I gave this 5 stars with a “but”. It 5 stars isn’t because its the best trombone in the world. It is just better than anyone would expect from a plastic and fiberglass trombone; especially from china.

Its light, the slide moves very freely. No sticking at all, even for its light weight. Rest the slide on the ground and yank the trombone up as fast as you can and the slide won’t leave the ground. Lose your grip and it’ll go flying. Best thing, when you pick up your just dropped slide, it still slides perfectly.

Its super light. I thought it would be a bit heavier. Feels a little fragile and I’m sure it is. But if you’re used to treating your brass horn nicely, it shouldn’t be a problem.

Ok, sound:
It sounds like its made of plastic. That is, the brass it doesn’t have, doesn’t ring. It sounds a little muted. You can still blare but it plays quietly. (i’ve been on a big bore horn for a while, it may be my imagination). I can play this quieter than any other brass instrument in my house (several). It sounds a bit more like a baritone/euphonium than a trombone. That’s fine for around the house though.
The slide is noticeably loud. Its raw fiberglass (not gel coat) against brass and you can hear it. We’ll see if that gets better over time. I’m getting some black “sludge” off the slide, and the brass ends are showing polishing, so it may be getting better.
Mouthpiece is a very small cup size. Not what I’m used to, but it seems to make the horn very playable.

I haven’t had any trouble with any octave range like one reviewer said somewhere. Plays very easily. Very responsive. Maybe its the tiny mouthpiece more than the horn.

Other stuff:
The “jiggs pBone” and “made in china” logo are silk screened on and not the kind that flakes off easily with a thumbnail. Good for keeping the logos looking “good” but I was really hoping it would be a vinyl decal I could peel off and make it look like an enameled horn. Using a small hard plastic widget I was able to get the “CE” logo off the made in china decal with little residual marking. I’ll continue on this and then hit it with some rouge and a buffer wheel and see if I can get the pBone label off later.

There’s a seam that runs down the horn as well. Its not sloppy but its visible. They polished it off the inside of the bell, but its quite noticeable on the outside of the bell and down the spine of the horn. That slightly misaligned mold type thing. a right hand bump on the top, left hand bump on the bottom. Nothing to really do about it. It is thick enough where it could be sanded and buffed to make it unnoticeable, but why? It already says “pbone” on it.

Conclusion:
Worth a shot for a practice horn or just a conversation piece. I bet it would be nice for caroling or street playing in the cold. Packing it on your back on a bicycle etc. Super light, and the case is tiny and light too.

Just had a funny image of the “around the campfire” crowd. Instead of someone pulling out a harmonica or a small guitar… pull out your trombone and play some songs around the campfire. Just don’t get too close, or your horn will melt.

I played trombone for 9 years in school and couldn’t afford to buy a professional model when I graduated since I wasn’t pursuing a professional career. Five years later I came across this. For my uses this bad boy is more than perfect. Sound AMAZING considering that it is made of plastic, I was shocked by the quality of tone. Not quite brass, but only a trombone player will know that. Durable plastic, and so far so good. I gave it a nice custom look with vinyl decals and it fits my standard Bach 6 1/2 AL mouthpiece.

As an instrument…I have to say, not half bad–especially if you use a metal mouthpiece. I bought a couple of those cheaper Blessing ones, a 12c and 6.5al and honestly it sounds pretty decent. It’s definitely way better than what I was expecting, even after reading all the effusive reviews. What’s more, it looks cool as hell. It actually looks cooler than it is…as though it should be able to play power chords through a guitar amp!

The slide is on the scratchy side. I bought that Selmer Slide o mix…it’s awful. It reminds me of dish soap and after it dries it gives the slide a sandy granular feel that really sucks. Even so, I love this thing. It looks so cool, I just want to play it all the time…and that’s really half the battle with this instrument. I had a beautiful silver Vincent Bach that I let slip through my grasp. This ain’t no Vincent Bach! It has no low-end and you’ll really feel it missing something at low Bflat down through the pedal tones. But it’s still pretty cool in its own right. And from F on the staff, all the way up, it sounds 95% there, which is good enough for me.

I honestly think the whole plastic instrument thing is a game changer. Especially for marching bands. I haven’t tested, but I bet cold temps won’t affect pitch like real brass. Also, it’s just plastic. If it gets messed up, just get another. Now people won’t have to be so precious about these instruments because like all plastic stuff, the price will come down with demand. The color of this thing is too cool man…I love it! I think this is good for the instrument and once this thing gets down below , it could cause a real craze that nobody ever could have predicted.