Menu
Account

LefreQue Part 4 – Trombone

5th November 2019

Continuing our series of experiments with the LefreQue acoustic plates, Matt and I tested a few on his trombone. We were both eager to see what sort of effect they would have, especially as his trombone is nickel at the intended placement of LefreQue, with a brass bell. Generally we’ve found it’s best to match the LefreQue material to the instrument’s setup. What happens when we can’t match the materials?

Gold Plated Brass LefreQue

Initially we tried the red brass LefreQue. To be honest we were surprised at the difference it made. Over all the sound was cleaner, sweeter – ‘really nice’, as I helpfully made a note of! In the euphonium blog we talked about the ‘slotting’ of the partials. Matt thought the slotting here was comfortable and accurate, without worry of ‘over shooting’ the partial.

Although the solid silver had a great resonance and projection to it, it wasn’t as clear a tone as the red brass. The tonal difference was somewhat negligible though, and Matt did find the slotting to be incredibly accurate.

Like on this trumpet, the LefreQue is intended to be placed across the mouthpiece and lead pipe.

Matt took an instant liking to the gold plated brass. Tonally, it was clear and broad, with mellowness without coming across as muted. As the listener, I was particularly struck by the ‘fatness’ of the low notes. Intonation was also improved, with Matt noting that he needed to make fewer embouchure adjustments to fix problem areas.

Silver plated brass presented the brightest sound – we thought, perhaps, such a tone would be suited to a big band lead trombone. Out of the few finishes we tested on his trombone, Matt found the slotting of this LefreQue to be the most accurate.

Silver Plated Brass LefreQue

Out of interest, we got out a new model of Matt’s trombone – this time with a red brass bell. The effects of the red brass LefreQue weren’t as noticeable on this trombone, which struck us as bizarre considering our existing theory. We also tried it between the bell and tuning slide of this trombone – which didn’t really do anything! This proved to me that the best placement is the initial mouthpiece-lead pipe connection.

Ultimately, it was beneficial to see what the LefreQue would do on a connection that didn’t match it’s material. The two favourites were the red brass and gold plated brass – brass of course being the material of the trombone’s bell. So whilst the connection didn’t match, materials on the instrument did.

But this is just Matt’s opinion! As with any instrument accessory, the results are very personal. How the LefreQue responds will vary by person and instrument. Come in store and have a go to find out for yourself! Or alternatively you can shop for Trombone related LefreQue products here on our site.