I am a preaty experienced trom bone player for my age, im 15 and i have been playing for 6-7 years. I own a Yamaha ysl-446G f attachment. Its a very good trombone, it delivers a fat tone. not alll yamaha trombones are good. some student models have a crappy slide.i recomend yamaha, it got me through tha rose parade. They are ver well made, ive had mine for a while and it has not broken down, the water key is very good, but on the student models the water key sux. If you want a good trombone get yamaha (not student models), bahc (also not student models get stradivarious), or king ( there student models are very good)

Yamaha student models of anything are the best student models you can get. Any problems with these instruments are cuased by misuse, not because they are bad from the factory. Yamaha has far and away the best quality control of any mass production instrument company around.

I`ve always played with a King until last year when I bought my F-attachment Yamaha. My king trombone is very nice, but also very old. I`ve been told Kings were one of the best, but they are not what they used to be. I can get so much volume and range on the King as opposed to the Yamaha, but the Yamaha as better tone quality. So It works out good switching off using the not-as-heavy King for marching band and my Yamaha for concert band. A very nice pair :-)

IF YOU EVER EVER EVER GET A NEW HORN DONT DONT DONT DONT!!!!
MARCH WITH THEM
HIGHSCHOOLERS TEND TO NOT TAKE GOOD CARE OF THER HORNS AND I AM ONE I SHOULD KNOW

While yamaha horns are scientifically designed and built to exacting standards it has been said that they have no soal. They may sound good but I believe they lack somthing that you get from a manufacturer that doesnt make motorcycles and watercraft. If your a beginner by all means get one there inexpensive and work well. if your not a beginner get somthing with soal. If all else fails try sleeping with your neighbors wife. that always helps.

I have a yamaha YSL-641 and by far is the best trombone I have ever played and I have been playing for about 40 years. I have had several different brands over the years. For the most part though - any top quality trombone is good. The player makes a bigger difference than the brand in my opinion. Just like Tiger Woods can play under par with a store brand set of golf clubs, a good trombone player can make them all sound good.

I agree with NOtshort. Except on how to spell SOUL. (hee hee hee) Yamahas are great horns, especially for beginner and intermediate players. But, they are just missing something. They make so many, so fast.... Not much love and attention really goes into making them, as oposed to Edwards, Shires, and the like. But then... If you want an amazing, motorcyle, or an amazing Home Theater System...

As for the player vrs. the equipment... Sure, any GREAT player could play any horn, but why would they want to settle for something less than the best? Tiger Woods plays for Nike. However, in his contract it is stated that he can play whatever clubs he wants, and he played for several years for Nike before he ever used their clubs. If thats not the best using nothing but the best, I don`t know what is.

Basically, it always depend on you, and you only.

I personally favor the Bach Strad. series...but then, some of my friends are Getzen, King, Conn, or Yamaha fans.

Yamaha makes a great instrument; I played one in highschool. I find myself changing majors from engineering to music. My roomate offered to sell his trombone (which is a Bach 42B) for $250. Then he said he was joking and would sell it for $500 lol. Bach 42`s are like the standard. Edwards being the trombone everyone dreams of having.

"Edwards being the trombone everyone dreams of having."

Nope my Elkhart Conn 88H was my dream.....

I played a Bach 42 for 5 years in college. A girl in my section played a Conn 88H, which I played to try out several times. I highly prefered the 42, and when I graduated, the Conn wasn`t even an option for me. I went straight to the by-far-superior Edwards.

There are several companies that make amazing "pro" horns. Only a few make those "damn close to perfect" horns, engineered to close to perfection, and hand built accordingly. Such as Rath, Shires, Thein, Edwards, and a few others. Conns, Bachs, Holtons, Getzens, sometimes Yamahas (f you lucky to get a good one off the line, as well as Bachs), and a few others are great, but not quite engineered to perfection like the hand built elite horns.

My point? Everyone has a different opinion. If you want to know what the pros play, you can find out fairly easy, I know several of the TOP orchestras in the country play Edwards. BUT, to find out what works best for YOU, the ONLY way to find out is to go out and test stuff. Test each horn for as long as you can, and be confident when you buy. Listen to everyones experienced opinion, but base your purchase on you and you yourself.

That said, here is my opinion. I would stay away from Yamaha. Unless your a God like Douglas Yeo, and can have them costom/hand build you for one, they are made by computers, so they really have no soul, like mentioned earlier.

Again, my opinion. Go with Edwards. Entirely TOO MANY options, you can do anything when you have one of these horns built for you. Every option you can imagine, it`s probably an option. Good stuff, and not all that much more expensive than the "Great" (non-elite) brands out there.

You get what you pay for, generally. In college I played a Conn 88H that I bought new for $550.00. Last year I bought a Yamaha YSL-446G for $1050.00. The finish is not what the Conn`s was, nor is the tone quite the same. You can vary a bone`s tone quite a bit by changing mouthpieces...quite a bit cheaper than buying a new bone.
As for soul, no instrument has soul until it has some history with its owner. You impart the instruments` soul by what you do with it.
The important thing is to buy something that doesn`t overshadow your ability, but that you can grow into and that`s fun to play.

yamaha are the best
im in year 4 and we,ve all got yamaha

bowsa

I`m in year 18, if that matters. (Playing, not age) In my view, Edwards is by far superior to Yamaha. ALL Yamahas are pretty good. There are no bad batches, like some Bachs and Conns go through, since Yamahas are all computer made. But that also means none of them are spectacular until you get into the custom hand built lines. So you know you always get a "pretty good" horn from Yamaha, while with Bach, Conn, and several others, you have to search, but you can find that spectacular horn. Edwards, on the other, are completely hand made. MUCH more precision.

YOU ARE THErightPERSON YAMAHA IS THE BEST ive played ever