Steven Terry custom large bore F-attachment circa 1980

[biggiesmalls]

I acquired this unique bespoke horn during the pandemic, but in the process of moving it went into deep storage and remained there until just recently. Now that I've finally been able to spend some time with the horn, I thought I'd share the story of how this horn came to be made, along with some images and impressions.

The only mention of the Terry Trombone Company that I could find on the web was a brief reference by Kurt Heisig, a woodwind and brass instrument maker located in Monterey, CA (https://www.kurtheisigmusic.com/). So I called up Mr. Heisig (a colorful and interesting character who LOVES to talk shop and music history), and over the course of an hour-long conversation on a Sunday afternoon, I learned a great deal about Steven Terry and his short-lived trombone building venture.

While attending San Jose State back in the early 1970's, Heisig was running a brisk business distributing Buffet woodwinds and Benge trumpets from his college rental house, and as a result of of his frequent trips to the Benge production facility, he developed lasting relationships with both Claude Gordon and the man who was building the Benge CG trumpets at the time, bass trombonist Steven Terry. Heisig described Terry as a hulking 6'5" tall bearded pony-tailed Harley-riding mountain man who was deeply involved in some sort of sun-worshipping cult. Terry was apparently a meticulous but not particularly fast builder, and his slow production rate eventually led to friction with the Benge shop foreman, Zig Kanstul, who was demanding a rate of production that Terry felt was compromising the quality of his work.

So in early 1980, Terry left Benge, retreated to his home and workshop in McKinleyville CA, took out some rather hefty bank loans for machines and tooling, and began making horns as the Terry Trombone Company, with Heisig serving as the company's sole sales representative. During the company's brief two month existence, Terry produced seven .511 bore straight trombones, at least one trumpet, and the .547 bore F-attachment that is the subject of this post. One of the .511 bore horns was driven by Terry and Heisig to LA, where they proudly presented it to Dick Nash and Charlie Loper, who tried the horn and politely told them to come back when they had a.500 bore. (At least one of the .511 bore horns is still being played today by Dan Marcus).

According to Heisig, the business was seriously handicapped from the start by Terry's rumored issues with heavy Benzedrine use and the distraction of frequent visits by Terry's Hell's Angels associates. With loan payments overdue and no real income on the horizon, Terry's wife gave him two choices: get a real job or get a divorce. Terry chose the first option, going to work as a machinist for PG&E. The bank repossessed the machines and tooling, which were liquidated at auction, and the Terry Trombone Company never produced another horn.

The .547 bore presented here was purportedly designed and built for LA Philharmonic bass trombonist Jeff Reynolds. The unmarked 9" gold brass bell clearly has a bass stem taper. The slide is essentially an 88H blueprint using nickel silver outers and crook, with a Remington taper receiver. The main tuning slide is yellow brass, while the neck pipe and Bach-style F-attachment tuning crook are nickel silver, with a mix of nickel silver and yellow brass F-attachment tubing. The ebony wood water key tip and trigger paddle are nice touches, while the amount of time and labor invested in the mother-of-pearl inlaid "counterweight" suggest the work of a man more focused on fulfilling a personal vision than running a profitable company.

The unique and innovative feature of this horn is the compression ring used to support the bell stem. The diameter of this ring can be increased or decreased via a thumb screw, altering the amount of pressure applied to the four small push-in rubber bumpers that support the bell stem, which in turn alters the amount of damping effect the bumpers have on the resonance of the bell. The ring can even be expanded to the point that the rubber bumpers don't contact the bell stem at all, allowing the bell to float just free of the bumpers for maximum resonance. To the best of my knowledge there's no patent, so if any horn builders out there want to experiment with this approach, have at it. My experience with this horn leads me to believe that the concept of variable bell damping has merit.

Mr. Heisig stated that Terry's approach to horn design was strongly influenced by his many discussions about flow dynamics (defined by Heisig as "the effects of venturi relationships on the compression and release of air through the length of the horn") with Claude Gordon, who had learned about flow dynamics from the master himself, trumpet maker Dominic Calicchio.

