TromboneChat

I bought a Selmer Bolero w/ an F attachment years ago and it's been one of my favorite Do-It-All horns. I never paid much attention to what it was made out of until my repair tech mentioned they were having trouble sourcing outer tubes for a Selmer Largo, which were made out of gold brass. I took a closer look at my Bolero and it's a little hard to tell because of the gold-tinted lacquer, but the slide tubes are pretty clearly gold brass, which is most visible where they meet the yellow brass crook. I started checking out the rest of the horn and the tuning slide is gold brass, and it looks like the valve tubing is as well, but the bell and neckpipe are yellow. I have a Largo as well but it's definitely all yellow brass.

Does anyone else out there have a Bolero or Largo to compare?

I know it's all subjective, but my experience with my Bolero hasn't lined up with a lot of other people's descriptions of what the Bolero sounds like. Mine definitely doesn't sound like a "sassier" 3B, it sounds like a slightly bigger, denser 3B with a RICH sound that basically never breaks up. I can get some edge with my Doug Elliott alto backbore, but with the appropriate-sized one it sounds closer to the 78/9H end of the spectrum.

My Bolero has gold brass tubes for sure. It is a later model...I don’t use it that much but it is a trusty back up/bar gig horn that sounds great.

Definitely doesn’t play like a King despite looking like one. Mine feels more like a Bach, but can project play fat and loud and won’t break up. To me it has a “darker” sound than the conn 8 & 8.5 horns I own. Kind of like what I would want from a Bach small bore...I can play it loud off mic and the sound can carry. The only horn I’ve played and other players ask me to back off because the sound is so present...I play softer and take it as a compliment haha. Always wanted to try a Largo...

Glad I'm not alone! Can you tell what the tuning slide is made out of? I see what you mean about Bachs - I don't know Bach small bores well enough to compare but I've noticed I usually blend well with them. It almost feels like it has the dynamic curve of a good Bach 42...

I'm in NYC and have a Largo if you ever want to try it out. It's pretty wild. I have one slide - all yellow brass, 8H width, but with what looks like an oversized crook. I had the leadpipe pulled because it has a unique receiver that's halfway to a medium shank. The leadpipe survived and is honestly quite good but I also have BrassArk 1919 8H (seamed rose brass) and MV42 (drawn yellow) pipes I've used on it. It came with 2 bell sections: straight w/ a 8 3/4" bell and with a valve and 9 1/8" bell. I think both bell sections are all yellow brass.

The Largo is definitely its own beast as well, like the Bolero. It seems like a combination of a bunch of distinctly Conn and Bach elements and sort of feels like it has the flexibility and lyrical nature of a Conn 8/88H with the dynamic curve of a Bach 42 (especially the bigger bell), but is also distinctly neither of those. I kind of hate the narrow slide and need to replace an inner tube, but I think it could be a real competitor for just about anything on the market with some tlc.

Word on the street is that whoever has the Largo with gold brass tubes is also in NYC...