1934 Conn 70H, Dick Nash

Unfortunately – or fortunately for the buyer – this trombone is already sold. But it is so nice, I just have to document it – and brag a little about it!

It is one of several trombones a customber asked me to find for him – a Conn 70H. And – with a little help from my friends – I was able to find 2 70H’s, this one and the silver one for sale here.

Turns out this 70H belonged to the trombone legend Dick Nash! Dick sold it through the Hornguys in 2007. Here’s a snippet from when they sold it:

Holy S*#!!!! A near mint condition Conn 70H. This bass trombone is not only one of the most rare and sought after models, but it also belongs to Dick Nash, famous studio trombonist. We were all speechless when he brought this in to the store. The serial number on this horn is 295XX making this specimen from 1934.  The slide is perfect and there are no dents anywhere (some evidence of tiny dents in the F wrap, repaired). The bell is beautiful, never been damaged or repaired. The engraving is clear and crisp. Looks like it is original lacquer and has darkened to a nice patina (could have been relacquered at some point but it was done a long time ago). This  bass plays amazing!

Well, I can’t add a lot to that. The instrument is still in absolutely amazing condition and plays like a dream. I call it “the song horn”. Every time I picked it up, I just had to play some ballads that came to my mind. I rarely ever experienced something like that on any other trombone.

And another legend may have owned that trombone: George Roberts! One of the owners before me had a letter from Dick Nash stating, it was sold to him, but that letter was lost somewhere on an old hard drive. But there’s some more evidence for it: Commenting the great recording “Art Pepper + Eleven” on Amazon, user “ddsbstrb” writes in 2012:

For those of you who are trombone-players and bass trombone players, that is Dick Nash on bass bone. According to Dick’s story, George Roberts was busy on these session-dates and I believe sold Dick one of his extra Conn 70H’s and Dick went on the session and sounded…….great, as you can hear! I ask Dick about this, at an International Trombone Festival, out in Salt Lake and Dick relayed the story of how he ended up on bass bone for this historical event.

ddsbstrb: If you read this, I’d love to hear from you!

As I said, this baby is on it’s way to a happy new owner. But I am pretty sure, I’ll regret it.