Thoughts on the Yamaha YSL682B

Neo_Bri · by **Neo_Bri** » 2018-04-25 11:52 p.m.

Hey TCers,

So, the Yamaha YSL682B. The big valve. Looks cool. But how does it play? What are the values? I haven't seen one in a bit.

Discourse.

Bach5G · by **Bach5G** » 2018-04-26 11:32 p.m.

I had one for about 5 years before finding an Elkhart 88H.

At the time, it was the first .547 horn I’d spent any time on. I wonder what I’d think of it now.

jjenkins · by **jjenkins** » 2018-04-27 12:36 a.m.

I love the horn. Great design. Well-balanced, great response with solid sound due to Conn 88H-style slide and Bach 42G style bell (taper and gauge). It does NOT do well with deep cup mouthpieces; it works best with medium-deep cups (e.g., earlier Bach 5G, 5GS, 4GS, Wick 5BL, etc.)

Valve throw is quite short, quiet, and open. The horn is both agile and resonant, believe it or not. If you can find one for $900 or less, you have yourself a bargain.

Burgerbob · by **Burgerbob** » 2018-04-27 4:03 a.m.

I've played one. It was very solidly mediocre. The guy that owned it bought a 42T that was lightyears better in every way.

greenbean · by **greenbean** » 2018-04-27 9:50 a.m.

I also played one a while back. I wanted to like it more than I did. It made a great big sound but seemed inflexible. Couldn't compete with any of the 620 or 882 horns.

Bach5G · by **Bach5G** » 2018-04-27 10:05 a.m.

Inflexible is a good description. Bousfield, ordinarily an 88H man, designed it to be heard in the Barbican. Made loud to be played loud?

Neo_Bri · by **Neo_Bri** » 2018-04-27 10:23 a.m.

Interesting insights, folks. Thank you for that.

Neo_Bri · by **Neo_Bri** » 2018-04-28 2:39 a.m.

[quote="Burgerbob"]I've played one. It was very solidly mediocre. The guy that owned it bought a 42T that was lightyears better in every way.[/quote]

How about the valve? Do you remember? It reminds me of the CL2000 valve in outward appearance. Always looked cool, anyway, but I guess not the most popular, as you don't see them too often.

Still, not as radical as the Holton Monster Valve.

Steve335 · by **Steve335** » 2018-04-28 6:49 a.m.

I’ve been playing on a 682B for the last year or two and I really like it. It makes a full focused sound, and is easy to play in low and loud volumes . The tuning is good also.

When I bought my Yamaha I also compared it to a Shires Sauer trombone which I had on loan from a music shop, and I preferred the sound, response and ease of control the 682B gave me.

I recently tried lots of trombones at a brass specialist shop , and I personally thought my Yamaha compared well to the other instruments.

I did prefer the Shires Elkhart, but I didn’t prefer the 882, Sauer, 88H Conn, Schilke or the new Greenhoe.

I may be biased of course as I’m used to my trombone, but I personally wouldn’t write these instruments off as being unremarkable. I suppose the only way to tell if it’s for you is to try one.

Here is how Ian Bousfield sounded on his, and I don’t think trombone playing gets much better than this.

<YOUTUBE id="tURgw7I6zDk">https://youtu.be/tURgw7I6zDk</YOUTUBE>

Matt_K · by **Matt_K** » 2018-04-28 9:35 a.m.

The 682B ads all described this as a "heavy gauge" bell, though Yamaha didn't really specify what that meant. It's a heavy bell for sure. That floats some peoples boats a lot. It's a very 90s instrument, just like the Shires from around the same time period.

I recall the rotor being based of a design by Minick, but I have no idea where I picked that up from. That information may be floating around in the ether somewhere but not as simply as a Google search unfortunately. It's much different than the CL2000 rotor. That is shaped like a "Y" on the inside, so when it is disengaged, the sound is floating past the 2nd leg of the interior, likewise when it is engaged. It's a miracle to me that they work given that fact but I know little about physics so I'm sure the engineers who designed it know more than I do.

Steve, maybe you could get yours disassembled at some point and show some pictures? Would love to see what the inside looks like.

Also, if you were looking for a setup that played closer to the 682, which I don't know why you would sine you like it as much as you do, I'd probably start with a similar setup such as a 1Y or 1YHW bell, Thayer valve, yellow tuning slide, a TB47 slide , 1.5 leadpipe. I know a few people who have changed their narrower Yamaha slide out for Shires slides (usually with a "B" crook) and have really liked the results, though on the Peter Sullivan model, not the 682. I tend to find that the heavier bells work better with that setup as well, though I prefer a narrower slide on my lighterweight bells for sure.

Burgerbob · by **Burgerbob** » 2018-04-28 1:09 p.m.

[quote="Neo Bri"]<QUOTE author="Burgerbob" post_id="58875" time="1524816206" user_id="3131">
I've played one. It was very solidly mediocre. The guy that owned it bought a 42T that was lightyears better in every way.[/quote]

How about the valve? Do you remember? It reminds me of the CL2000 valve in outward appearance. Always looked cool, anyway, but I guess not the most popular, as you don't see them too often.

Still, not as radical as the Holton Monster Valve.
</QUOTE>

The valve seemed pretty stuffy, actually. More so than the CL2000.

