A friend was telling me earlier that their wasn’t much difference between his Bach slide (lightweight) and mine (standard). Is this true, or is there a difference? And if there is a difference, what is it and how does it affect a person’s playing?

Only way to really know is probably to try them side-by-side.

The biggest difference is that the lightweight slides lack the nickel-silver oversleeves at the main slide brace. I suspect that the tubing thickness is about the same for both slides, but without the oversleeves the LT slide is lighter than the standard slide. How much lighter? Put them on a balance and weight them.

I don't think the weight difference is sufficient to make your slide technique a whole lot faster. Even standard slides (with oversleeves) are pretty light. What they can do is shift the balance of the horn back slightly.

The other difference is that dings are apparently easier to take out of yellow brass than nickel silver. Three different repair techs I respect and trust have told me this, so I believe it.

Nickel Silver is harder than brass, which is why Bach can get away with not having the oversleeves on those slides. The brass slides need the reinforcement around the top for the 6th and 7th positions, or so I have been told.

So, you get an overall lighter slide, however it's also a harder material, so that changes things as well. Usually the nickel silver slides are described as being more articulate, possibly with better slotting. The only way to find out would be to try one out.

The lightweight slide are nickel silver, which change the response quite a bit.... More than the weight of the oversleeves does... Charlie Vernon use custom yellow brass without oversleeves which i suppose would effect

the sound less.. I had the opportunity once to test over 30 different Bach 50 and found that the nickel lightweight slides was a gamechanger on the different horns for me.. In a negative way.. However, i like the Holton sleeved nickel silver with yellow crook..