Bach 34 .522 Slide Alternatives

Elow · by **Elow** » 2023-01-10 8:20 a.m.

I just bought a MV red brass 34 bell and the seller sent a 36 slide along with it, he says it plays better with a 36 slide than his 16lt slide. The 16 slide apparently makes the horn very sharp. The 36 slide is in rough shape and needs the inners, and maybe outers too, replaced. I was thinking maybe trying to have someone build me a .508/.525 dual bore slide off the 36 chassis. Any thoughts?

Matt_K · by **Matt_K** » 2023-01-10 10:18 a.m.

Take this with a grain of salt, as my opinions are somewhat unorthodox, but IMO the 500/525 and 508/525 are the most underrated bore sizes. I've had three such slides on various bell sections, and they rank among my favorite slides I've owned in any bore size. The first one I owned was a T0825GLW from Shires. If it had yellow tubes, there's a good chance I'd still own it. In hindsight, that's the slide I regret selling the most. I had a Yamaha 356 slide as well that I ended up selling to fund... the 500/525 slide I have now that is a King 606 upper and King 607 lower w/ a nickel Olds recording .515 crook.

Inner/outer tubes are a little bit hard to come by at the moment due to supply chain issues, but hopefully, that will change soon. If that were my slide, I'd probably try to replace the upper with a .500 or .508. You'd want to have your tech check on length to get that right so you don't end up with the problem with the 16 slide.

There are a LOT more .500 options for leadpipes, FWIW but most of these can somewhat easily be adapted to .508.

Elow · by **Elow** » 2023-01-25 4:33 p.m.

I have received the horn and it’s too pretty to not show off, i think i will use a .525 and have a .508-.525 slide made for this.

greenbean · by **greenbean** » 2023-01-25 4:42 p.m.

Oh, that’s beautiful!

Matt_K · by **Matt_K** » 2023-01-25 4:43 p.m.

Oh my gosh that is fabulous

hyperbolica · by **hyperbolica** » 2023-01-25 4:46 p.m.

Wow, that's attractive.

I'd second the 50x/52x slide configuration. Between a 32h and a Yamaha 455 I've acquired in the last year, this is becoming my favorite dual bore setup. It's not a big orchestral sound, but for everything else, it works. I'm having a great time with it in quintet and quartet.

As a short cut that might save some cash you might consider buying a Yamaha 356/455/456 and swapping the slide tenon. Instant useful slide already set up. Several available on ebay, and someone had a 455 for sale on TC a few weeks ago.

elmsandr · by **elmsandr** » 2023-01-25 9:13 p.m.

Oh dear… that’s nice.

As has been said, just use a 36 slide for standard issue, the 36 and 34 slides are identical except 0.003” diameter.

This has me thinking of making a duo bore for mine now….

Cheers,

Andy

pbone3b · by **pbone3b** » 2023-01-27 9:09 a.m.

Wow! Beautiful!

Macbone1 · by **Macbone1** » 2023-01-27 3:18 p.m.

Nice horn, congrats! :good: I've never played a dual bore slide that didn't delight me! Well except for my beginner horn, a Getzen Elkhorn. That one had bigger problems than whatever bore the slide was.

So do I own any dual bores now? Nope! Long story..... :shuffle:

Elow · by **Elow** » 2023-01-27 3:30 p.m.

Thanks, I played a long rehearsal last night and used the 34 bell and 36 slide combo, worked great! I might not go through the trouble of getting a new slide, it plays great as is.

johntarr · by **johntarr** » 2023-02-01 3:41 p.m.

Wow, stunning bell! I bought a 34 with the original slide and it’s a fabulous horn, maybe the best horn (for me) that I’ve ever owned. The original slide is worn but works very well but I will have the tubes rotated to hopefully get some more life out of the slide. I will also try a 36 slide while the repair is being done.

I would love to play the gold brass version. You are a lucky person, enjoy!

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Bach 34 .522 Slide Alternatives