Another early Olds double-rotor bass trombone

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JohnL
Posts: 2529
Joined: Mar 23, 2018

by JohnL »

So I picked up a couple really rough Olds bass trombone bells from quinntheeskimo's eBay "garage sale"...

A Fullerton single:
<ATTACHMENT filename="single.jpg" index="0">[attachment=0]single.jpg</ATTACHMENT>

and an LA double:
<ATTACHMENT filename="double.jpg" index="1">[attachment=1]double.jpg</ATTACHMENT>

The single's pretty interesting. At first glance, it looks like an S-20 - until you notice that it's got a tuning slide. The f-attachment is also significantly different; the valve is closer the tenon and the linkage is "thumb under brace" . My theory is that it's yet another prototype from when Olds was developing the original George Roberts model.

But the prize is the double. Not because it's significantly different from the ones already in my collection, but because it's OLDER! The serial number is in the low 10,xxx range; until now, the oldest one I'd seen was in the 13,xxx range, so this one is a couple years older (probably about 1938).
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elmsandr
Posts: 1373
Joined: Mar 23, 2018

by elmsandr »

Wow. Now I wish I had bid on it! Probably better with you, but I was very curious about these and love seeing confirmation that they were as interesting as I thought they might be.

Cheers,

Andy
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Mamaposaune
Posts: 657
Joined: Sep 22, 2018

by Mamaposaune »

Other than a good cleaning, how much work do they need to be playable? And I'm curious what slides you'll pair them up with.
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JohnL
Posts: 2529
Joined: Mar 23, 2018

by JohnL »

[quote="Mamaposaune"]Other than a good cleaning, how much work do they need to be playable? And I'm curious what slides you'll pair them up with.[/quote]

It's mostly a matter of getting everything moving again. There's a few dents in the double, but nothing that would render it unplayable. As for slides, I do have a few Olds slides around that I can try...:)