Glenn Cronkhite has a new slightly
longer version of his custom soft case that is made to fit this horn.
Or, buy a double case from Cronkhite, Bonna, or Bags of Spain, and let
this little horn co-mingle with your tenor. |
$2800 |
| Jurgen Voigt  |
Eb |
The Voigt (say "Foagt") is a beautiful Kruspe-style alto, a favorite here,
and is made in a beautiful copper-toned rose brass with an 11.47 mm
(.452") bore nickel slide
and nickel trim. Bell diameter is 160 mm (6.3"). This is one of the few instruments still offered
with decorative snakes, a German tradition. I should say that one
of my favorite altos is the 1930's Kruspe now owned by the Boston
Symphony. The Kruspe is the horn upon which the pricey Thein Jay
Friedman model alto is based. Well, I had to mention, this little
Voigt plays like those two, and is worth a look. This horn can be
had with an optional Bb attachment in
the tuning slide, that is removable. This option adds
about $1000 to the price. It is handmade in a small shop Markneukirchen, Germany.
A Sterling silver bell is also an option, though this copper/rose is our
favorite both for playing and aesthetics. Sold without case or
mouthpiece. |
$2200 |
| Kuhnl & Hoyer 125 Slokar
 |
Eb |
The Slokar 125 is one of the finest alto trombones on the
market, made by Kuhnl & Hoyer in Germany. it is made with the input from
Branimir Slokar, a well-known European trombone soloist. It's a great alto for solo and orchestral
literature. It has an interesting design and flawless workmanship. The slide
is very light nickel silver in .480"/.488" dual bore. The 7.09" bell and tuning slide are gold brass, and
the bell has an unsoldered rim. The braces for holding the horn in your left
hand are both curved and allow a very comfortable grip. The tuning slide
shape is very unusual, designed to give the best acoustically engineered
bend that allows for the most even responding high register. I do
know that the expansion into the bell section starts sooner with this
shape, so the horn is a little bigger bore in the neck pipe area
because of this design. The high F's pop out on this one; it's an excellent all
around alto. It feels larger than most other altos, and may be a great bet
for the strong symphonic player who moves frequently between large tenor
and alto. It's free blowing with a broad sound for such a small
instrument. Includes case and
mouthpiece. The mouthpiece is great, and we sell them separately. Price subject
to change due to currency fluctuations. Includes case and mouthpiece. |
CALL |
| Kuhnl & Hoyer 126 Slokar
 |
Eb/Bb |
This Slokar model is also available with a Bb attachment as the model 126.
It's nicely
done, and the tuning slide on the valve matches the bend of the main tuning
slide; it looks awesome. While this is a pricey instrument that includes
a rarely used valve, it's not too weighty and the sound is still clear
and vibrant. It's seems like
like K&H really did their research on this one. Also, precision rotary valve
is flawlessly machined. If this pricey alto is in the budget, it's a great
choice. Includes case and mouthpiece. |
$3500 |
| Kuhnl & Hoyer 122
 |
Eb |
Beautiful German Eb alto with 7.09" gold brass bell, and nickel
.480" bore slide. This
is one of our favorites at any price. Lighter than the Glassl,
more colorful sound than the Conn, flawless workmanship and sleek
design. This feels a bit smaller than the Slokar version, and for
me, easier to hit those pesky high Eb's. It's an excellent all
around alto, I think the best on the market at this price. Beware,
the two we have in stock as of October 2007 are the last two of this
model available, ever. K&H has changed the design for future
production, and the price is slated to go up about 40% on the next run
of these, due to the (cosmetic) improvements and the free fall of the US
dollar. Includes case and 7C mouthpiece. |
$1700 |
| Conn 34H  |
Eb |
A nice US-made alto trombone, .491"/.500" medium bore with a
7 1/8" bell. Workmanship is excellent though we send all Conn slides out for
a tune up before sale to ensure smooth action. it has a lighter, brighter sound than some
other altos, very clear tone, and the slide is long enough to get a good E or
low A. it has a darker sound than the Kuhnl & Hoyer 122, perhaps because of
the weightier slide with bronze outer tubes and nickel oversleeves.
