Dating a Shires Horn

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CharlieB
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Dating a Shires Horn

Post by CharlieB »

Looking for a little help........
I purchased a used Shires horn. (Terrific horn). I would like to learn the date of manufacture. The serial number is 37XX. If this information is on the Net, I was unable to find it. I also tried twice to contact Shires with this question, but I got no response.
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Altposaune
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Re: Dating a Shires Horn

Post by Altposaune »

Is your "serial number" on the valve section? For what it's worth I have two Shires valve sections: one bought from the factory Sept. 2003 numbered 12xx and one bought new from a dealer June, 2011 numbered 62xx. I looked into the mystery of Shires serial numbers a few years ago and got about as far as you have. Good luck.
-J
CharlieB
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Re: Dating a Shires Horn

Post by CharlieB »

Thanks for replying, Josh.
Still no response from Shires. Very disappointing.
My horn is a small tenor .500 bore.
Based on your information, if all Shires trombones are in the same serial number sequence (?) I can estimate about 2005 - 2006 for my horn. That's a big help. Thanks again.
CharlieB
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Re: Dating a Shires Horn

Post by CharlieB »

Update here.
Finally heard from Shires. Email from somebody "in sales." No name.
The info is that ten years ago Shires adopted a new serial numbering system, and there are no remaining records of serial numbers for horns prior to that time. My horn's serial number format does not conform with the new format, so Shires can only confirm that it was made prior to the change, or at least ten years ago. Of course, that doesn't explain why Altposaune (above post) bought a new Shires horn with an "old" serial number in June of 2011, unless maybe it sat unsold on a dealer's shelf for a long time. I'm very happy that my horn has the beautiful Sherry Huntley hand engraved bell instead of the newer laser engraving. I wonder when Sherry stopped engraving the Shires horns?
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MalecHeermans
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Re: Dating a Shires Horn

Post by MalecHeermans »

I just purchased an earlier Shires small bore. It's a regular weight brass .508 slide and a 7.75" 2RLW bell. I purchased it from the original owner who got it from Shires in 2003 - it was in the classifieds here.

Serial number is 26xx, but it has the laser engraving with the "S.E. Shires USA" mark.

I'm surprised about the answer to the serial number question. Shires just posted on facebook about building their 10,000th trombone and talked about the serial number:



I'm interested to know how that jibes with the two different serial number systems.
ronnies
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Re: Dating a Shires Horn

Post by ronnies »

Resurrecting an old thread here but I've just bought a Shires Tru-Bore bass with the serial number 35XX. Shires replied very quickly to an email saying it was an 'early' model for which they had no records but the person who answered had a trombone from 2012 that was in the 69XX range.

So with the info here it looks like mine might be around 2005.

Ronnie
Shires Tru-Bore (Bb/F/Gb/D)
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paulyg
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Re: Dating a Shires Horn

Post by paulyg »

I went on a few dates with a nice tenor, but she and I didn't get along and parted ways. Still friends and talk time to time, though.
Paul Gilles
Aerospace Engineer & Trombone Player
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tombone21
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Re: Dating a Shires Horn

Post by tombone21 »

My advice is just to take it slow, listen twice as much as you speak, and don't believe what your friends say, they weren't there man.
Tombone12
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Re: Dating a Shires Horn

Post by Tombone12 »

Bought mine in 2007. 46xx
JKBone85
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Re: Dating a Shires Horn

Post by JKBone85 »

Hi Everyone,

This topic has come up on more than one occasion and I hope to be able to help. We do have a chunk of records that are missing, but we should be able to ball park approximately what serial numbers were stamped in that time period. What records we do have are from a few different databases we have used over the years, including a few thousand logged in some notebooks. In the upcoming new year I hope to build a more comprehensive list and hopefully an online location where this info can be accessed.

2/22/2006 -- Serial #3700 built
4/21/2006 -- Serial #3799 built
Last edited by JKBone85 on Wed Oct 18, 2023 12:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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tjonz
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Re: Dating a Shires Horn

Post by tjonz »

My Shires horn, serial number 24xx, was purchased from Steve at the factory in 2003.
walldaja
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Re: Dating a Shires Horn

Post by walldaja »

Unfortunate how records end up lost. I bought my Shires Q in 22 for an unbelievable low price. Would have been looking for cops if I bought it on the street but was at a major university's trombone day. I was curious about the build date and the answer was before 2014. Serial is 603x.

Guess it was a demo hanging at the store for eight years.
Dave

2014 Shires Q30GR with 2CL
1982 King 607F with 13CL
Yamaha 421G Bass with Christian Lindberg 2CL / Bach 1 1/2G
Bach Soloist with 13CL
1967 Olds Ambassador with 10CL
1957 Besson 10-10
Jean Baptiste EUPCOMS with Stork 4
CarlVicVogel
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Re: Dating a Shires Horn

Post by CarlVicVogel »

paulyg wrote: Wed Sep 23, 2020 9:47 pm I went on a few dates with a nice tenor, but she and I didn't get along and parted ways. Still friends and talk time to time, though.
I heard she wasn't wrapped that tight.

:o
Bach two 42BO's (silver & lacquer)
Bach LT16M (inspired by Bill Watrous)
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