Is it possible to swap the tenon of an 88H slide to one for a 42B? If it is, was there a time when this was a common thing? If I’m not mistaken, 42B owners would sometimes change the crook on a 42B with one from an 88H.

I'm sure it's possible.

Common? Not that I’m aware of (either direction). There are common swaps like the King 3b crook on a Bach 16m. There may have been pockets of locations where a tech did that, I’m just not aware of it.

These two models can be tricky to swap the crook on because of the width change. You might need to procure slightly longer slide braces and your tech would then install them. Not as simple as “just” swapping the crook. Obviously, it also needs an alignment sheet that too.

If I were swapping the crook on either model, I’d consider just a wide crook rather than a bass crook like on the Bach. I also prefer nickel crocks usually.

The former 2nd trombone at the Met played a 42 slide on an 88H bell for many years. There also was a time when putting a Conn crook on a Bach slide was a fairly common modification (the braces have to be changed too because it makes the slide narrower). Also, Bach offered a narrow slide option for a while.

Yes it's possible to change either the bell receiver or slide tenon to mate a Bach slide to a Conn bell or vice versa. People also used to do a similar change to be able to use a .547 bell on a .525 slide or vice versa.

I think that history had a lot to do with Edwards and then Shires designing horns with so many different options that could fit together. Much better than having to make a trip to a repair shop to make 2 parts fit together to see if you like that combo.

Jim Scott

Probably easier to get a narrow Shires slide if you really want that setup, only with rotors of course.

Yeah, that was what I was thinking as well.

JS