Hello everyone! I play a Benge 165F, - very nice trombone with good tone. It's a bit nose heavy though - anyone know if these horns were originally offered with a counterweight? I'm 75 now, and sometimes feel as if I'm fighting the nose.

Not originally, but became available. For the reason you stated. Not sure, what brace diameter you have. (Probably a King size) It great improves, the horn's playing.

The Benge and King balancers are exactly the same part. The only thing that was different was the sticker tin that went over them. The sticker tin is completely unnecessary…..it actually complicates things if the balancer becomes loose.

I’m sure that there are some folks on TromboneChat who have an extra modern King balancer. My recommendation would be to try to find one in the classifieds.

The one for Kings works. You can buy it from www.hickeys.com

It also greatly aids with projection.

[quote="Sgroth01"]Hello everyone! I play a Benge 165F, - very nice trombone with good tone. It's a bit nose heavy though - anyone know if these horns were originally offered with a counterweight? I'm 75 now, and sometimes feel as if I'm fighting the nose.[/quote]

I just purchased a 165F this summer and have been playing it exclusively since then. :good:

Are you using any type of grip or strap?

Could be another option or addtion to the counter weight. :idk:

I purchased a Leather Specialties large bass trombone strap.(I have wide hands so I went with large, but I think a medium would have worked also as the leather stretches a bit)

It made a world of difference including better overall balance.

I cannot see ever playing this horn again without some sort of grip assistance.

Leather Specialties was the most affordable option but there others on the market such as NeoTech, Edwards bullet brace, and Sheridan Get a Grip to name a few.

<LINK_TEXT text="https://www.lscoguard.com/bass-trombone ... strap.html">https://www.lscoguard.com/bass-trombone-holding-strap.html</LINK_TEXT>

Cheers

Thanks for all these fast replies - you folks are giving me some good advice!