My apologies for being unclear in the video; the receipt I have from ordering the horn listed it as having a rose brass bell. Between the time that I ordered the horn and received it, Wessex changed their online store description to it having a gold brass bell, and that is what I received. The lighting in the video isn't great and all the walls in my apartment are white, which is why the slide looks more like nickel silver, but it is definitely a yellow brass outer slide. Once all this craziness is over I do intend to try out some different bass bone mouthpieces. Even after playing a 1-1/2 G for 6 years I still feel like I'm swimming inside of it. And I do have plans to order a Get-a-Grip, but I haven't gotten around to it just yet. That, and to convince the Gb paddle to be closer to the rest of the instrument, I just haven't worked up the guts to do it just yet. I did try using the three large bore tenor mouthpieces I have to see if the tuning issue was just from using a mouthpiece that isn't good for me, but it all came back to the same result. I will be taking it into a shop fairly soon to have the tuning slide aligned and the receivers trimmed, but overall those aren't things you want to have to do on a new horn. Made in China or not. Thank you for your feedback and questions!

@@TheSailingTrombonist True, not everyone would be as eager as I am to lap valves, polish slides and bend paddles even though that work should have been done from the factory. But I get where you're coming from. Anyways, keep practicing, onwards and upwards.

I've managed to put some mute dings in the bell, but otherwise the horn has maintained its playing characteristics. Valves are fast enough so long as they're cared for, and the slide hasn't deteriorated at all. I'm budgeting to upgrade in 2024 since some of the playing characteristics of this horn are now actively holding me back. If this is going to be your first bass bone, then I can't say it'd be a bad choice. It's worked rather well for me. But if you're a very experienced player then you might want to consider a good used horn.

@@TheSailingTrombonistwould you ever sell this bass trombone?

@@LukeZellar In fact, I am working on cleaning it up and prepping the listing right now.

@@TheSailingTrombonist where are you selling it?