And yes, I think it's based on the Minick valve that he put on those large bore horns he made.

MrA · by **MrA** » 2018-08-26 5:41 p.m.

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but people seemed interested in the design of the Yamaha big valve.

I actually purchased a used 682b recently & I took an opportunity on the weekend to pull the valve apart & take some photos.

The valve has a straight bore through the middle (open horn) making the open horn very much like a straight horn.

Not sure how to describe the rest through so just check the photos is probably easiest.

I'm an amateur hack so not really able to provide feedback on the sound of the horn, comparisons to other valves or feelings of openness.

Excuse my very average photography skills.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YAKmUVStXj9ymTQM9

Bach5G · by **Bach5G** » 2018-08-26 6:06 p.m.

I recall Ian explaining that the valve was based on a 19thC German design. FWIW.

Neo_Bri · by **Neo_Bri** » 2018-08-26 10:34 p.m.

[quote="MrA"]Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but people seemed interested in the design of the Yamaha big valve.

I actually purchased a used 682b recently & I took an opportunity on the weekend to pull the valve apart & take some photos.

The valve has a straight bore through the middle (open horn) making the open horn very much like a straight horn.

Not sure how to describe the rest through so just check the photos is probably easiest.

I'm an amateur hack so not really able to provide feedback on the sound of the horn, comparisons to other valves or feelings of openness.

Excuse my very average photography skills.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YAKmUVStXj9ymTQM9[/quote]Thanks for this!

Vegastokc · by **Vegastokc** » 2018-08-27 10:33 a.m.

[quote="Steve335"]Here is how Ian Bousfield sounded on his, and I don’t think trombone playing gets much better than this.
[/quote]

Crap, I shouldn't have listened to that.

Amazing.

Looks like I'm quitting trombone again... :weep:

Midnightboner · by **Midnightboner** » 2018-10-29 11:47 a.m.

I was there in the public gallery when Ian Bousfield played this live at a radio Broadcast, he also played the Gareth Wood Dance Sequence backed by the Sunlife brass band, Ian Bousfield has always been my idol ever since I heard him play the Langford Rhapsody on a TV programme on a King 4b with York imps when he was about 15 years old?

mfellows821 · by **mfellows821** » 2018-11-01 12:46 p.m.

I buy and sell pro level trombones and have played custom brands for the last 20 years. I think I have had three 682Bs come through in that time and I really liked every one of them. We have a local player here that works at a music store where he gets to play every model and brand that comes out and he bought his 682B new in the 90's and has never changed. If I had $1000 and my choice of what I could get for that price range, I would probably choose a 682B. I found them resonant with good intonation- you get Yamaha consistant quality, I liked the valve. I think they were 20 years ahead of their time.

bellend · by **bellend** » 2018-11-02 6:17 a.m.

<ATTACHMENT filename="img055.jpg" index="0">~~[attachment=0]~~img055.jpg</ATTACHMENT>

Here is the flyer that was used to launch this line in the UK the little diagram box shows the workings of the valve which to the best of my knowledge <B>is not</B> anything like a Minick valve. From memory when we took the leadpipe out of one these it appeared to have been machined out of a solid bar, never seen anything quite like it !!

FWIW

BellEnd

greenbean · by **greenbean** » 2019-04-05 5:27 p.m.

I just picked one of these up. Yup - a weird horn. Not the most responsive. Not the most lively, for sure. But I like the valve. (And it doesn't dig into my neck.)

Well, I then picked up an 882 slide on eBay. WOW! Now, this thing really plays! Totally came alive. I think I will pull the leadpipe from the original slide and see how it plays with some good pipes in it.

bellend · by **bellend** » 2019-04-06 8:36 a.m.

Be interested to hear how that goes, I seem to remember the lead pipe was turned out of a solid piece of round bar.

We made a conventional copy of the taper and it played really well.

BellEnd

greenbean · by **greenbean** » 2019-04-12 1:01 a.m.

I watched my tech pull this leadpipe out the other day. It is a very unusual pipe. Drawn brass of a typical thickness at the bottom and gets much heavier in the top two inches, starting at about where it starts to taper in. Then it stopped short and had a receiver soldered on. The receiver was made from two pieces of nickel-silver - Two seams! - and soldered over the end of the leadpipe. The whole thing was well-soldered into the inner tube. Weird. Anyway, it came out with some difficulty, and the horn plays MUCH better with a Brass Ark / Brad Close leadpipe - I think it is called the Elkhart 8H. I have a few other pipe that I will try but I haven't had time yet.

greenbean · by **greenbean** » 2019-04-12 1:07 a.m.

I lost the receiver pieces but here is the drawn tube.

<ATTACHMENT filename="IMG_7546 small.jpg" index="0">~~[attachment=0]~~IMG_7546 small.jpg</ATTACHMENT>

bellend · by **bellend** » 2019-04-12 4:40 a.m.

Thanks for posting those!

Funny how memory plays tricks on you! could have sworn it was made from bar but knew it was very thick at the mouthpiece end .

I think the design of this horn is good and with a 'conventional' leadpipe will play much better.

BellEnd

Quick Links

Instruments

Marketplace

Thoughts on the Yamaha YSL682B