study888

Hello to all. A few days back. I lost on a all out bidding war for this trumpet. Was a lot of fun though. It looked to have been well cared for. The seller had trumpet know how and had sold some previous horns with all satisfied customers. My interest in horn was that it was first a small bore and these earlier ones had upper springs and double valve guides. Which I figured would be a plus over the later bottom springs ones. I seem to do better on the smaller bore sizes since I am a comeback player and older with not the air I use to have. I have a S1 model small bore #448. King-20 trumpet 1963-64 make. The 1923 Conn had a #.433 bore. Has anyone on our site ever played these make of horns. If the Conn was still in tune. I wonder which would sound the best over all? May be better off with the H.N. White trumpet. Since it is like new. The other small bore Conn trumpet mention on the Conn Loyalist was a 6B Conn Victor. Do not see many of those. They seem to have come with bottom spring valves only. Since I play mostly church hymnals. That probably would not matter. all thoughts and opinions are welcomed. The Conn 22B went for $260.00 plus shipping. Until

W Scott

$260 plus shipping isn't bad at all for a Conn in that shape! I paid $350 for mine and it's probably in not quite as good a shape. I play a 1947 22b and love the horn. If you don't have the air you used too, then this would especially be a good horn. Don't be fooled by the small bore! These horns can take all the air you can throw at 'em and they won't back up on you. They have a huge sound with lots of power and projection. They also can blend well with Bach horns. My teacher has a 72 Bach and when we play together the sound is really balanced with lots of overtones.

Don't be afraid of the bottom sprung valves. They work well, but if you need to replace 'em, use Yamaha Flugel springs. Due to their age, many of these old Conns would benefit from having the corks and felts replaced with artificial material and the valves then aligned. (When they came from the factory, these 22b's had some of the best aligned valves around but once the corks and felts disintegrate from age the alignment really gets off.)

Bottom line---buy one! You'll be surprised at how good these horns are!

bilboinsa

Study:

Do not hink twice about getting such an old horn--if it is in good shape. Old Conns in good shape are terrific, IMHO. I have 1927 and 1947 22B's and I love them. My '47 was my first comeback horn--I really lucked into it. But the '27 was something I tried for a week and bought because I tried it out and loved it. Mine is in great shape--it has all the silverplate except a little wear around the block--hardly noticeable, though. These horns sound great, I think. And the funny thing is, the 27 sounds better and brighter to me than the 47! (The 47 is laqcuered and that may account for this.)

I second what WScott says about the small bore not "backing up" on you. I think your mouthpiece will make more of a difference than the .433 bore will, and I can tell you that a good condition 20's 22B will sizzle when you need it to. In fact, here is something funny, since you play in church:

For about a year, I played my '47 lacquered 22B in church, and it was fine. I really learned a lot on that horn--after 25 years away from playing any horn. Then one day I showed up with this '27 and played. The director came up to me after service and said that my horn was more shrill on the high notes. Inside I was ecstatic, and then I told her, "I'll watch it next time".

I am letting you know that there is nothing better than sounding well on an 80 year old horn. If it is in good shape, the price seems right. Good luck.

oldlou

I have a gold plated,( original factory ), 1923 King Liberty trumpet,.438" bore and an Olds Studio MOdel, .455" bore, along with a Bohm and Meinl .475" bore. My overall favorite is the Olds. This is perhaps because of the fantastic valve action. The other two have VERY GOOD valves, but, just not quite as good as the Olds. As a 'super annuated' 'comebacker' I also have a slight problem with the super huge bore trumpets. I have yet to admit that I have gotten "old". I can't do what I once could, but, I can do what I want to do quite well. This is especially evident when I play my smaller bore trumpets. They are just awhole lot easier for me to play well upon. I can strongly recommend a smaller bore horn for those of us who spent a lot of years sucking on cancer sticks. They certainly did their damage to me. A smaller bore horn and a teacher who is crowding me strongly about more practice using the Carmine Caruso method of ultra deep breathing is showing marked advances in my endurance and the length of passages that I can play with each breath.


OLDLOU>>

Dale Proctor

I have a 1960 6B Victor (.433 bore) and it's a great horn. Very easy to color the tone as needed, easy playing from ppp to fff, good intonation (with the right mouthpiece), and great valves. It is a little bright, and makes a terrific big band trumpet. I have a 1920's 26B also, but it has a larger bore. Still a good horn, but is naturally much darker sounding. Works very well in "A" with the rotary valve tuning slide. Those of you who have not tried the older Conn pro models are missing out!

bilboinsa

Here here! Gorgeous horn, Dale!