Trombone
Bach TB600
No current price available
Availability: 0/10 (Very rare)
An intermediate Bb tenor trombone from Bach's value-tier Aristocrat line, built around a .509-inch bore and 8-inch yellow brass bell, with quality reports that vary noticeably between individual examples.
About the Bach TB600
The TB600 pairs a .509-inch bore with an 8-inch two-piece yellow brass bell, a combination Bach markets as delivering an open, broad, warm sound. The handslide uses chrome-plated nickel silver inner tubes against yellow brass outer tubes, a material pairing chosen for smooth, fast slide action, finished overall in clear lacquer. It ships with a Bach 12C mouthpiece and a molded case. As part of the Aristocrat line, the TB600 sits a step above Bach's simpler TB300 - itself a refined successor to the old Bundy student design - while remaining well below the semi-professional Soloist model, which uses a smaller .500-inch bore and rose brass slide components closer to a Conn 23H. At least one example examined by a brass dealer was manufactured in Taiwan, part of a broader shift where Bach kept design oversight in the US while moving production of this student tier overseas.
Where to buy
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Sound character of the Bach TB600
Bach describes the pairing of a .509-inch bore with the 8-inch yellow brass bell as producing an open, broad, warm sound, with the clear lacquer finish said to add a subtle warmth of its own. That description held up in at least some real-world reports, but one critical account specifically flagged the partials on their examined unit as out of tune - a reminder that tonal character on a mass-produced student trombone at this price point depends heavily on the condition and setup of the individual instrument, not just its bore and bell specification.
What owners of the Bach TB600 say
Sentiment on the TB600 is genuinely split rather than settling on a clear consensus. Retail customer reviews average around 4.1 out of 5, with buyers specifically noting good build quality and sound despite the instrument no longer being US-made. Set against that is one detailed, critical account from an experienced player comparing a TB600 directly to the Bach Soloist: a heavy, scratchy slide and out-of-tune partials led them to rank that particular horn alongside the worst low-cost imports they'd encountered. A separate dealer inspection of a different, well-cared-for unit found clean lacquer and smooth slide action with no repairs needed - a reminder that with a mass-produced student instrument at this price point, condition and individual unit quality can matter as much as the model name on the bell.
Playability & handling of the Bach TB600
Opinions on the TB600 diverge sharply depending on the source. Bach's own description calls it a durable, well-designed instrument suited to beginning students across musical styles, and Amazon buyers largely agree - one reviewer specifically noted it isn't US-made but is still very well made and sounds great, calling it perfect for a new student, in a review pool averaging around 4.1 out of 5 stars. A far harsher assessment comes from an experienced player and technician comparing it directly to the Bach Soloist on a trombone forum: the specific unit they examined had a heavy, scratchy slide and partials that were out of tune, ranking it, in their words, down with the worst of the China-made horns. A separate brass dealer's inspection of a different, well-maintained example found the opposite - clean lacquer, no cosmetic damage and smooth slide action needing no repair - suggesting genuine unit-to-unit variation matters here at least as much as the base design.
Recommended accessories & strings for the Bach TB600
The included Bach 12C mouthpiece is a standard beginner size appropriate for most students starting out, with room to move to something more specialized as playing experience develops. Beyond that, routine slide cream or oil for the chrome-plated nickel silver inner tubes and regular cleaning of the outer slide are the main upkeep items - standard practice for any handslide instrument, with extra relevance here given the reported variation in out-of-the-box slide smoothness between individual units.
Technical data for the Bach TB600
| Bore | .509 inches |
|---|---|
| Bell | 8", two-piece yellow brass |
| Handslide inner tubes | Chrome-plated nickel silver |
| Handslide outer tubes | Yellow brass |
| Finish | Clear lacquer |
| Mouthpiece | Bach 12C (included) |
| Case | Molded case included |
| Line tier | Aristocrat (intermediate), above TB300, below Soloist/Stradivarius |
| Controls | No controls in the amplifier sense - tone and pitch are shaped entirely by the player's slide position, breath and embouchure |
The history of the Bach TB600
The TB600 occupies Bach's intermediate trombone tier, giving advancing students a step-up instrument between the TB300 student model and the professional Stradivarius line.
About Bach as a manufacturer
Vincent Bach, born in Baden bei Wien in 1890, founded what became the Vincent Bach Corporation after starting a mouthpiece business in the back of a Selmer music store in New York in 1918, expanding into trumpets and cornets under the Stradivarius name in 1924 and developing the large-bore C trumpet that became the standard for American symphonic trumpeters during World War II, before selling the company to Conn-Selmer in 1961. The TB600 belongs to the Aristocrat line Bach built for exactly this middle tier of its catalog: a step up from the budget TB300, itself a refined successor to the old Bundy student design, but still well short of the Stradivarius name's professional-grade reputation - a value-priced option aimed at intermediate players rather than beginners or working professionals.