TromboneChat

Hey everyone,

I recently picked up a mint 1949 Olds Studio that might be the favorite horn I've ever played. Its agility in the upper register is unprecedented and the way that it speaks with such a clear and bold sound in the middle register is the closest to the sound I have in my head to perhaps any horn I've played. It also has a weighty feel and incredibly close tolerances. <3

I've played other Olds recently including a Special, Custom P-16, and Recording, but not a Super. Because the Super is the same size as the Studio I am wondering if anyone with more experience with these horns knows how they compare to one another in terms of sound and playing characteristics. Please give me your impressions!! Thank you in advance.

How are you dealing with the lack of a counterweight? I put an Ambassador counterweight on mine to offset it being front-heavy. It looks nice, too.

It hasn't bothered me so far, but I'm fairly used to heavy-ish horns!

I have a Studio from about the same era. A truly well put together horn, the craftmanship is top notch. I really dig its sound with the nickel crooks in the slide and tuning slide and the nickel bell flair. I have such a fat neck and the slide is so narrow that I could never quite get my mouth on the MP correctly for my embouchure though. I played it for a few years but eventually had to move away from it. My bandmate and section leader played on a Super from the 50s and he sounded great. Those older Olds horns are kinda neat if you can make them work for you.