Sold

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.

This is the beauty queen of today’s photo shooting! A very nice Conn 70H! The two tone silver finish is gorgeous and in very nice shape except some spots where the lacquer has come off. When it came to me it was nearly entirely black, after a very light polish it looks really nice again.

I initially posted this trombone as being from 1966 wich is of course impossible since Conn discontinued the 70H after 1955. The serial number on the slide handgrip of the slide indicates H41xxx. Also the metal on that section looks slighty different. So that makes me think, the slide grip may have been replaced sometime. The outer slide looks original to me as do the slide inners.

This remains us with the question, when this trombone was made. The engraving on it may indicate it is from before 1945. A previous owner also contacted me with some precious info on it. It looks like this trombone was originally owned by the bass trombonist of the Oslo Philharmonic in the 1950’s, Lyder Vengboe. It may very well be the bass trombone played on this recording of the Grieg Piano Concerto from 1961: https://youtu.be/9tc0ljAFMCU

And those two pictures seem to indicate that he already played that Conn in 1952 on a tour in Norway:

So it is at least from before 1952. Nice shape for being that old!

Slide and valve are fast and silent although there is some wear on one of the slide inners. This is the “long slide, short bell” version and it produces a glorious sound!

Price: 2125$
1890 EUR
1960 CHF

Check this out! A really nice Corporation Bach 50BL in excellent original condition. It features a 10.5 inch yellow brass bell, two dependent valves (F/Eb) and of course a .562 slide. Everything is in nice shape, the slide is good, the valves are fast and silent. Ready to play!

Some small blemishes: One ding on the bell stem and a smaller one on the tuning slide. Some scratches, but for a horn made in the 70’s this one is still really nice!

Price: 2550$
2250 EUR
2350 CHF