: Improving tone quality of old bass trombone I'm playing on a very old Yamaha YBL bass trombone. Back when I played tenor I had very good tone quality, but now in the notes above the staff I'm getting a very sharp tone.

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Bass trombones take more air than tenors, so loss of tone is natural / may not be down to the state of the instrument but rather the type. To improve your tone you'll need to improve your breathing.

Do exercises such as:

Lie on the floor (facing up). Breath in for 2 beats (@ 120bpm = 1 second), hold for 2 beats, breath out for 2 beats, hold for 2 beats, repeat for 4 beats, then 6, etc. Keep going until you reach your limit, then rest. Do this every day.
Use only your diaphragm to shout "Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Haaa" loudly (Ha for 1 beat, Haaa for 3, pause for 1); repeat 10 times. You may take quick short breaths between each Ha.

When playing trombone:

keep your throat open / relaxed.
adjust pitch by smiling; not tensing.
try to allow more air through your mouth whilst playing the high note (i.e. open your mouth slightly whilst trying to avoid affecting the pitch).
increase the speed of airflow into your instrument.

If you've tried other bass trombones and believe it really is the instrument that's causing issues, you could try these:

try out different mouthpieces
try out different lead pipes
ensure any fittings on valves are securely fastened (don't overtighten though, or you may damage screw threads)