I have a silver plated large bore f attachment trombone that has on the bell C.G. Conn Ltd, USA, Artist Syphony. The slide has the serial number of 315808. I thought this was an older 88H, but the serial number does not seem to match the list I found find for 88H's. I am wondering if this is really an 88H.

Thanks for any ideas.

Artist Symphony is used post-Abilene. There should be a model number somewhere near the serial. Also, there should be some letters before the numbers in the serial.

Most likely it's 21st Century. And yes, it's an 88H.

This is 88H, the year 1981

I have a 88H and a 71H marked "Artist Symphony" on the bell, both good players with Remington receivers.

I think my 71H is a 1979'...

[quote="Hudsonband"]I have a silver plated large bore f attachment trombone that has on the bell C.G. Conn Ltd, USA, Artist Syphony. The slide has the serial number of 315808. I thought this was an older 88H, but the serial number does not seem to match the list I found find for 88H's. I am wondering if this is really an 88H.

Thanks for any ideas.[/quote]

Conn started their serial numbers over again, basically re-using older numbers sometime around the end of the 20th century. I think the newer instruments usually have a space between numbers somewhere in the serial number - is that what you see? Search for the Conn Loyalist site online, and you can find a lot of information on dating instruments. I'm guessing your's dates from the late 80's to early 2000's, but the site I suggested can probably narrow that down to within a year or two. The Artist Symphony on the bell was used for a while after they stopped the elaborate bell engraving that had been used for over 50 years.

Jim Scott