New from Yamaha is this outstanding tenor trombone. Part of their recently introduced Xeno Series, this instrument appears to be all new from the ground up. My first comment about Yamaha has to be that the workmanship is just perfect on every instrument we've seen. The slides are smooth as glass, all joints are perfectly straight and finished, the valve linkage is totally smooth and silent, and the lacquer is flawless. And it even plays well.

Here are some comments from examining and playing the Xeno. The slide width is similar to Conn, narrower than Bach. Nice touch. Narrow slides are more comfortable for many players with smaller hands, and the narrower end crook helps to focus the tone. And the slide action is perfect. If Yamaha slides are not the smoothest on the market, they are certainly a close contender. But I've hardly ever seen better from any company, large or small. Several players have said this horn feels heavy. But the bell is not heavy. I think the comments arise because of the counterweight, and that many of the nickel trim pieces and ferrules look to be thicker than on other horns. I believe the idea was to make this horn responsive and easy to play without need a huge volume of air, but you can play loudly without the tone breaking up. I think it works. The horn responds with very little effort, though you may have to huff a bit to get some sizzle to the sound at lower volumes. Tone color is easy to change. Valve feels open with a fast response (and a very short, silent throw), and is not so wide sounding as a Thayer valve equipped horn. The F attachment does not pull to E, but the F crook is very long. This horn could be easily converted to a G attachment at a very small cost for those players so inclined. I think this is Yamaha's best trombone to date by a long shot. Price is a bit less than that of a Bach 42BO, but the workmanship on this instrument is superior.