Any decent cheap alto bone?

FussyLad · by **FussyLad** » 2024-02-20 3:14 p.m.

I wanted to buy a pretty cheap alto bone for my birthday to learn for fun and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a somewhat decent one. I'm only thinking of spending a few hundred so it's not going to be an amazing horn, but I wanted to see if anyone found one that's still a good bang for your buck.

Thanks:)

EriKon · by **EriKon** » 2024-02-21 9:35 a.m.

There are lots of threads about that already. Try to search the forum. I remember a very detailed comparison by imsevise of all Thomann Alto Trombones for example.

bitbckt · by **bitbckt** » 2024-02-21 10:18 a.m.

I recently bought one of the gen II Lake City altos, which aren’t well-covered in the existing forum discussions. I haven’t used it “in anger” yet - I should have that opportunity once the summer season starts in earnest - but so far, I’ve been pleased with the value for money. It’s certainly more than good enough to learn on.

marccromme · by **marccromme** » 2024-02-21 11:35 a.m.

Chinese slokar copies from Jinbao tend to be OK for the money. Recognized by the slightly skew tuning slide bracing and brand names as Schiller, Jinbao, Nordic, etc

Dennis · by **Dennis** » 2024-02-21 7:04 p.m.

By most reports, replacing the Jinbao leadpipe is a necessary upgrade to convert it into a useful trombone. Noah Gladstone and Brad Close sell one.

stewbones43 · by **stewbones43** » 2024-02-22 5:55 a.m.

Have you looked at the John Packer-Rath JP 236? It might be the solution.

<LINK_TEXT text="https://johnpacker.co.uk/products/john- ... o-trombone">https://johnpacker.co.uk/products/john-packer-jp236-rath-eb-alto-trombone</LINK_TEXT>

It is much better than the Slokar copies.

Cheers

Stewbones43

StephenK · by **StephenK** » 2024-02-22 6:55 a.m.

If you can, try before you buy, as there is probably not as much consistency for altos as even for tenors. I have a JPRath 236, which I'm not totally enthralled with, but have still used a lot over the past few years, so I guess does the job.

harrisonreed · by **harrisonreed** » 2024-02-22 7:49 a.m.

I would wait for a used one to come up. Occasionally you can have a pro alto for around $1500. Cheap altos are not good, for a couple reasons. The slides are usually very scratchy, mine had poor soldering and a misaligned end crook, and the intonation is generally wildly different from a decent alto design. Besides a slide that is scratchy, an instrument built with a lot of stress in the bracing sounds terrible. I bought my Jinbao in 2005 though. That factory may have improved since then, but I imagine you would be paying Y-Fort prices for good quality. Within a year of buying my Jinbao I had a 36H on order that I still use today.

That brings up an important point I think, about China and Jinbao. It seems obvious to me that Chinese instrument makers are sophisticated and Y-Fort and Shires Q series instruments are proof of that. They have $300 altos that are not good, and $3000 Shires Q instruments that are very good. So, it seems that you get what you pay for. The Shires Q alto is probably really good.

If the $1000-1500 used Conn or Yamaha comes up, that is what you want.

modelerdc · by **modelerdc** » 2024-02-22 6:49 p.m.

Not probably the shires Q alto is quite good

CalgaryTbone · by **CalgaryTbone** » 2024-02-23 2:03 a.m.

There's a very lightly used Rath-JP236non eBay now for about $1000 US. I've heard good things about them. The Shires Alessi Alto is only available in the Q series for now, and it was one of the nicest altos that I tried at the ITF last summer.

Jim Scott

harrisonreed · by **harrisonreed** » 2024-02-23 8:57 a.m.

[quote="modelerdc"]Not probably the shires Q alto is quite good[/quote]

No doubt. Wish it had a valve, and wonder if I'd have to cut it down. I just haven't had an opportunity to try one yet.

Bach5G · by **Bach5G** » 2024-02-23 12:17 p.m.

Mike Lake reviewed ‘The Moz’ on YouTube.

MrHCinDE · by **MrHCinDE** » 2024-02-23 4:08 p.m.

[quote="harrisonreed"]If the $1000-1500 used Conn or Yamaha comes up, that is what you want.[/quote]

With a bit of patience that‘s more than possible. I‘ve bought and/or sold a Yamaha 671 and Conn 36h around this price bracket. To me a good used Conn/Yamaha for about $1000-1500 is better value than a new Thomann alto for circa. $300. I tried the cheap options at Thomann and they were ok but the Yamaha (and later the Conn) were noticeably easier to play and sounded better, just much more satisfying to play.

Bach5G · by **Bach5G** » 2024-02-23 4:33 p.m.

I’m satisfied with my Rath 236, but the first one I bought had a terrible slide.

schuedoc · by **schuedoc** » 2024-02-27 1:51 p.m.

Gen II Lake City Alto ~$875 would be a great alto to try.

I played on several Lake city instruments recently and bought my daughter one of their large bore tenors. Very impressed by the value for the money.

Bedtam · by **Bedtam** » 2024-03-10 11:57 a.m.

[quote="bitbckt"]I recently bought one of the gen II Lake City altos, which aren’t well-covered in the existing forum discussions. I haven’t used it “in anger” yet - I should have that opportunity once the summer season starts in earnest - but so far, I’ve been pleased with the value for money. It’s certainly more than good enough to learn on.[/quote]

I have used a Lake City Alto in anger and found it did the job. It matched the horn well in the Renish and filled out well in the sections where more volume was needed.

bitbckt · by **bitbckt** » 2024-03-10 1:02 p.m.

[quote="Bedtam"]I have used a Lake City Alto in anger and found it did the job. It matched the horn well in the Renish and filled out well in the sections where more volume was needed.[/quote]

:good:

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Any decent cheap alto bone?