Bach Stradivarius 50B30 Lacquer - Bass Trombone

My band director bought this bass bone brand new for our jazz band, and I’m in love with it. It is really good quality, can really bring out low notes and a blast to play on. Pricy, but very well worth it in my opinion

Slightly used instrument purchased about 3 months ago. Seems to suit me well (I'm switching from tenor in my 50s), and sounds very good. Some issues, possibly common to all double trigger trombones:

• I need my Rath hand rest - I'm fairly slim and don't have strong hands, so without it, manipulating two triggers and supporting the weight is very difficult.
• The design favours the first (F) trigger in various ways - straighter piping, and easier operation with the thumb paddle.
• The second finger paddle for the second valve (G flat of course, not G) takes a bit of getting used to. Both sets of valve piping have long slides, with the overall effect that if you want E and C in first instead of F and D, it's possible.Only practical use I've found so far is that the E-pull makes a G bass gliss in "The Clowns" playable.
• The case is well-made, but mighty heavy. It's bigger than it needs to be - you could certainly get a 10.5 inch bell in there, though possibly with different padding. The compartment for 2 mouthpieces is big enough to take enough other gear for most people.

The key to any purchase, though, is trying as many instruments as you can. I didn't expect to buy this one, but it played the best of the 7 basses I tried when buying. The basic design is very old - model 50s apparently began in 1938, and I've seen a 50B promotional photo that looks 1940s at the latest. But Conn-Selmer seem to have made the 50B their main bass trombone model, in the same way as the Conn 88H is their main wide bore tenor - no other bass in their range has as many variants. This model (like the single valve closed wrap 50B) seems to be more easily available than the ones with newer valves.