pBone Plastic Trombone With Mouthpieces & Bag

I gave this plastic trombone as an Xmas gift to my son-in-law who plays trombone in the U. S. Air Force Band in Washington DC. He says that he likes it very much because of its novelty (good!, because the pBone could have been a gag gift gone sour). His band provides my son-in-law with his choice of instrument –> an Edwards trombone costing about $5600. Of course the pBone is no competitor for the Edwards, but is more of a recreational instrument suitable for beginning students of the trombone. Being a musician myself but not a trombonist, the following remarks are my understanding of his comments about the pBone.

Be aware that the pBone has no F attachment. The trombone requires a short-shank mouthpiece. The plastic mouthpiece supplied with the pBone has a cup diameter that is too small for a serious student of the trombone, but any metal short-shank mouthpiece can be substituted for the supplied one. Comes with a flimsy gig bag. The main advantages of the pBone are the light weight and the minimal cost. The pBone bore is smaller diameter than the usual bore expected of an orchestral instrument (but larger than the “pea-shooter” that many beginners start upon), so that its sound is brighter and less sonorous than the orchestral instrument. The intonation is surprisingly good for such a cheap trombone, but not perfectly on pitch.

Recommended for beginning students, or for trombone teachers who want to play the same trombone as their beginning students during lessons. Also good for school marching bands whose directors want to display trombones in their school colors, as two-color or even three-color pBones are available.

The small size of the plastic mouthpiece, in my own opinion, is a drawback that ought to be corrected by the manufacturer since school marching bands sometimes have to play in cold or freezing weather when a metal mouthpiece is uncomfortable to play upon. However, there are plastic rims that can be fitted to a metal mouthpiece to alleviate the discomfort of a cold mouthpiece.

I played trombone in high school and wanted to pick it back up as a hobby. Marching, Jazz, Pep, and Concert. I just needed a starter trombone for some scales and simple songs so I could evaluate whether I should invest in a full instrument again. This is perfect for that, and I think it’s actually great for anyone who wants to learn trombone at home – not just kids! I’m not sure I ever really need the brass anymore, until I want to get a trigger trombone again – and even then, a competitor makes a trigger version of the pBone!

Pros:

It’s a real trombone. So many people try to talk down the pBone as though it’s a toy, but this is a true plastic trombone. It sets up and handles almost identical to a real trombone. A professional could play this just like a regular brass trombone. Someone who goes to rough gigs, like ska bands, may want to consider a pBone so they don’t have to lug brass around.

Full-featured. Has everything from a real mouthpiece port if you want to use brass mouthpieces, to a spit valve, to a slide lock. The only feature this trombone is missing is that the point between the bell and slide if friction-fit, which I’ll cover below. But for the most part, again, this is a real trombone.

Lightweight. I wish I could go back in time and give one of these to myself when I was marching. It’s so light and easy to handle, it’s great.

Attractive colors. I got the purple one, and it’s a gorgeous deep color. It’s high-quality plastic.

Great sound. Sure a brass trombone will “ring” better than plastic, but unless you’re playing Beethoven in a quiet concert hall, you probably won’t notice. For practicing or playing in a small club, this trombone will suit anyone. The sound is absolutely fine for tuning and improving form.

Damage resistant. I know it sounds silly to say that plastic resists damage better than brass, but consider what happens if you ever do really whack the slide so it starts to stick or becomes unusable. With brass, you could be in a situation where you need to go into a repair shop and pay a specialist to gently heat and bend the metal into shape. That could be expensive, or even require new brass at great expense. With the pBone, either the plastic will bounce, or if it cracks and you buy another one. Buying a new pBone is likely still cheaper than repairing a trombone. Heck – buy two! You could go through quite a few pBones before adding up to the price of one brass trombone.

Cons:

Small hands warning. The major downside is that the major joint between the slide and the bell is friction-fit. This means you’re using your thumb around the bell’s cross bar to hold the instrument together. This is the natural position used to hold a trombone, but anyone with especially small hands or a weak thumb could have trouble holding the two together. If you have trouble wrapping your thumb around the cross member when holding a trombone, you’ll need to consider some other way to help reinforce this joint. They really should fix this and just make a tab to fix the bell at a specific angle. I’d rather have the trombone fixed at 90 degrees, than have to baby it. I’m sure you could use something simple like a rubber band to assist a small child if their hands are truly too small for the hold. You could easily glue this joint permanently if you intend to keep the trombone on a stand anyway, although you’ll lose the ability to store it in a gig bag.

Out of the box the pBone slide really is scratchy and a bit slow. This is fine for anyone new to the instrument, as it’s quite tricky to maintain a brass slide for a newcomer anyway. I’d say the slide feels no worse than my first trombone did before I learned to maintain the slide. The manufacturer says the slide will wear in with just spit and time. I’ll probably add a dab of cream to assist the process, but for practicing scales and simple songs this is perfectly fine as-is.

Neutral:

The slide has a lock and a pinky lug so during play you should wrap your little finger around the lug to hold the slide in place. I’m used to the older style where the slide’s first cross bar is higher so you held the cross bar with your little finger. Adjusting to the lug is weird but I’ll learn.

Overall:

I love my pBone so much I don’t really need a brass trombone anymore. The pBone is plenty for practice, basement jams, and even gigs. The only reason you’d ever need to upgrade is if you need special features (trigger), or if you play concert halls. Parents of children who may someday compete in concert should still consider the pBone. Not only is it better for learning (lighter, inexpensive if you change instruments) but a child should be more comfortable playing without worry that they’ll damage an expensive instrument.

Väger lite, förvånansvärt högt ljud. Jag har aldrig spelat trombon för så ni kan ju föreställa er min frus reaktion när jag började tuta och hon satt i jobbmöte. Bra att det följer med lite gratislektioner för annars lär frugan inte bli glad 😀

Absolutely love it. The sound is just remarkably good and it’s so light and great for travel! Great value. Cant say enough good things about it!

My son is a petite 11 year old about to start band at school. He was unable to comfortably hold a standard trombone in his left hand, to the point that he could not move the side freely, and it was hurting his hands. There was also no way his tiny body could carry a brass trombone to and from school.

This horn only weighs 2 pounds. Yes, it’s plastic. But he uses a metal mouthpiece, and it sounds shockingly good for what it is. No more pain, and playing is fun again!

A few tips getting started: polish the edges of the brass where it meets the plastic of the inner slide with steel wool. Then wax the brass with liquid carnauba car wax. This helped the slide feel significantly.

I’m hoping he can just play this one for a year and then transition to a real horn. Then we can save this one for marching band/pep band.