Here's a picky of me going nuts on my ever faithful Jupiter slide trumpet. Yes, it does look like a trombone, but if it were a normal trombone, I'd be a giant! To me, it's really just a trumpet (same mouthpiece, length and bore) that instead of having valves to make the tube longer, it has a slide. Having said that, Jupiter now refer to it as a "Mini Trombone (for kids)" and others call it a descant or soprano trombone. In the days before valves there was the soprano sackbutt (the sackbutt being the precurser of the trombone). Whatever you call it, it's a fine little instrument. Sadly, it's most often used for novelty value, but there's a few player give it respect, like Steven Bernstein, of US band, Sex Mob and Frenchman Luca Bonvini. And here's a nice vid of Chuck Findlay going nuts on one. Oh, and James Morrison plays one that has both valves and a slide! The Jupiter Slide Trumpet is the only one I've found available and at only $300, it's the kind of instrument that people buy as a novelty and never get around to playing. For the trombonists, I should mention that the positions change relative to the bell when you change the tuning slide, which keeps things entertaining. On the older Jupiter I have, 5th position is at the bell, whereas the newer ones have 4th at the bell, like a tenor trombone. Unfortunately this means that the curved tube bumps into your face, so I prefer my oldy. To cut down on cases when travelling, I've managed to fit my slide trumpet into my guitar case, which required me hacking off the end of my guitar's headstock, giving it a lovely flying V appearance (which Doug DeVries tells is a bit of a modern trend in guitar making... how hip am I? By mistake, of course).