A.N.A. Mendez

You could order ANY Olds horn silver OR gold plated, very few did I'm thinking....

NO, the cornet is lacquered brass. The LA Mendez trumpet in the photo is a mystery as it is a presentation horn (one of the 1st 50 made) and I can't tell if it is raw brass or gold plated? I'm leaning towards raw brass...?

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(Above) Alexanders ragtime band-circa 1960

"Baby, I'm already the coolest, and the hippist, now you want me to be on time too?" Buddy Love

"We appointed all our worst generals to command our armies, and our best generals to edit our newspapers." Robert E. Lee

SteveB

That wouldn't be one of the original Mendez trumpets that Rafael personally presented to his friends and fellow players, would it??

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Steve Bolander

Bach Strad 37, Olds Mendez cornet, (2) Olds Ambassador cornets, Gretsch (Couesnon) Pathfinder Bb/A, Getzen Capri flugelhorn, Getzen Eterna 940 piccolo

Bugles Across America

A.N.A. Mendez

Yes it is. I think I know who but I can't prove it . The LA horns, especially the early ones are something else...
I'm glad you found a nice cornet, rare!

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(Above) Alexanders ragtime band-circa 1960

"Baby, I'm already the coolest, and the hippist, now you want me to be on time too?" Buddy Love

"We appointed all our worst generals to command our armies, and our best generals to edit our newspapers." Robert E. Lee

trumpeter45

Wow some very neat looking horns here. I picked up a 1916 Frank Holton Chicago Cornet. Once I cleaned it up it has beautiful etching on the bell in a brilliant silver, with a gold or laquer washed bell. Can anyone tell me a little bit more about this horn? It is a very solid horn, no dents, and in great shape for something almost a 100yrs old.

rbdeli

You lucky SOB!

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Find your favorite Trumpet

whwright

I've managed to accumulate nine Holtons dating from 1906 to 1921. I have found them to be very good players, but only if a period-correct mouthpiece is used. They can be difficult to get in tune, particularly if you only have the "low pitch" slides. I find that they work best if you use the "high pitch" main slide and the "low pitch" valve slides. The low pitch "main slide" tends to make me play very flat. (On two cornets that didn't have the full set, I took the main slide apart and cut it down to the high pitch length.)

With the correct mouthpiece the tone is invariably great. Very mellow -- almost like a flugel but not as squirrelly.

In my collection, the early horns say "New Proportion" on them. I have three distinct styles that say "New Proportion." Around 1910 one style started having "Couturier Model" stamped just above the floral engraving, and in 1918 that model appears to have been redesigned and redesignated "Holton-Clarke" (or H-C for short). There was a long and short model of the H-C, with the short model having a shepherds-crook-type bell. In addition there was another long-model style introduced somewhere around 1910 or so (I think) that did NOT say "New Proportion" on it -- that's my favorite and it's the one I carry to gigs (its tone fits nicely between my trumpet and flugel).

Sometime in 1914 it appears that they started putting the "union label" on the valve casing. It seems to have disappeared by 1918 (there's a gap in my collection from 1914 to 1918). My 1919 horn says "Chicago" on the bell and "Elkhorn" on the valve casing. I've also seen horns that say both locations on the engraving and on the case emblem. Even though the records say they moved the factory in 1918, I feel confident that both locations were in operation simultaneously for a number of years.

Most of my cornet collection is silver plated with a gold washed bell. The exception is a bare brass "New Proportion" from 1908 (it plays AWESOME with a Holton Chicago 30 mouthpiece), a satin gold plated short model H-C from 1918 (Chicago plant) that has a polished inner bell, and a silver "New Proportion" from 1914. I also have a parts-horn Couturier from 1912 that appears to have been silver plated with gold plated accessories.

The bore sizes in my collection vary from marked "00" (measures .420") to "1" (measures .482"). Despite the differences in bore size the horns seem to play very consistently with the selection of mouthpiece making more difference than anything else. I've seen horns on eBay marked "0-1/4" and "00-1/4" but I haven't figured out exactly what those markings mean yet.

Wayne in OKC.

trumpeter45

Thanks for the history lesson Wayne

This horn has all the different slides neatly tucked into thier prospective places in the case. I wasn't sure why the extra slides until you mention tuning. It also came with 4 mouth pieces that do have an odd fit when I play with them. Very deep cups with shallow rims and very short at that..The serial number is 34502 on the casing with the markings you described the 00 1/4.

A very solid well made horn for the vintage from what I can tell, and surprised how good of shape it was in..other than badly tarnishing at first but cleaned up nicely. No union markings on the horn that I have noticed and the flowral etching has Made by with the scrolled signature of Frank Holton than chicago underneath the name.

Always interesting to learn about the history of horns and I appreciated the history lesson you gave. Between the horn what I feel is very nice shape, all the slides and mouth pieces and of course the horn case alone is a conversational piece..what kind of value would something like this go for?

Rich

Plankowner110

Here's my '56 KING Super 20 Symphony Silver Sonic 1049S. I have finally decided to send this fine trumpet to Charlie Melk to have it refinished. It plays like a dream.

A.N.A. Mendez

Cool, can we see "after" pics too?

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(Above) Alexanders ragtime band-circa 1960

"Baby, I'm already the coolest, and the hippist, now you want me to be on time too?" Buddy Love

"We appointed all our worst generals to command our armies, and our best generals to edit our newspapers." Robert E. Lee

wang79922

Here's my vintage Getzen Deluxe