Finally! The long awaited review of the pBone has arrived! Once again, a huge thank you to Andrew's Music for providing me with a yellow pBone for review!
The pBone has been around quite awhile now. It was originally developed and sold in Europe and was essentially off limits in the USA. The company did not want to ship to the US because of the extra costs as well as the fact that they would sell out of stock in literally less than a day.
However, in the summer of 2011, it was announced that Conn-Selmer would be the exclusive, worldwide distributer of the pBone. A couple months ago, the US got our first shipment of pBones and they have been much anticipated and thus been selling extremely well.
However, what is the performance value of the instrument? Sure, it's a novel idea to have a plastic, colored trombone, but is it functional? Does it sound good? Will one be able to use it? I'll address all of that in this review.
What you get:
However, in the summer of 2011, it was announced that Conn-Selmer would be the exclusive, worldwide distributer of the pBone. A couple months ago, the US got our first shipment of pBones and they have been much anticipated and thus been selling extremely well.
However, what is the performance value of the instrument? Sure, it's a novel idea to have a plastic, colored trombone, but is it functional? Does it sound good? Will one be able to use it? I'll address all of that in this review.
What you get:
- pBone (two parts, as per the norm of trombones)
- Plastic, matching color mouthpiece
- Gigbag
- pBone Care Card
Shipping:
I really had no concerns about shipping with this horn. I mean it won't get dented and should hold up to a lot more abuse than a normal horn. It came in the box pictured below and considering the horn I am very confident in the fact that the horn will not be damaged upon receiving it. On behalf of Andrew's Music, their shipping was very quick and I was extremely pleased in the time it took for the horn to get to me from Texas.
Specs:
- Plastic bell
- Fiberglass slide with brass stockings
- 8.25" bell
- .500" bore
- 800g weight.
Lets set this straight, this horn does NOT have a carbon fiber slide. Any website claiming that it does is simply wrong. Just thinking about it, there is no way they could use a carbon fiber slide at this price point. (Though carbon fiber slides do exist, just look up Spurling).
Appearance - Well there is nothing like this anywhere else. Sure, you can get colored mouthpieces elsewhere but the pBone is the only colored plastic trombone on the market. You will definitely draw some looks with this horn in your hands. Not suitable for all situations but definitely a fun horn and a great way to get people interested in your playing. Overall, in most non-formal performance situations, I think the pBone could be cool.
How does it play? - This is the single most important factor of an instrument. If a horn doesn't sound good, I'm not going to play it in front of people or risk developing bad habits by using it because it looks cool. That being said, this horn sounds so much better than I thought it would! I was very impressed with the horn's playability and sound. I will admit, it doesn't sound like my 42BO, but it does sounds on par or better than almost every student model I've played. And quite honestly, for good players, student models don't sound too shabby at all. The horn gets a bit airy in the lower register I found but it only took a practice session or two to get my embouchure used to that and automatically adjust. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the sound of this horn and the way it works. Should I ever have a fun performance in front of a child audience or something, I would definitely consider using this horn.
Slide - The slide is the hardest part of the trombone to get right. The reason is very simple, you have a set of two long tubes which need to be fit two another set of two long tubes and need to have a tight enough fit to not allow extraneous air to escape while not so tight as to restrict the ease of movement. Factor in the length of the tubes and that requires a lot of precision. When you first get the horn, the pBone's slide is very scratchy and tight. However, with use, the brass stockings essentially shave off material on the inside of the outer slides and as such they become fit to that individual inner slide. You can definitely hear the slide at first but it has gotten marginally better over the past week or so. Therefore, I'm hoping that continues. You also do not need to use slide lubricant on this slide. I tried using my trombotine on it and honestly it didn't make much of a difference. Maybe it will have more of an effect once the slide is worn in.
Mouthpeice - Okay, I'll be honest here. Do not use the included mouthpiece. I found it to be essentially crap. It makes the horn sound much more airy and it's simply not a good mouthpiece in my opinion. Get a good, quality metal mouthpiece for this horn. It makes the sound much better and makes it play much more easily. The included mouthpiece is usually labelled as 12C-ish. However, it felt much more similar to a 6.5 for me. The quarter test (shown below) also puts the rim size as more similar to a 6.5 than to a 12C.
Also, this is not a mouthpiece made by Kelly. The material feels completely different, the sound is much less focused, and is just much less quality than that of Kelly mouthpieces.
6.5 AL small shank on left, pBone mouthpiece center, and Bach 12C on right.
Gigbag - This case is spectacular for the instrument. It is very simple, light, and easy to use. It's two main compartments with an inside pocket for the mouthpiece. However, I typically just carry my metal mouthpiece in my pocket when transporting this horn. Just in case. The bag really doesn't provide any protection as the horn doesn't dent and a bit of extra padding isn't going to do much if there is enough pressure to make it crack. This case is the perfect example of less is more. It's easy to use, light, and exactly what's needed for this instrument. Bravo.
Uses - So, essentially this is a plastic horn that plays just as well, if not a bit better than a student model brass horn. So why should you want one? Honestly, I would highly encourage serious trombonists who have the money to buy one, to buy one. It makes the perfect "beater horn." You can travel with this horn with absolutely no fear of getting any dents in it or anything. It's light enough and small enough in the bag that you don't have to worry about lugging around a huge case or being weighed down by a bunch of stuff. I can honestly say that whenever I travel from here on out and want to practice while on the trip, the pBone will be my go to horn. The pBone also makes a good horn for private lesson teachers for when their students have a horn in the shop or they want to demonstrate a concept on a small bore horn. This is also a great option for those schools that teach band in elementary school. I have experienced teaching third graders that could not do well because they could not hold their horn. Using the pBone will definitely eliminate that problem. Also, this horn is much more durable than a brass horn. That means that the school could even buy a set of these and use them as school-owned horns for a very long time. On top of all that, these horns are much cheaper than their brass counterparts and as such it's a great way to expose a child to trombone playing on a good horn without putting down a fortune.
Pros:
- Durability
- Price
- Quality for money
- Weight
- Draws attention
- Easy to transport/travel with
Cons:
- Is not appropriate for all performance venues
- no tip at the bottom of the slide can be annoying
- Mouthpiece
Price - $149 Please use Andrew's Music for buying one online if you choose to. They have made this review possible. Red, green, yellow, and blue are available. Andrew's Music also mixes colors which I have not seen from anyone else.
Overall - This is an incredible horn. Don't put this out of your mind just because it's plastic. It is not suitable for all situations but I would bet that every trombonist could find their own uses for it to make it worth it. This horn is so much cheaper than anything else (besides foreign crap which doesn't last). If nothing else, it's worth it for the durability and travel. I never have to worry about picking up dents on my brass horn through traveling. Besides all that... this horn is fun to play. There's no other way to say it. And if you can make playing fun, you'll practice longer and get better quicker. I highly suggest trying and buying this horn, I've been extremely pleased with it.
*I would like to once again thank Andrew's Music for supplying this horn for review. Please use them for buying online as without them this review would not have happened. I am very grateful for their support of my blog.
