[Trombone-l] Eastman Winds trombones

[Dave Demko]

Eastman Winds makes brass instruments in Beijing. You can find a link
to them from Tom Gibson's site (www.trombonelessons.com). I just tried
out their ETB432G: .547, mechanical-linkage rotor, open-wrap, gold
brass bell, comparing it side by side with an Edwards T350 with a rose
bell and genuine Thayer. Not surprisingly, the Edwards won, but the
Eastman didn't suffer all that much in the comparison.

Points to the Eastman for:
	- good workmanship and finish
	- good slide literally right out of the wrapper
	- easy to play in tune (good overtone series alignment)
	- nice trombone edge to the tone on the F valve
	- not stuffy
	- an intelligently placed flange to keep the bell receiver nut from
sliding back, when disconnected, and banging into or wedging against
the F wrap tubing

The Edwards surpassed it with:
	- richer, more complex tone quality
	- somewhat better response playing quietly in the "lyrical" range
(neighborhood of C5)

The Eastman comes with a nice Protec-like case with backpack straps
and a no-name mouthpiece I didn't bother unwrapping. Street price:
$1,100. This is definitely a step-up horn, but in that category it's a
very nice one. Previously I had tried a Jupiter 636RL, which is just
like the ETB432G on paper (.547, rotor, open wrap, rose bell), but it
seemed stuffy. As always, your results may differ.

I'm not offering an opinion here about step-up versus pro horns for
high-schoolers, merely saying I had a favorable impression of the
Eastman. I'm looking forward to trying the ETB634 "Shires by Eastman."
This model is built by Eastman but patterned after the Shires
large-bore tenor, and it's available with either a big conventional
rotor or an axial flow valve.