mchs3d

I just bought an old (1939, from the serial number lookup) HN White King Liberty. It is brushed silver with some parts gold plated and the engraving is engraved in gold leaf. I paid $375 for it and I thought that was a steal of a price. Are these great horns, and was I smart to get it?

burgerbob

mchs3d

I bought this horn thinking it was a Bflat/C conversion? Is it this, or is it Bflat/A. I tried to tune it with the piano and it seems flat, even with the slide pulled all the way in. It can't be a bflat slide though. Is it a B slide?

oldlou

If it were in fact in the key of B, instead of Bb, your tuning to your piano would show the trumpet to be VERY sharp. The liberty trumpets are quite sensitive per mouthpiece selection. I have a Liberty and a Silvertone,( Liberty with a Sterling silver bell). One of them is not at all mouthpiece sensitive and the other is so sensitive that I can only get it into tune with a vintage proprietary H,N,White mouthpiece that has a smaller than common diameter shank.


OLDLOU>>

mchs3d

Ok, thanks for the replies. Since this horn is essentially in perfect condition, how much do you think it is worth?

bandman

If you plan on keeping it then the horn is priceless, especially if you love it. Never ask on a board like this what a horn is worth because all you will get is a bunch of opinions from people who have not seen, held, and played the instrument.

If you want to sell it, the value is the very top dollar someone can pull from that horn. BAsed on what you paid the current vallue is somewhere between $375 and priceless.

Now stop thinking about value, and start thinking about how lucky you are to own a nice instrument that is part of American History!

Enjoy it!!!

beaukoo

Ditto your comment on the mouthpiece sensitivity. I have a King Liberty from 1940 that sounds best only with a vintage King mouthpiece. The trumpet is in horrible shape, with the tuning slide stuck. If I pull on the tuning slide, the whole trumpet will come apart. The bell has a small tear on the underside of the throat. I had to play some Christmas tunes outside for a marathon downtown yesterday morning, and took it to play since it's an old beater. And in spite of the fact that the trumpet's in such bad shape, the valves are pristine, and it plays pretty well. Go figure...

Dave Brewer

mchs3d

bandman, thank you so much for your post! As odd as it sounds, that's really just what I needed. You know, I could probably sell it for about the same price that I bought it for, but why? It's a one-of-a-kind trumpet that not only looks beautiful, it plays great too! I'm going to take it to my teacher (who was a professor for 30 years) and see if he likes it too. Thanks for the replies!

oldlou

Another small word of advice. Your Liberty WILL back up on you if you push it too hard. Back off a bit and listen to it just 'sing'. The projection of these old girls is known to be fantastic, but, not if they are overblown. The nice part of this is that you just don't have to work so hard as you might with a larger bore trumpet. remember, that is a .448" bore horn. If you want to hear just how wonderful the Libery trumpets were, just go to the H.N.White website. Such as Harry James, Ziggy Elman, Dizzy Gilespie, etc. prefered them over all others in their heyday. I certainly love both of mine.


OLDLOU>>

mchs3d

Ok, thanks for the replies.