[Trombone-l] Butler carbon fiber bells

Raymond Horton horton.raymond at gmail.com
Fri Feb 5 07:24:58 CST 2021


I played the  carbon fiber bass Trombone that was at Muncie for the ITW summer 2019. I liked the horn, the way it looks, the way it sounds, and especially the light weight. Not so fond of the high price!

Raymond Horton
Composer/Arranger 
Minister of Music, 
Edwardsville (IN) United Methodist Church
Retired Bass Trombonist,
Louisville Orchestra, 1970-2016

> On Feb 5, 2021, at 12:19 AM, Jeff Albert via Trombone-l <trombone-l at trombonelist.org> wrote:
> 
> Does it look cool?
> 
> For as much as I used to dig into the minutiae of gear choices, in my old(er?) age I am finding myself much more in the camp of play something that feels good and forget about the rest. It sounds like a cool addition. Congrats. I’d love to hear if your perceptions are similar after a month or six with it.
> 
> -Jeff
> 
> ----
> Jeff Albert
> +1 (504) 315-5167 (Signal/SMS/Voice)
> http://www.jeffalbert.com
> 
> 
>> On Feb 4, 2021, at 20:35, Craig Parmerlee via Trombone-l <trombone-l at trombonelist.org> wrote:
>> 
>> I have been interested in adding a carbon fiber bell to my Edwards bass setup for a long time.  While I have not had any lasting shoulder or other joint problems, but I have known several bass trombone players who gave up playing early because of the ergonomics of the instrument.  One way to deal with this is through braces and other gadgets that make the instrument easier to hold.  I have used those for a long time.  Another way to address the problem is lighten the weight on the instrument, and carbon fiber is an option.
>> 
>> I made some inquiries 5-10 years ago and nobody was in a position to supply carbon components other than slides.  That has all changed recently, with Butler and some others leading in the expanded use of carbon fiber.  Butler is now making a complete carbon bass trombone (it still has a lot of metal in it, but is much lighter than traditional trombones.)  In my case, I wanted to keep my Edwards horn intact and change only the bell.  Butler is now able to do this, at least with Edwards trombones, and probably others.  They famously updated one of Doug Yeo's Yamaha trombones.
>> 
>> So I received my new Edwards-style carbon fiber bell last week. I'd rather not do a detailed report on an open Internet forum.  I can say it is well made.  It is about 1/3 the weight of the bell it replaced.  I don't notice the weight reduction as much as I feel the better balance.  I never really thought of the original Edwards as particularly nose-heavy, but with the carbon bell, it seems to float on its own.  Timbre is good, intonation is fine.  I notice no reduction in sound volume.  There are a few other differences, but I don't think they are any greater than the difference between a heavy or light bell or yellow versus red brass.  If anybody has a serious interest, I'd be happy to provide additional information and sound samples off list.
>> 
>> 
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