kurtisbell

i'm new and just had a couple questions about a trumpet that was given to me. from what i can gather it is a 68-70 silver flair. it's from king musical instruments and not h.n. white, yet on the mouth piece receiver mine says "flair" like the h.n. white flairs have. is this just a result of changing from h.n. white to king?

the serial number is 451xxx. i'd like to place this in a certain year and establish a rough estimate on it's value.

thanks in advance,

kurtis

screamingmorris

The serial number list at
serials
shows that your tumpet was made towards the end of the 1965-1970 period.

But that same Web page gives a statement which indicates that your trumpet might have been made much later than 1970 and given a recycled serial number:

"H.N.WHITE CO. INC. serial numbers
ended in the 440,000 range in 1965 when
the company was sold and became KING
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. It should be
noted that the serial number list restarted
again in 1985 at 100,000. All H.N. WHITE
CO. instruments are engraved or stamped
H.N.WHITE, H. N. WHITE CO. or
H. N. WHITE CO. INC."


Does your trumpet have one brace or 2 braces at the tuning slide?

An original pre-1970 Silver Flair, much revered, has one brace at the tuning slide: http://cgi.ebay.com/Eastlake-1055T-S...QQcmdZViewItem

A post-1985 Silver Flair, a nice instrument but not worth as much as an original, has two braces at the tuning slide:
King Silver Flair Bb Trumpet...Nice Cond... - eBay (item 300199199954 end time Feb-21-08 15:18:07 PST)

kurtisbell

mine is definitely one from before the umi takeover as it does have the single tuning slide brace.

it is identical to the pre 70 one in the ebay link provided

eagle362

I had one #487132. I know it was from 1973 because thats when my folks got it for me for xmas.
They are great horns, but IMO best as a lead horn. They generally have a bright sound and get really bright when pushed.
Value IMO would be 4-$600 depending on condition. I sold mine for $550, a little cheap considering it was in super condition, no scratches or silver loss.
The word "flair" without Silver is correct.
I have never seen a vintage flair with the one tuning slide brace that ever had a serial number of 100K or so. I have seen some later flairs that were around the 530xxx number range that still incorporated the vintage build specs. These were from around 1980, the end of the "vintage flair" period.
Best to you!
Mark

DaveH

I have a pre-UMI Silver Flair that has a serial number of 456XXX.

I bought it through a private transaction, so I do not know with certainty when it was made, but I know it is one of the original ones - I'm just not sure whether it is late 1969 or sometime in early to mid 1970. I am certain it can be dated to about that kind of less than a year time period. It is also in excellent condition and looks much better than most I have seen on eBay in recent years. It looks just about new, and you would have to inspect it very closely to find any but the smallest blemishes or scratches. for a horn nearly 40 years old, I would say it is outstanding.

I had another Flair that was new in early 1966, and the one I have today is identical to that one in all respects and details. Even the cases are identical.

The best I have been able to figure is that mine was probably made sometime in 1970.

It has a lightweight bell and a .462 bore. It also says King Musical Instruments rather than H.N. White on the second valve casing. It has the word "Flair" in script on the mouthpiece receiver.