There's some real magic in the way this horn plays. Slotting is incredibly tight and precise, inspiring a real sense of confidence and security. Playing the horn with my usual Schilke 52 long shank (which, according to Heisig, was also Terry's preferred large bore tenor mouthpiece) intonation is spot on, even in the extended positions in the highest partials, something I've never quite experienced in any other horn. Articulations have a satisfying "ping". The sound is rich and warm, focused and controlled at all dynamics.

If anyone has more information about Steven Terry, the Steven Terry Trombone Company, the six "lost" Terry trombones, or corrections to the information provided to me by Mr. Heisig, please post that information here.

Thanks for reading this long-winded but hopefully somewhat entertaining and informative post.

[biggiesmalls]

More images:

[biggiesmalls]

More images:

[droffilcal]

Great post! Incredible horn!

[Burgerbob]

Very cool.

[WilliamLang]

that counterweight is beautiful! thanks for the history

[Chiptingle]

You might check in with Jeff Cressman in the SF Bay Area. He probably still has his small bore, and went to San Jose St in the late ‘70’s/early ‘80’s.

[JohnL]

Can't tell you anything about Stephen Terry, but I knew Kurt Heisig back in the early 1980's and I remember his business card saying something about being the sole selling agent for Stephen L. Terry trumpets and trombones.

One summer (1982?) I played in a couple bands Kurt was running out of a church in Santa Cruz; a big band (Bruce Haag on lead trumpet) and a "town band".

Kurt was a pretty colorful guy in his own right..

You should bring that horn by Bones West sometime.

[Digidog]

Great looking horn, and a really interesting story!

How did you come by this horn? I mean; if there only were, like, ten instruments made, they must be either lost (destroyed or dismantled), well kept by those who still play them, or tucked away and forgotten?

[Tbarh]

Wow…What a story !! Thanks for that! I am a little intrigued by the bass stem bell..Does it sound like a tenor or more bass ?

Trond

[GabrielRice]

I've seen bell mounts somewhat like that before in the collection of Billy Robinson, founder of Bay Bones.

[gbedinger]

Fascinating…great story!

[biggiesmalls]

Thanks to all who have replied...it's nice to see this horn generating a bit of excitement!

I bought this horn from an eBay seller from whom I had recently purchased another horn; one of his friends had purchased it at a swap meet in Long Beach. Before posting the Terry horn on the Bay, the seller sent images and offered me first right of refusal. He knew he had something special, and it wasn't cheap, but I had to have it.

Playing the horn with a Schilke 52, there's definitely a hybrid aspect to the sound, similar to an 88H slide hooked up to a 72H bell. I can imagine that a Yamaha 641 slide hooked up to a 72H bell would be an even closer match. There were two mouthpieces in the case, a Bach Corp. 1G and a Corp. 1 1/4G, which would imply that the horn was being used as a small bass.

I'll try to get in touch with Jeff Cressman and Billy Robinson...I appreciate the leads!

And if I ever make it out to Santa Ana, I will definitely bring the horn to Bones West for some show-and-tell.

Here's an image of Dan Marcus with his Terry .511 bore.

[Doug Elliott]

As Gabe said, I have also seen that bell mount before, but I don't remember who it was or what horn it was on.

[GabrielRice]

As Gabe said, I have also seen that bell mount before, but I don't remember who it was or what horn it was on.

I can probably tell you...Billy Robinson brought several instruments to the ATW in I think 2016. They were Bachs of various sizes set up to be modular with bell mounts like this. He had space in the middle of the display room.

[Doug Elliott]

Yes I remember that, he had 3 bells that fit inside each other.
Billy has missed the last few ITF's. I hope he makes it to SLC this year.
But I think somebody who came to my shop had one.

[Kbiggs]

I grew up in Eureka CA, just a few miles from McKinleyville. I met Steve a couple of times, oddly enough. It must have been in that short period when he actually had the equipment to make horns. I didn’t know all that about him—the cult, his experience with Kanstul, etc. I knew he worked for PG&E, and hated it. Of course, I was in HS at the time, and pretty distractible.

In high school (Eureka Senior High School: “Go Loggers!”), I knew a guy who had one of Steve’s custom trombones. I believe it was one of the .511 bore ones. The counter-weight was unique. Steve called the front bell-brace a “suspended bell.” This particular horn did not have the modular bell brace in the back. I’ve seen Billy Robinson’s horns, and I believe they have the same modular brace.

