Guess the slide

[MrHCinDE]

I saw an interesting slide pop up on eBay small ads and took a risk on it with a project horn in mind:

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anz ... 35-74-7619

It's on the way to me and I’ll know more in a couple of days hopefully but I'm interested to hear opinions/speculation on what it might be.

Apparently, there is no maker or model number, only what appears to be a serial number across the hand brace. The diameter at the end of the tenon is about 16mm so I’m tending towards saying it’s a large bore tenor slide of some sort. I don’t have any other useful measurements yet.

To me it looks a bit like my Elkhart 8H slide in some ways, the bracing between the hand brace and lower cork barrel, width and turning details on some parts for example. On the other hand, it seems to have a yellow brass crook which I wouldn’t expect from a Conn large bore slide and some details on the hand brace are less elaborate. If the number 327889 is actually the serial and it were really a Conn slide, that would place it around 1940, which I really doubt. Did Conn use yellow brass crooks for 8H or similar at some stage? Maybe the crook is after-market, it looks possibly a bit wider than a Conn large bore tenor crook (but to my eye closer to Conn than Bach) but hard to tell without measurements. I assume a slide lock wouldn’t have been standard at that time.

I’m not really getting Bach or Yamaha vibes from the limited information, but I could be wrong and will also compare it to a 42 slide.

My best guess at the moment is some sort of stencil or rebuild in a similar style to Conn?

My plan is to try and figure out if the tenon fits any horns I have and if so how it plays, if necessary I can get the tenon swapped. It’s not a huge investment so I’ll be annoyed rather than devastated if I can’t use it for anything.

[Matt K]

Looks like a Conn or a blessing to me. I’ve never seen a Bach or Yamaha with cork barrels like that

[MrHCinDE]

Looks like a Conn or a blessing to me. I’ve never seen a Bach or Yamaha with cork barrels like that

Blessing is a good shout, didn't think of than one. It looks quite a lot like this Blessing B88 slide, apart from the crook material:
https://www.thebrass-exchange.com/conte ... hart-1970s
As I understand if it's one of those it would probably work with my 8H as a backup slide, which would be a pleasant outcome!

[MStarke]

I also saw it but decided not to buy it.

Also to me it looked generally "Conn-like" , Blessing could be a good guess!

One reason I did not look further was the description. German speakers will understand

Tell us what it is, when/if (?) you get it!

[MStarke]

The other way around: I have once seen a Conn 88h bell and valve section. The slide shown in the pictures definitely was not a Conn slide, maybe Yamaha. But the seller insisted it's original.

[calcbone]

I’m definitely getting Blessing B88 vibes from it. I had one of those (with the rose bell) in the late 90s-early 2000s. I don’t remember whether it had a brass or nickel crook, but they did change a few design elements somewhere in that time frame (I saw some kids with B88s that had mechanical linkages; mine was string).

[MrHCinDE]

I also saw it but decided not to buy it.

Also to me it looked generally "Conn-like" , Blessing could be a good guess!

One reason I did not look further was the description. German speakers will understand

Tell us what it is, when/if (?) you get it!

Yes, even as a non-native speaker the description was also somewhat suspicious to me. On the other hand and also as a non-native speaker I appreciate that the beautiful German language can be all too easily abused, talking from my own experience here!

I had considered the "if(?)" possibility, but some additional photos that the seller provided by my request gave some confidence, backed up by some other checks based on name/address etc. I received a picture of the DHL receipt with a plausible location for the post office and weight so am optimistic it is on the way to me, should it somehow get lost it will be covered by DHL insurance which is included as standard for a 'Paket'.

I'll report back once it arrives (or not!)

[BGuttman]

Somehow I can't view the auction since I clicked on a "don't accept" button thinking it meant cookies and I got a screen of some other sort.

I got a Chinese copy of an 88HO and you may have a slide for one of those. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't a Conn.

[Burgerbob]

Looks wide for a B88. Maybe the blessing bass slide?

[MStarke]

I sold my Blessing large bore a few weeks ago, it had yellow tubes and nickel crook if I remember correctly.
My Blessing medium bore (which is lying on my desk in front of me right now ) has a little bit darker tubes (could just be lacquer or age?) and a yellow crook as well as a yellow right hand bar.

Overall this looks a lot like my Blessing medium bore slide.

[MrHCinDE]

The slide turned up, well packaged and the whole package was even gift wrapped! That's a first for me.

It fits my Elkhart 8H and the proportions (length and width) are also very similar to the original 8H slide, i.e. slightly longer than a modern 8H/88H slide. To my eye it looks like the crook is indeed yellow brass but the outer tubes are more like rose brass or whatever Conn call it, unlike my N-series 8H slide which has yellow brass outers.

There are no major traumas to it and once I've got it cleaned up and lubed I'm optimistic it will be very usable. It could be that the rose brass outers and yellow crook are sufficiently different to my 8H slide that I just keep it as a backup or alternative 8H slide. Anyway, it should at the very least come in handy for gigs in a tight space so I don't risk the original 8H slide. I might still get the tenon changed to a Bach one for the Frankenbone project I have in mind but will try it out a bit on my 8H first. I don't have a caliper to measure the bore size.

There is a little bit less detailing and other minor differences to the Conn slide that I still don't think it is an original Conn slide, Blessing B78 or B88 is looking like a good shout.

[MrHCinDE]

After a quick clean and play test of it I noticed a couple of other points, it takes small shank mouthpieces and has springs in the cork barrel. It's most likely a medium bore slide, at least that's how it plays when I compare it back to back with the 0.547" and 0.525" slides I have already. It plays pretty nicely on my 8H bell section, I think it'll be a keeper.

For now it'll be a bad weather or small stage alternative to my SL2525 and is probably worth taking to my usual tech for a proper clean and alignment if I decide to keep after playing it for a bit. Overall I'm very happy with it for the price, even once I factor in a slide service.

[MStarke]

Sounds like a good purchase. Sometimes it's a positive surprise