Old Guys (and gals) Club

To address the original post, prices are always relative - even for new horns. In the case of a Martin Committee we have several things contributing to the current high price:

limited quantity of playable instruments
high demand based on the supposed magical properties.

Now, magic IS something that CAN happen between a player and his instrument but that is the catch. The player AND the horn need complementary magic to make this investment worthwhile.

I am convinced that any number of manufacturers could recreate the Committee for a lot less money. There is no magic in the brass or skills required to make one. The issue is, that too few people would buy it because they mostly want the myth first and the story behind having one is created later.

Wow, what a tough decision you have to make.

I had the choice between getting stuck in snow or chilling on a beach in Mexico. As you can imagine, I agonized over that decision for months.

Which reminds me....Maynard had some kind of frankenhorn with both a slide and valves. Anybody remember what this thing was called?

Time for a soprano trombone?

@Anthony-Lenzo I want to be very clear that I am not assuming that your technician made a mistake or was not good! Sometimes there is dirt and damage that the technician can only compensate for. I make a huge difference between repair or restore. Restoration is usually far more costly in terms of time and effort.

Generally, only really serious dents (tube almost mashed together) will affect the intonation.
That being said, a technician that knows enough to tell you if removing the dent can cause a tear or hole, should be able to judge if it is intonation critical. If after a repair, a patch was applied, this will also not have any serious effect on intonation - especially if we are not talking about a professional player and her/his favorite horn!

One recommendation that I would offer to Anthony: please post pictures when you ask questions like this. Maybe we could offer advice BEFORE you make an uninformed decision. Some of us have been doing this for a VERY LONG TIME!

I have never had a dent tear because my tech annealed the dents before doing anything. Annealing is a process to soften the grain structure of metal to reduce stress. It is used when originally forming the tuning slide and slide bows as well as when hammering the bell.

@administrator your suspicion is correct. A real slide trombone. The slide is of no big concern. Habits are built through repetitions and I already have enough alto clef material to get started. I have already committed to a concert in April, so I know what is coming.

There are valve trombones, but I suspect the one ROWUK owns is a slide trombone.

I have bought myself an alto trombone (another member of the trumpet family) for Christmas. As the playing register is similar to the trumpet, the mouthpieces are in sizes similar to the baroque trumpet, I thought that I would give it a go.

I will report on my progress. As I have some trumpet playing Advent and Christmas concerts still scheduled, I have not yet played it.

Wow! What a rare treat.