I do a lot professionally and at the moment I'm looking to get some exposure for my private account as well. I'm just looking for a broker who can offer them. (As far as I'm aware IB doesn't offer any non-us bonds (I use IB for my private stuff) Who do you use? (You can PM me as well)
An alternative approach to playing high yield/corporate bonds is using closed-ended bond funds. Goto http://www.cefa.com and e.g. search for "Corporate Debt" funds traded on the NYSE.
Any of the major banks/brokers will let you trade corp bonds thru their PWM divisions. I use HSBC and IB for liquid stuff. I'm looking at Ford and some LBO'ed names that are trading not too far from potential recovery.