Crease dents in bell

[Benei]

So I’ve had this trombone for 2 weeks and yesterday I noticed a crease dent in the bell. The dent wasn’t there before and I suspect that it happened in the transit between my alma mater and a jazz festival I was going to a few days ago. The dent is insignificant but I’d still like to fix it. Any ideas?

[BGuttman]

Creases need a bunch of specialized tools to remove and a good amount of skill. Also, it's nearly impossible to completely remove. If you can live with the consequences and can toss in a good chunk of change, bring it to a good repair shop.

If you are curious to see how it's done, find some videos by Wes Lee.

[Crazy4Tbone86]

Sounds like it is not that big of a dent, since you describe it as “insignificant.” My guess would be that it would be a quick fix with a roller dent tool. Any brass tech should have one and it might be a low cost repair. I recommend that you contact your local repair tech and schedule the repair ASAP. If you are in the mid-Atlantic region of the US, I could do it for you.

Of bigger concern is how the dent got there. I would not be surprised if the case “caused” the dent. We all assume that cases are designed to protect instruments. However, I have seen many examples of cases that inflict harm on the instrument because of poor design. I had a case in college that would crinkle the bell slightly if the one end of the case bumped into something like a table or the corner of a wall. I was constantly getting that bell repaired. When I changed the case, the problem was eliminated.

[tbonesullivan]

Was the instrument / case put in a truck or the cargo compartment of a bus? A lot of modern cases have next to no real protection against being dropped on the end. The bell ends up hitting the end of the case, and you get a crease.

The only cases I have seen that are immune to this are the old 600-series yamaha cases from the 1990s and early 2000s. They held the bell section in place by the braces, and put the slide in a slot on the TOP of the case. My Yamaha YBL-612 RII was shipped to me in the case. Taped shut. That's it. It suffered zero damage from transit.

[OneTon]

I bought the 79H advertised here and on epoop. It is a good horn—I wish that I had had it in college. It is the best Conn slide that I ever had. There are a series of dime sized dents running up the bell. The case brace block is jamming the bell against the flat end of the case. I am going to get the larger MTS case to replace it. And then have the dents removed.

[BGuttman]

On the Conn "Wedge" case, there is a compartment that fits under the bell section with a pop up lid. There are side walls that go 90 degrees to the slide compartment on either side of this compartment. The sidewalls are connected to the side of the slide section by U nails. These U nails can partially come out and will then dent the slide. I swapped Conn 88H cases with a colleague who had this problem (my case didn't). I took the case apart to attach the side walls another way, but got sidetracked. But be aware that this is a problem with the Conn "wedge" case.

[OneTon]

Thanks Bruce. I will check it.

[soseggnchips]

The early 2000s canvas covered Bach cases can do this. I'm not sure if it's a design flaw or just the flimsiness of the case failing to provide protection. The old brown rectangular cases were much better.

[MTbassbone]

I once saw a pro's Bach 42BO, the bell had been creased and repaired many times. It had the look of crinkled aluminum foil. He sounded fantastic and likely would have sounded great no matter what he played. When you get to a tech in the future ask them to address it. In the big picture this is a small issue. A new horn will get a dent or crease at some point. You are at the point. Just keep on playing.

[OneTon]

I like to keep my horns as free of dents as practical. A tenor stand collapsed under my Duo-Gravis. The techs claimed a dent in the knuckle near the valve would not affect anything. But it made the bottom of the staff g slightly sharp with a timbre somewhat similar to a Black Angus cow lowing gently in the early morning mist. I had to convince a tech that the horn was junk without repair and that I would not hold him accountable if he broke it. He then fixed it and it sounds much better.

Another trombone stand walked off a stone hearth careening its Bach LT6 payload into a 4 inch by 5 foot mahogany coffee table. It did significant damage to the bell but nearly no damage to the slide. After the repair, the horn plays noticeably better than it did from the factory. I attribute this to eliminating preload at the joints and stress relief applied after soldering. It and a raced and wrecked King 2B look sorry mostly due to lacquer attrition but play very openly and surprisingly dark.

The repairs were not prohibitively expensive. My experience is to repair horns, and to repair or replace offending cases. My packaging experience leads me to prefer some free play of the horn in the case with no contact or no preloaded contact with surfaces opposed by the case environment.

After the LT6 was repaired from the swan dive off the hearth, after a gig and during breakdown, someone kicked it off a 4 foot riser onto the concrete below while the LT6 was stored in a Gator ABS tenor case. The only damage occurred when a trombone player and engineer took it upon himself to inspect for damage. When he replaced the slide, he put the slide in the case upside down, which imprinted characteristic slide tenon scratch damage to the surface of the adjacent bell.

There is a better place in the world to come for Mr. Olds for having collaborated with Geib to introduce ABS plastic cases with aluminum valences.

[Bonearzt]

On the Conn "Wedge" case, there is a compartment that fits under the bell section with a pop up lid. There are side walls that go 90 degrees to the slide compartment on either side of this compartment. The sidewalls are connected to the side of the slide section by U nails. These U nails can partially come out and will then dent the slide. I swapped Conn 88H cases with a colleague who had this problem (my case didn't). I took the case apart to attach the side walls another way, but got sidetracked. But be aware that this is a problem with the Conn "wedge" case.

I can't count how many of these nails or staples I have pulled from slide compartments!!!
And the owner is ALWAYS surprised when I show them how their slide got scratched & dented!!
doesn't seem quite as prominent an issue any more though....

[ssking2b]

You should get a better hard case. Marcus Bona cases are excellent, as are SKB cases.