| Re: Importance of 3rd valve slide??
A typical "old school" difference between a "student model" and "professional" rotary trumpet was found in the first valve slide. The first slide on the professional model sits at a 90 degree angle to the leadpipe, allowing the player to pull the first valve slide out with the thumb (pretty easy when you get used to it) for those nasty 1&3; 1,2&3 combinations. Some cornets, like your Conn Wonder, allowed for the tuning slide to be used.
Almost all good instruments allowed for the player to access some slide for fixing notes, and yes, slotting was not as unforgiving as many modern instruments. And more importantly, many orchestration books mention the wildly out-of-tune notes, and urge the giving of those notes to other instruments, at least for long tones.
Hope this helps!
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