AZ_Brad

I have been playing as a "comeback" player for about 18 months now on a Getzen 300. I promised myself that I would get myself a good horn after I earned it. Well, the time has come!

A Trombone player I know is offering me a YTR-6310ZS ( the s is for silver finish) to try and then buy for $1000. My first impression is that the valves are awsome, the intonation is great, but it blows "tight".

Can someone tell me about this horn? I can't find anything out about it from Yamaha. Is it a small bore? Is it worth $1000 in mint condition?

Happy Canuck

The 6310Z is a Bobby Shew horn, the stats are:

Model: YTR-6310Z
Years: 1992-
Key: Bb
Bore: .445"
Bell Size: 5"
Material: Yellow Brass
Finish: Lacquer/Silver
Weight: Light
Current Model: Current

Bore .445"
Bell 5" one-piece yellow brass bell
Pistons Monel pistons are a primarily nickel and copper alloy.
Bell shape The A bell favors a rich, soft sound
Gold epoxy lacquer Microscopic, electrically-charged particles of lacquer are attracted to and deposited evenly on the surface of the instrument carrying the opposite charge. This produces an exceptionally thin, uniform coating that can be oven-hardened for maximum durability without compromising the instrument's sound. The sound produced is a solid, somewhat harder sound than silver plate finishes.
Gold brass leadpipe Gold brass is extremely resistant to wear and corrosion, and when used in a leadpipe, it ensures long-term precision.

Current version is the YTR-8310Z


More information available here: YTR-6310Z

et_mike

You are the only one that can determine if spending that kind of money on this horn is "worth it" but if you think the horn blows "tight" then I would have to say no... Just about every Yamaha that I have ever put to my face has blown "tight" for me, but there are people out there that don't have that experience and love the horns. There is no one great brand, so before you drop $1000, get out there and try as many different horns as you can... and when you find the one you just don't want to put down... drop the money.

gglassmeyer

This horn has step bore design where the bore changes at specific parts of the horn. Most everyone initially thinks this horn is tight. If you tried it for an extended period of time you'd find you could play more efficiently with a bit less effort. The attempt by Yamaha and Bobby Shew was to make a horn that could fit well in any playing situation. It's a nice horn, but I think you could find one for less than $1000 used.
Try to convince him to let you play it for a couple weeks, if your opinion of the horn changes and you like it, do some research to see what a current asking price is and make an offer.

hubnub

One of my students has one and I agree it does feel tight. My trumpet teacher in College had a 6335 heavy wall..... when I think back that one felt pretty good.

veery715

There is a tendency to overblow - to push too hard on one of these Z horns after being used to a larger bore trumpet. They don't respond very well if you do that. Best strategy is to play it for a couple of weeks if possible, and to think about throttling back on your air when you play. They don't break when blown too hard, they just fight you back. You should be able to get the full dynamic range with somewhat less effort than a conventional ML bore horn. But it takes some time to adapt.
The current model can be had new for around $550 more for the silver one. Still, that's half again as much, but a good negotiating point to get a lower price on the used one.

rowuk

It is funny that some of my students came to me with this model and also thought it played tight, but were in love with it after one single lesson. The problem is between our ears, not with our chops or wind.

The tight sensation is a function of what we THINK that we are getting out of a horn in relation to the energy we THINK that we are putting in. Once we figure out why that the horn is more efficient, the "tightness" goes away.

When I test trumpets, it is ALWAYS from the bottom up (don't we always get told that we are too loud anyway?). How does the horn speak at pianissimo, how vibrant is the tone at lower volumes? Then some healthy mezzo forte testing, second movement Haydn for instance: how even are the registers to play, how easy is it to play long phrases, lipslurs and the like. How the horn responds at the upper end of the volume scale I only try in large sized playing spaces. Why? The more efficient the horn, the more a small room will "resonate" back into the horn and give us that impression of tightness. In a practice cell or music store efficiency will lose almost every time because the player doesn't know where the problem is!

If we are talking about "quality" instruments, resistance is one of the most misunderstood phenomenons (or is that phenomina?). Even without having played that particular horn, I know that the symptoms do not represent the REAL playing qualities of that horn.

This does not mean that Robin said you should buy that horn. At the end of the day, we all need to play before we pay. I think it is useful to know that when we understand what is REALLY going on, we often have a new appreciation for a particular horns playing characteristics. Tightness is in the brain, not the trumpet. The fact that the thread owner had no comments on tone quality, response at low volumes, response to articulation, ability to phrase and all of the other things that I know this horn does VERY well, makes me assume that we have an opportunity to highlight the typical horn audition deficiencies. Get this horn into a concert hall and then put it through its paces, from the bottom up. I am sure that you will experience something MUCH different.

I think $1000 is a bit steep for this horn.