There were also two trumpets from Steve that I remember in Eureka. Each had the suspended bell. One was an old Selmer horn (I don’t remember the model) that Steve took apart, customized, and re-assembled with the suspended bell. The other was a custom-built trumpet he made for another HS kid.

The Selmer was a beautiful horn to begin with, and it was even more beautiful and sounded better when he finished with it. The Selmer was owned by my private teacher, Richard “Dick” Stroud, who was the band director at one of the junior highs in Eureka. Big guy, GREAT trumpet player—I think he played in Vegas or on the road for a long time. Knew Arban’s like the back of his hand. Also a jazz and chamber music composer. Not a great trombone teacher, but a solid jazz musician. He died in the late 80’s, shortly after I moved out of Humboldt Co.

I believe the Terry trombone I knew from HS is still in the possession of a trombonist in Humboldt Co. I’ve lost touch with him over the years. I doubt he still plays. I can ask some of my contacts still in Humboldt if they know of where the horn is…

[RJMason]

What a great story and love the concept of these horns! Thanks for sharing.

[tbonesullivan]

Wow, that is a fantastic story! Did Terry make all of the components from scratch by himself, even the valves? It's great to see such artistry, but dang that level of craftsmanship definitely did not lend itself to any type of volume production. The music world is unfortunately full of examples of great artisans and craftspeople who were not able to keep a business going.

[biggiesmalls]

Kbiggs, thanks so much for sharing your experiences with Steve; it's nice to hear from someone other than Mr. Heisig who had direct contact with him. Also, nice to know the nomenclature he used to describe the "suspended bell" mount. I'd love to know if your high school acquaintance still has the .511.

tbonesullivan, I'm not sure what percentage of the Terry trombone parts were outsourced. Mr. Heisig did say that the outer slide tubes were sourced from King then buffed down by Terry. The valve cover and casing would appear to be standard 88H parts.

For the sake of full documentation, here are images of the case the horn came in, which would appear to be a Benge case:

[JohnL]

Actually, that looks kinda like a DEG case I bought several years ago...

Here's something similar:
https://reverb.com/item/45533499-generi ... -dallas-tx

[chromebone]

I recall seeing a Minick alto with a b flat attachment for sale not too long ago that had a bell mount like that. Stomvi also has a bell mount with a similar concept.

[Posaunus]

For the sake of full documentation, here are images of the case the horn came in, which would appear to be a Benge case:

Not to mention the modest collection of mouthpieces - from Olds to Doug Elliott!

[biggiesmalls]

For the sake of full documentation, here are images of the case the horn came in, which would appear to be a Benge case:

Not to mention the modest collection of mouthpieces - from Olds to Doug Elliott!

Ah, good eye Dave!

Probably 80% of the mouthpieces in the photo came with vintage horns that I have bought and sold over the years, so in a sense they are an historic sampling of what players were using 40-80 years ago. There are a few paperweights as well as some very special and rare pieces.

I've bought a a fair number of XT components from Doug over the years, and acquired a few LT components in trades. I've always enjoyed playing Doug's pieces, and I like having a wide range of DE components for visiting players to try.

Actually, that looks kinda like a DEG case I bought several years ago...

Ah that makes sense. I had seen a couple of '70's Benge trumpets in that same style of case and assumed they were original cases. Thanks for helping sorting that out.

[Posaunus]

And if I ever make it out to Santa Ana, I will definitely bring the horn to Bones West for some show-and-tell.

biggiesmalls - and ANY other of you trombonists - are invited to sit in with Bones West, which for 40 years has been meeting at the AFM Local 7 Rehearsal Hall in Santa Ana, California every Saturday morning from ~9:00-11:30am.
http://www.boneswest.org/index.php

Expect to meet, and enjoy playing alongside, 30-40 other trombonists, of varying skills, playing 6-part trombone choir charts ranging from "legit" to jazz (with a great rhythm section). All are welcome. It's great fun!

[greenbean]

Cool horn and great stories!...

[Kbiggs]

That’s the same type of case the guy in high school had for his .511 horn.

[imsevimse]

Interesting story

/Tom