fake "King 3B" being sold on ebay?

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captain
Posts: 31
Joined: Oct 21, 2019

by captain » (edited 2025-03-04 12:19 a.m.)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/285793227795

I've never seen such a boringly simple and inelegant etching from the company FOUNDED by a master engraver. Is this a fake, or did White/King Trombones really drop the ball on quality at some point?

MY Kings have *gorgeous* engravings with shading and details to warm your heart. (see attached ;-)

EDIT: to be more clear, the PHOTO here is of my 1930s King 2B SilverTone. I'm asking about the one in the ebay ad, which appears to be legitimate, not fake, but overpriced, and not up to MY standards.
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Burgerbob
Posts: 6327
Joined: Apr 23, 2018

by Burgerbob »

That's a real one for sure, maybe late '70s. Not all Kings were made in the H.N. White days.
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BGuttman
Posts: 7368
Joined: Mar 22, 2018

by BGuttman »

Does the engraving say "Silvertone"? The letter after the R doesn't look like an S. If so, the horn had to be made prior to the introduction of the 3B. It's possibly one of the King pre-"B" horns from the 1930s.
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Posaunus
Posts: 5018
Joined: Mar 23, 2018

by Posaunus »

[quote="BGuttman"]Does the engraving say "Silvertone"? The letter after the R doesn't look like an S. If so, the horn had to be made prior to the introduction of the 3B. It's possibly one of the King pre-"B" horns from the 1930s.[/quote]

Nope. Aidan is right. It's an authentic King 3B SilverSonic, Serial # 69XXXX - from 1978-1979, per the Horn-u-Copia serial number list.

Authentic, but (in my opinion) overpriced at $2,700.
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King2bPlus
Posts: 49
Joined: Apr 01, 2018

by King2bPlus »

The engraving in the picture in the thread is a Silvertone. The one on e-bay is a Silver Sonic.
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NotSkilledHere
Posts: 190
Joined: Aug 07, 2024

by NotSkilledHere »

that listing is a genuine 3b silversonic. and i've seen 2b and 3b's with laser engravings that make that one look elaborate. I think the pictured silvertone is just an example of what they meant by engraving.

a lot of the more recent king's have inelaborate almost basic engravings. i dont know specifically when they stopped doing those elaborate decorative engravings, but engravings of all brands started to become less elaborate in the 50s comes to mind in particular.

I'd like to point out that in the late 30's Reynolds actually took one of the better engravers with them when they left HN White to found their own company. I have a Reynolds sterling bell with an engraving that might very well have been done by the same engraver that did my Silvertone. I know my Silvertone needs a polish I apologize. Silvertone is a 1935 horn and the Reynolds Model 70 sterling bell is from 1941