Y-Fort might not be a trombone brand you’re familiar with, but they’re quickly gaining recognition. Mr. Yang Fang, the Chairman of Y-Fort, has been a part of the music instrument industry for a long time. He’s been making instruments for Eastman and other brands since 2004. Since 2019, Y-Fort has been crafting top-notch instruments in a new, highly automated factory.

I first heard about Y-Fort in 2022 from some German musicians who were really impressed when they had the chance to try out Y-Fort instruments during a tour in China.

Later on, Y-Fort made a noteworthy appearance at the 2023 NAMM show, where they received positive feedback and garnered attention. Tiffany Johns wrote a really cool review on tiffanyjohns.com. Here are some snippets:

“…It was obviously a Chinese company, but at first glance the trombones looked very high quality, with a unique rotor valve, nice bell engravings, and a couple of screw bells and removable leadpipes. … ALL of their trombones were some of the best large bore tenor trombones I’ve ever played from any brand. They were amazing! Really easy to play in all registers with none of the work I normally associate with .547” trombones, beautiful orchestral sound, and quality craftsmanship.”

“The most amazing thing is that all of the models played pretty much exactly the same, with very small differences in feel in sound depending on the bell (yellow or gold brass) and whether or not it was screw bell. Even the cheapest 563 model played just as well as the fanciest 763. They were SO consistent and every one was a winner, which means one being really good wasn’t a fluke – they all play like that…”

Head over to http://tiffanyjohns.com/blog/namm-2023 to read the entire review. It’s really a good read if you’re an equipment geek like me!

Aidan Ritchie even placed the Y-Fort as one of the 3 best large bore trombones at NAMM 2023 in his Youtube video.
Update February 2024: Looks like Aidan couldn’t resist the temptation and bought himself a nice Y-Fort YSL763GL. Here’s the video. Good choice Aidan!

And if you’d like to read another independent review of the Y-Fort, head over to this post on Trombonechat by one of my customers in the Netherlands. Another great write-up about a Y-Fort YSL763GL.

So, how do they play? Well, when I got my hands on the first three Y-Fort trombones in Europe, I couldn’t wait to try them out. And I have to say, they lived up to my expectations!

In my first order, I got a YSL663L, a YSL763L, and a YSL763GL. All three of them are incredibly easy to play. They are so effortless that I find myself able to focus on other aspects of my playing rather than solely on “producing a lot of sound.”

The craftsmanship is very good. It looks like every part of these trombones was purpose-built for them, not just copied from somewhere else. The valve works smoothly and quietly, and the slide action is good too. The slides needed a bit of breaking in at first, but now they work just fine.

In fact, the YSL763L even made me put my trusty Custom Bach/Hagmann aside for a while. It’s just easier to play and sounds just as good. These Y-Fort trombones have left a strong impression on me, and I’m genuinely excited to be a Y-Fort dealer.

Oh and there are the cases! All trombones come with really nicely made cases. The screw bell trombones come in a “MB-style” flat case of very high quality. The non-screwbell trombones come in a really protective and well made fibre glass case.