heck99

Hi all, I thought I'd add to the relative overabundance of vintage Conn threads as of late. I just acquired a vintage 1924 Conn (per serial number) and I'm curious as to which exact model it is. It is apparently of the era before the model #s were stamped on the leadpipe reciever, and although it looks to be an early model 22B I wasn't 100% sure. At a final price of $177 I couldn't go wrong, considering it looks to be in good shape for its age, much better than my later '41 22B. Here's the link:Vintage (Transposing?) Silver Conn Trumpet (#218972) - eBay (item 260452209455 end time Jul-30-09 17:13:59 PDT)

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Conn Aficianado
Late 1980s Bach Stradivarius 180-37
1941 Conn 22B New York Symphony
1924 Conn 22B New York Symphony
1960s Olds L-12 Flugelhorn
1937 King Master Cornet Medium Bore

MFfan

Welcome to the forum . You look to have gotten a good buy there. It looks like to be to be a Opera Grand model, as it has the regular tuning slide and the secondary one with a switch to go to "A" Tuning. The Connloyalist is confusing on this one. They have an Opera 25B HP with several extra slides for conversion. The 24B LP pictured does not have the extra slides. Is yours a LP with the conventional tuning slide?

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Dave Rafferty
Lemar Trumpet (peashooter-Conn?)
Lyrical Trumpet (Tokan)

Besson 609 Trumpet
1955-60 Besson 8-10 Trumpet
1948 Besson cornet
1946 King Master Cornet
www.kalamazooconcertband.org

heck99

Yes, the Conn Loyalist site was the first source I consulted and alas found very little in terms of identification. I had originally looked at the possibility of it being an Opera Grand, but read somewhere that they had a tighter bell flare, this one seems to be more similar to the 22B. I just won it, so I haven't had a chance to actually see it in person. I would assume it's the LP version if it's a Grand, but this one is sure throwing me for a loop. It looks like it could be a 22B or a 24B. I honestly have no clue which it could be.

__________________
Conn Aficianado
Late 1980s Bach Stradivarius 180-37
1941 Conn 22B New York Symphony
1924 Conn 22B New York Symphony
1960s Olds L-12 Flugelhorn
1937 King Master Cornet Medium Bore

MFfan

Yes, there have been many new owner's of vintage Conn's over the past couple of years that have posed the same question as you did . Sometimes the answer was forthcoming, but, in many cases there was no definitive answer even after checking the best sources out there.
There seems to be more Conn variations produced or modified that are not
"pedigreed". Why LP 22B would have the extra switcher slide is a mystery.

Hopefully, some of the Conn experts will weigh in. Putting your question on trumpeherald wouldn't hurt. There are some heavy duty Conn people over there and I am not sure they do TM. Too many members to keep track of.

__________________
Dave Rafferty
Lemar Trumpet (peashooter-Conn?)
Lyrical Trumpet (Tokan)

Besson 609 Trumpet
1955-60 Besson 8-10 Trumpet
1948 Besson cornet
1946 King Master Cornet
www.kalamazooconcertband.org

heck99

Well I thank you for your help, it is quite a mystery. Many of the earlier Conns look very similar so getting an ID is tough. There is little to no information on the Opera Grands outs there to begin with, it seems to be a very elusive model. Hopefully someone over there (or here) can shed some light on this horn.

__________________
Conn Aficianado
Late 1980s Bach Stradivarius 180-37
1941 Conn 22B New York Symphony
1924 Conn 22B New York Symphony
1960s Olds L-12 Flugelhorn
1937 King Master Cornet Medium Bore

rbdeli

Dang, that is a pretty good buy. I linked a similar one on here for $250. There have been an abundance of these old 1920's Conns lately on eBay.

let me know how it plays, I still think I'm going to snag one of these cheaper model ones when the time is right.

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Find your favorite Trumpet

heck99

Yeah, I'm always looking at what's up on ebay as far as vintage Conns. The key is patience and of course some luck. I've been beaten on ten Conns in the past few months and I finally won that one, so the wait was worth it. The problem with the 22Bs on ebay is that most are overpriced, especially considering the poor condition many are in. I would wait it out bidding here and there and wait for the opportunity to snag a good one. Getting a great deal is always worth the wait. I'm excited to see how it plays, considering the shape it's in I have high hopes but who knows. My '41 22B isn't the prettiest horn but sure can play...Rbdeli-What model are you looking at getting?

__________________
Conn Aficianado
Late 1980s Bach Stradivarius 180-37
1941 Conn 22B New York Symphony
1924 Conn 22B New York Symphony
1960s Olds L-12 Flugelhorn
1937 King Master Cornet Medium Bore

rbdeli

Heck, I'm not really sure which Conn.

On my wish list are three horns: An Olds Super or Olds Recording, a Martin Handcraft or Committee and some type of old vintage Conn trumpet or Cornet. Maybe a Constellation or another Vocabell like my Dad's 1949 model.

I'm not bidding too aggressively on anything yet, because I need to get some financial things in order and I don't want to buy junk just for the sake of getting a horn. A few years ago I bought a really old early 1900s Silver Conn Cornet for about $150. I sold it for about $300 in 2002. I kind of regret selling that, but it had the s-shaped lead pipe which I know means it's not nearly as valuable as some of those old, great Conn Vintage Cornets with the large C-Shaped leads. And they don't sound as open and as full, but man, that old horn had great valves and I could really play on it.

Good work on the Conn.

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Find your favorite Trumpet

heck99

Well, I just received the horn today in the mail, and much to my dismay it seems to need some work. It was tough to see from the pictures, but the bell needs to be straightened (droopy bell syndrome) and the leadpipe needs to be straightened as well. They aren't terribly off, but could use work. It plays great, and has very little finish wear and tarnish. The second valve slide also has a large dent in it. My question is, where could I send it to get this work done, and how much would it run me? It's a nice horn, just needs a little work to make it that much better. Thanks.

-John

__________________
Conn Aficianado
Late 1980s Bach Stradivarius 180-37
1941 Conn 22B New York Symphony
1924 Conn 22B New York Symphony
1960s Olds L-12 Flugelhorn
1937 King Master Cornet Medium Bore

ComeBackKid

Where you send it depends on several factors. The well-known national shops will be the most expensive and you may have a long wait. There may be local shops in the area where you live that can have it fixed in less time that the 1-way shipping alone and do it for less money. The cost will depend on the severity of the dents and how good you want the finished item to look when it is done. Since this is a vintage horn, be sure to discuss with the shop what their experience is with these older models.

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Come-Back Kid
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