ITF Exhibit Report 2025

This month (July 2025) I traveled to London, Ontario to be a featured artist at the 2025 International Trombone Festival. It was an unforgettable experience that I could write a novel about, but I was specifically asked (by multiple people!) to do a write-up of all the trombones I tried at the exhibit hall, so here we are.

Before we begin, I have a couple of disclaimers: 1) the exhibits were smaller than usual, I suspect due to the ongoing trade nonsense, and 2) a lot of the instruments there were models I already tried a few months ago at NAMM, so I did not play everything. I revisited some of them, but for the most part I skipped over the instruments I’d already tried this year. For my opinions on those, see my NAMM 2025 report.

Conn-Selmer

I have nothing too special to report from the Conn-Selmer booth. They had a couple of prototype improved CL 88Hs (one yellow bell, one red bell), which I thought were both worse than the 88HNV next to them. The 88HNV was the best Conn tenor…and it was just pretty good. The Bach side of the booth was a similar story. I thought the 42BOF played the best of anything at the booth, but that was also just good, not great.

Courtois

Courtois showed up with an octet of trombones, which were quite popular on the second day. I tried all but two of them, the 551 bass and the Mezzo 280 large bore tenor.

One of the highlights for me was the trio of Creation tenor models all next to each other. I had tried (and loved) the New Yorker at NAMM 2023, and tried (and loved) the Florida and Paris models at NAMM 2025, but never back to back. I played them all back to back to see how they stacked up against each other. The New Yorker was the yellow bell model, rather than the gold bell model at NAMM 2023, but otherwise it was all the same. I went in expecting to like the New Yorker the best, but I actually ended up picking the Florida as my favorite, followed by the Paris. All three horns were excellent and fun to play, but the Florida was so easy to play and the Paris had a special sound and blow. I’d be happy to own any of them, but if it was my choice I’d walk out with the Florida model.

The 402 Xtreme (.508”) was just as I remembered it from NAMM 2023 - plays exactly like a King 3B (which was by design), but with a more refined sound. A very nice instrument that I’d be very happy to own and use every day if I didn’t have my 3Bs. The 430 Xtreme (.500”) played very similarly to the 402, but it felt too tight to me. It’s not a big-feeling .500” like a 6H, 2B Plus, or Williams 6…it feels closer to a 2B to me. Definitely a nice instrument for those that prefer smaller horns.

The last Courtois I tried was the Mezzo 260 intermediate model, pretty much just because it was a .525”. It played well enough, nothing to write home about but nothing spectacular either. Definitely a true intermediate horn, rather than a world-beater mislabeled as “intermediate”.

Courtois also had the new Besson 969 euphonium (from their parent company Buffet Crampon) there, but I didn’t play it because I had tried it extensively at NAMM 2025. It was my favorite euphonium at NAMM!

Eastman-Shires

The big news from Shires was of course the new Q-series contrabass trombone. I tried it and thought was pretty good - definitely a significant step up from the Chinese contras (including Wessex). I could play up to A above the staff down to the lowest notes with a consistent sound - not too dull or woofy, just a nice very big trombone sound. It’s far from the best contrabass trombone I’ve played, but for a price that I assume will be significantly cheaper than the handmade German instruments, I think it’ll be an excellent option that won’t feel like it’s holding you back.

I only tried some of the other Shires instruments at the booth, as I played a lot of them at NAMM and I also just kind of know what to expect from Shires at this point. Highlights were the Rejano model (I checked to see if it was still as great as it was at both NAMMs I tried it at, and I’m happy to report that it is) and a random custom tenor with a gold bell and a Trubore (seen roughly in the top middle of the photo above) which was excellent. The rest that I tried, including the new “Vintage LA” jazz horn, were what I usually expect from Shires: easy to play, but uninspiring.

Greenhoe

I was pleasantly surprised with Greenhoe’s offering at ITF. While I played some good Greenhoes at NAMM, nothing was too memorable compared to other things at the show. However, I think Greenhoe had the 3rd best instruments at ITF, after Thein and Littin. I didn’t gel with every instrument they had, but I liked several very much - and this is after trying the Littins and Theins! The two GC2 jazz horns there (one yellow bell, one nickel bell) were both excellent - for my money, the best jazz horns at the show. The tuning in slide Conn-style large tenor and bass were spectacular instruments, with that vintage Conn-like sound I love so much. It felt like coming home. I also really enjoyed the yellow screw bell, lightweight slide large tenor (seen on the far right above) - super snappy response, great lively sound, and just a fun horn to play all around. I’m not sure if that was a GB5 or a GC5, but based on how much I liked it I would guess it was a GC5. I should have checked!