Includes counterweight for better horn balance, though we often play it
without the weight. Includes case and mouthpiece.
|
$1649 |
| Conn 36H 
 |
Eb/Bb |
This is the Christian Lindberg model with Bb attachment,
with pull to A. This is the same horn as the Conn 34H above, but it
has a valve to pitch the horn into low Bb, the same pitch as a tenor
trombone. A valve you say? What's that about? Well, although alto
trombones don't have the long reach for any of the positions, playing
an E or A without sliding the outer slide right off the end is a crap
shoot at times. So using the valve helps with some awkward positions,
just like an F attachment would help on a tenor trombone. Also, if
you are going to do solo work on an alto trombone, some pieces have
trills, and a valve is just the ticket to play those. A valve with a
whole or half step length, rather than a perfect fourth, would be fine for
trills too, but this perfect fourth
is a good standard, and the relative positions for scales will be familiar to
most players. You could also play a few notes on this horn in
Bb as a tenor with the valve held down, though it doesn't work
well that way. I like to play some bebop down low, like it's a
really small bass trombone. Too much fun. This is a heavier
instrument, with a weightier sound, like having your own personal
rocket launcher to point at the conductor. If you seek a simpler
instrument primarily for orchestra playing, the 34H above would be
fine. Christian Lindberg plays on a 36H. Also played by Wayne Soloman, the
all-over-California freeway-philharmonic guy, and many others. Includes
case and mouthpiece.
|
$1999 |
| Yamaha YSL-871
 |
Eb |
This new Xeno model alto is a revamped version of the
old Yamaha Custom model, and features a hand hammered bell. The
notes below are based on the 671 alto, which this one replaces. We
haven't yet played the new one to give a proper review, but they are
coming soon. On the YSL-671: This professional alto trombone from Yamaha is
made in Japan, and is based on the classic German-made Latzsch alto,
but with much better pitch. Count on Yamaha to figure out
how to do that. Denis Wick, former principal trombonist of the
London Symphony Orchestra, used one of these, and even designed a
mouthpiece for it: the Wick 10CS. The conductor of the LSO
liked Denis' sound on this combination so much that he requested the
same setup for the next LSO principal trombonist. This horn is all
yellow brass with nickel trim. it has a .470"/.490" dual bore
slide, with a 7 1/8" bell. The workmanship is flawless.
Some players feel this alto feels a bit large compared to other European
models, and it has a broad sound that is less compact than some others.
The bonus is that it blends very well with large bore tenor trombones,
and does not get strident at higher volumes. Others have said the
slide feels short, as if you almost have to get the outer slide of the
end of the inners to get an in-tune E or A. A measurement of the
slide shows no missing length, so I don't know why this is so, but I can
concur, as I also used to play one, and playing an E is downright
treacherous, though this instrument is not the only one with that
feature. This makes it a fine horn for symphonic playing, but it
may be frightening for a recital if the music goes down to the low E and
A. I do think it's a great playing horn. Includes hard case
and mouthpiece.
|
$1849 |
| Yamaha YSL-872  |
Eb/D |
This unusual option on the Yamaha adds a 1/2 step trill valve in the
tuning slide. The valve is activated by a string with a
leather strap for your thumb. One buyer of this model also ordered
an extra tuning slide without the valve (from the YSL671) so he could
switch between these depending on the use. He found that he never
used the trill valve in the symphony, and the grip with the leather
strap was disconcerting for long periods. These horns are built to
order, so it can take some time to get one. Price not announced
yet, available Summer 2008. In lacquer. Includes
hard case and mouthpiece. Tuning slides and valve sections for the
871 and 872 will be available separately to convert from solo to
symphonic use. |
TBA |
| Jin Bao  |
Eb |
A Chinese-made student quality instrument based on
the excellent German Slokar model 125. We test these for
leaks and have the slides tuned up as necessary to ensure a fine playing
instrument for relatively little money. Despite the low price, you
can trust that the Jin Bao will be a fine basic alto trombone.
Played by Phil Keen, Southern California professional
free-lance-symphony guy. |
$320 |
|
