Silver Tenor Trombone w/ Heavily Engraved Bell

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crashingtardis
Posts: 1
Joined: Sep 22, 2023

by crashingtardis »

A friend of mine from college, who I've unfortunately lost contact with over the years, had a trombone that sometimes he pulled out for jazz ensemble performances, and I'm trying to find out more information about it. It was a completely silver, tenor trombone without any F attachment. The bell was heavily engraved, and the finish was partially polished, partially more of a brushed look. The only thing I've found that seems remotely close, is the Conn 44H. Does anybody know of other makes and models that may fit this description?
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BGuttman
Posts: 7368
Joined: Mar 22, 2018

by BGuttman »

The Conn 44H had diagonal bell braces and a rimless bell called "Vocabell" by Conn. It's pretty unique.

If you want to look at the various Conn trombone models, check here: https://cderksen.home.xs4all.nl/ConnLooksTrombone.html
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ithinknot
Posts: 1339
Joined: Jul 24, 2020

by ithinknot »

Prewar silver plated Conns often had a media blast satin finish with the engraving buffed... this sort of thing: <LINK_TEXT text="https://reverb.com/item/68991748-conn-4 ... inner-bell">https://reverb.com/item/68991748-conn-4h-1929-silver-with-gold-inner-bell</LINK_TEXT>

As Bruce suggests, you'd probably remember other details if it was a 44H. If the bracing was unremarkable, the most likely candidates from that era would be the 4H or 24H.

That finish was also an option on Kings in the 20s/30s. You might remember the curved bell brace if it was one of those.
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Trav1s
Posts: 473
Joined: Jul 26, 2018

by Trav1s »

40H came to my mind reading the initial post.
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cb56
Posts: 155
Joined: Sep 17, 2023

by cb56 »

I had 2 44h trombones at one time, an all silver one heavily engraved with a creepy engraving of Pan playing a flute. No rim on the bell and angled braces. I inherited it from my Dad who never played it. His main horn was a Holton 67. He bought it from an old guy who couldn't play anymore. I ended up selling it for what I now know was way too little. They should have called it the NO TONE bell.

Bought a brass one at a yard sale for $5. Ended up giving that one away.