I own a Bach 16 stradivarious trombone that I bought from brass exchange. The website labelled it as a lightweight slide. It is indeed very light, but it doesn’t say LTS on it. The bell says “Stradivarious model 16” and “Elkhart USA.” Then, on the slide (I believe it’s one of those silver nickel alloy slides) it says “model 16S.” What does the S mean? I can’t find any info on it. Additionally, it has a darker colored bell, how do I tell if it’s gold? Also, the serial number is 17730, but i cant find any info on that serial number. Any thoughts on any of these?

That info is on the website you bought it from.

<LINK_TEXT text="https://thebrass-exchange.com/content/b ... 1970s-make">https://thebrass-exchange.com/content/bach-16lts-corporation-era-1970s-make</LINK_TEXT>

Mid 1970s. I don't think it's a gold brass bell. Lacquer tends to darken over time.

That's a great horn to have, just for its history if nothing else. Wish I'd seen it, I would have bought it. Congrats. Hope it's a player.

I just got a NY 16 (1940) .

Plays like a dream. It has a standard weight slide but it`s incredibly light and fast.

Sometimes I find the standard slides to be a bit clunky, Not this one