Littin

I had heard nothing but rave reviews about Littin, a new German maker, so I was delighted to discover they had a booth at ITF. I tried all 6 instruments they had on offer, and while I felt the bass was straight up bad and the alto was just ok, the tenors were very special. Of the four, my favorites were the Szabo model without the valve weight (2nd tenor from the right above), and the Abbie Conant model with the valve weight (to the right of the Szabo). I couldn’t decide which one I liked better, but with a gun to my head I think I’d pick the Conant model. They were both absolutely exquisite instruments…true works of art shaped like a trombone. The response was instant, the agility effortless, and the sound captivating. I could not put them down, and I could have easily stayed there playing them all day long. They were intoxicating instruments, and as other instruments have done for me in years past, re-taught me just how wonderful a large tenor trombone can be. New dream horn unlocked.

Also shout out to the Littin rep in the picture above, who was so kind and definitely the most fun rep to interact with in the whole show.

Thein

Speaking of dream horns, the Theins were so popular that every time I walked by there were fewer horns on display as people bought them! I tried eight of their instruments, starting with a Universal alto and Maxim jazz trombone. Both were very good - nothing that I would spend Thein money on, but very good nonetheless. The Universal and Hecht bass trombones were excellent with my Bach 1¼GM, while the Ben van Dijk bass trombone really came alive with a Thein BMW mouthpiece that Max Thein had me try after it was clear that the horn was not a good fit for my mouthpiece. All three basses were fantastic instruments that I would happily own and play, but again…for Thein money? I’ll keep my 72H!

There were three large tenors - a Universal I, Universal II, and a more American model with axial whose name I don’t remember. That axial instrument didn’t gel with me very much, but the two Universals sure did. Much like the two Littin tenors I had fallen in love with minutes prior, these two Universal tenors totally captivated me from the first note. They sounded very different from each other, but each sound was very special and addicting. The Universal I was my favorite between the two, with a gorgeous, colorful, European sound that I couldn’t get enough of. And like the Littins, the response was instant. These two Theins and the two Littins all fall into a category I like to call telepathic instruments - instruments that feel like they are reading your mind as you play them. It was very hard to stop playing the Universal I, and Max Thein told me that I sounded very connected to that instrument, playing from the heart in a way he didn’t hear from any of the other Theins at his booth.

I truthfully have no idea if I would walk out with the Thein Universal I or the Littin Abbie Conant model if I had the kind of money to do that…I would have to play them back to back, probably for hours and with trusted ears listening. But I do know that either one would be a forever horn, and I have a new target to aspire to one day.

Yamaha

Yamaha always gives a good showing at conventions, and ITF was no different. I spent quite a bit of time at the Yamaha booth, chatting with the reps and being a nuisance on the valve trombone. Most was what I expected, but there were a few surprises along the way. I’ve also tried Yamaha’s entire lineup at one point or another, so there was a lot I skipped over this time.

The biggest surprise to me was how the YSL-882II and 882GII large tenors felt. If you’ve read my NAMM articles, you’ll know that I place the 882 (not 882O or OR) on a pedestal and think there is something magic about it that no other current Yamaha model has. To me the 882II was easily the best large tenor at NAMM 2025, beating out a few truly excellent instruments like the Shires Rejano and Rath R6 without much effort. But ITF was different. I walked straight from the Littin booth to the Yamaha booth, and straight to the 882II at that. And compared to the Littin tenors, the 882II felt…sluggish. Dead. Disappointing. It became clear to me that I hadn’t tried any of the exquisitely-handmade German tenors since ITF 2016 in NYC, nearly a decade ago, and I didn’t know what I had been missing.

Despite this, I still maintain that the 882II is one of the best large tenors you can buy if you don’t have Thein or Littin money. I tried the yellow-bell 882II and gold-bell 882GII back to back, and found that I preferred the 882GII for its slightly more interesting sound.

I didn’t bother with any of the other large tenors or basses, as I’ve tried all of them (including the new 835 and 835D basses) many times at NAMM and elsewhere. I did finally try the YSL-350C tenor, which has an ascending C valve. I’ve been researching and writing about ascending valves for a long time, and I knew I would probably love it in practice. And I was right! It was very fun to experience playing an ascending C valve on a trombone for the first time. Unfortunately, the instrument the ascending C valve was attached to had a very boring sound…but it was still a fun experience.

The Yamaha altos were fine, nothing special but nothing bad either. The YSL-354V valve trombone was great fun to noodle on. I never saw anyone else even touch it when I was there, but I had a hard time putting it down each time I walked by and picked it up. Definitely not the best valve trombone out there, but it sure is fun!

Y-Fort/Princeton/Sierman

I’ve lumped Y-Fort, Princeton, and Sierman together because they were all in the same booth, all brought by the Y-Fort guy even though he only represents Y-Fort.

I didn’t try the Y-Forts because I own one and I tried them all at NAMM, so nothing would have been new there. I felt the Siermans played as heavy as they felt, and wasn’t really a fan. The Princetons were a mixed bag, but there was one large tenor they had with a red bell that played great! Very nimble and quick-responding, with a nice sound. I was told that model retails for $1700, so around Y-Fort price. I’m not sure I would choose one over a Y-Fort, but they don’t feel or sound the same so there are now multiple good options at that price point, which is exciting!