This is a totally new bell for the Conn 88H. It is made of the standard weight rose brass, in a 9" diameter, with a large throat, or faster expansion. It works. It's got a big modern sound, not unfamiliar to Bach 42 players. The 9" bell isn't really too big, and centers well, and I can hear the pitch well too. It's not big and woofy like one might think. It's just a little step up in the Wars of the Larger Arsenal, which is fine, since the bass trombones and tubas have tended to creep up in size, and some folks just want a darker instrument from Conn. No problem, here it is. If the bell was this same larger throat model, but cut off to a 8.5" diameter, no one would bat an eye anyway. The larger flare just reflects back some of the high overtones in the sound, so you get some more darkness. Turns out this bell has been seen before as the King 5B bell. Seems like a good idea to me to offer this bell with the fine 88H setup. This bell is available with any 88H slide or by itself to use with your old slide. This bell is also useful with a .562" bore bass trombone slide as a smaller, lighter sounding bass trombone. Read about the 88HKO as a bass trombone here on the bass trombone page. Includes case and mouthpiece, choice of slide. Call for availability.

Slide options

This is the standard .547" bore slide with the soldered S lead pipe. This slide is included with the base 8H and 88H purchase price. The lead pipe now has the most common Bach mouthpiece shank taper. Brass with nickel outer sleeves and narrow nickel end crook.

The standard .547" bore slide, same as the SLF4747, but includes 3 removable lead pipes, two with the Bach shank taper: S and M, and one with the Remington shank taper, R. Brass with nickel sleeves.

This is the medium bore .525" slide, very similar to the old 78H slide except for the larger connector. The Conn catalog mentions gaining high range stability with this slide. That isn't quite right. This slide makes you soar in the high range. It has a lighter, more compact, brilliant sound, and is so easy to play. For fans of the old 78H, an 8HT with this slide is a great updated version, but with the larger 8.5" bell. Occasionally used by Ralph Sauer. This slide includes two lead pipes that accept a small tenor shank mouthpiece, T and H, and one lead pipe that accepts a large bass shank mouthpiece, X. Brass with nickel outer sleeves.

This is the dual bore slide, with a .525" medium bore top tube, and a .547" large bore lower tube. The idea with this slide is to give the ease of playing of the smaller bore, and the big sound of the larger bore. It does that well, and also give the 88H a more characteristic tenor trombone sound. Jeff Reynolds found this to be his favorite, and still got a great tenor style sound even with his bass trombone mouthpiece in this slide with the 88HO bell. Includes the same 3 lead pipes as the above SL2525 slide, T, H, and X. Ralph Sauer also uses this slide much of the time. Brass with nickel sleeves.

This is the large dual bore slide with a standard .547" top tube and a larger bass trombone sized .562" lower tube. For players who like to play really loud, you can get a huge warm sound on this slide. Lightweight version is brass without nickel sleeves. Includes the same S, M, and R 3 lead pipes as above. This is a favorite among Bach players because it plays so open.

This is a lightweight bass trombone slide in .562" bore, with three lead pipes from the Conn 62H bass trombone, B, C, and D. You can get a great low range and a big loud but smooth sound with this slide, at the expense of losing some brilliance in the upper register. Light weight style, brass without nickel sleeves, very fast response.