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1978 Silver Blessing XL

Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2020 10:01 pm
by RobH
I played the trombone for 10 years when I was at school in England. I now live in Vancouver. I always intended to come back to playing it, but it's only this week that I finally decided to. I pulled out the beautiful old silver Blessing XL trombone that my mother bought for me used in Bath, England in 1985. I always used the old school trombones, but my music teacher (Chuff Byrne - an amazing trombonist and an all-around musical master) told me that I needed to have my own trombone so that I could assume the first trombone position in my school band (Downside School), and he took me to the shop in bath to pick up this trombone.
I looked up the serial number of this trombone online and it corresponds to 1978. I didn't realize it was that old, as it was in perfect condition when I became the owner of it in 1985. I only played it for the last two years of my trombone playing years.
Now after 33 years I've decided to get back to playing the trombone. I don't want to use this as my daily player because it is very special to me (I also have an old student trombone Boosey & Hawkes Award).
However, I was wondering if anyone had any specifications on my Blessing trombone because I'm interested to learn a little more about it.
Attached are some photos. Yes I know it needs a clean, but this is what it looks like after 33 years in its case!
Robert
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Re: 1978 Silver Blessing XL

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2020 4:12 pm
by jonzbonz
Apparently intermediate horn with .500 bore and 8" bell.

Re: 1978 Silver Blessing XL

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2020 6:08 pm
by RobH
Thanks Jonzbonz 🙂. It's great to know the bore size. I'm considering buying a Butler trombone for my daily use, so that would would translate to the Lemondrop version.
Did you get this information from anywhere in particular or personal knowledge?
I recall the music shop where my mother purchased it was called Swan Music and the trombone was £200, they told me it was £500 when new. I liked it as soon as I saw it, but it did take a little work to keep the silver clean as I played it almost on a daily basis (I normally only polished it before concerts).

Re: 1978 Silver Blessing XL

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2020 7:31 pm
by jonzbonz
Google "blessing xl trombone spec"

Re: 1978 Silver Blessing XL

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2020 8:46 pm
by RobH
Ah, I have been Googling on my cellphone and the page simply wouldn't load. I tried on my desktop and the webpage opened. Thanks!:
https://www.oocities.org/yuenli_low/tro ... v2ehtm.htm