I got this in the mail just now. I bought it on impulse because of what it might be. It was listed as an 88H and there's no question it IS an 88H. and the price i got it for certainly is quite good for it being any flavor of 88H. However, it mainly caught my interest because of the bell.

I have been aware of 88HN with the full nickel silver bell existing for a while. and of course the 88HS with the sterling silver bell. However, I cannot find a marking denoting it as an 88HN, which I suspect is normal; i only see the main 88H engraving on the bell. To my knowledge, i do not know of Conn nickel plating 88H bells, only the full nickel bell on the HN.

Of course, my knowledge is not all encompassing so I wanted to inquire if anyone knows if it's definitively an 88HN or if conn made some rare nickel plated bells?

things that lead me to believe it is a 88HN with the full solid nickel bell:

- bell color is far darker than sterling silver so it can't be a 88HS

- bell color matches the nickel silver fittings around the horn PERFECTLY

- the horn sounds incredibly dark, much like all nickel bells I've played from any manufacturer. It doesn't sound like a nickel plated bell.

- the serial points to 1992, which seems to line up with stories out there of when the 88HN was made.

If anyone could help me confirm that it is an 88HN or not, that would be awesome!

Yes. That is an 88HN

[quote="hornbuilder"]Yes. That is an 88HN[/quote]

wonderful! Thank you so much! :D

Nice, I love the CONN on the inside of the bell. I had a red one like that. Just sold a nickel horn to England, it was an odd duck!

yea that CONN engraving on the inside of the bell was surprising when I saw it! it makes me wonder why more makers didnt do something similar or do much in-bell engravings. But then and again, we dont get tooo many fancy engravings on horns until you get to the boutique level horns.

I do remember I think you sold one of these earlier this year!

do you happen to know if the in-bell engraved CONN has any correlation with any consistency to any particular engraving style on the top of the bell?

I had an opportunity to help a now deceased friend of mine sell his 8H that also had Conn engraved in the bell. Wish I had purchased it as it was easily the best 8H I ever played from any era.

[quote="NotSkilledHere"]yea that CONN engraving on the inside of the bell was surprising when I saw it! it makes me wonder why more makers didnt do something similar or do much in-bell engravings. But then and again, we dont get tooo many fancy engravings on horns until you get to the boutique level horns.

I do remember I think you sold one of these earlier this year!

do you happen to know if the in-bell engraved CONN has any correlation with any consistency to any particular engraving style on the top of the bell?[/quote]

Here’s what the bell engraving looked like on his.

Yamaha did that on Nils' bell

[quote="HawaiiTromboneGuy"]Here’s what the bell engraving looked like on his.[/quote]

That's the same engraving I have on this 88HN!! So guess this engraving comes with that in-bell engraving? or maybe the in-bell engraving only appears on the horns that have that on-bell engraving.

that's a beautiful 8H!