TromboneChat

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if anyone knew of a non-olds counter weight that might fit the cross brace on the tuning slide of the Olds Studio? I think they were known as a T15 in the catalogue (from what I gather on brass exchange).

I know the original Olds were soldered onto the tuning slide at the back, but I don’t really want to do that as there are some modifications that will be done to this horn long term that might change the weight of the horn.

I tried a Shires Counter weight, but no dice it won’t slip on the cross brace (the brace is wider than Shires).

Thanks!

Matt

My late father put a weight on his that came off of a Besson trombone, I thinnk it was the Westminster model but worth trying any old Besson weights if you find one... Doug

I had a similar situation on a Special. Got a generic two piece screw together counterweight and had a tech enlarge the hole that goes around the brace so it fitted. You need around 8 ounces. I think we had to add some metal and use longer screws. All very straightforward for the tech. Original olds weights are hard to find.

My challenge was finding an acceptable counterweight for an Olds Recording, which has a large-diameter tuning slide brace. It would be a nice service if a TromboneChat member could recruit a machinist / tech to provide such counterweights at a reasonable cost. Add some extra value (& price) by adding some decorative engraving on the weight for additional "bling!"

Posaunus wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 11:15 am My challenge was finding an acceptable counterweight for an Olds Recording, which has a large-diameter tuning slide brace. It would be a nice service if a TromboneChat member could recruit a machinist / tech to provide such counterweights at a reasonable cost. Add some extra value (& price) by adding some decorative engraving on the weight for additional "bling!"

Someone on the old forum did that a while back; maybe Steve Close (Euphanasia)? I don't think he made the transition to the new forum, though.

The "small" Olds horns have a brace diameter of 7/16".
The Olds Recording has a bell brace of 1/2".
Standard drill sizes. Pretty simple to re-bore a generic counterweight to either size.
Can't just bore the Shires, though. Design is too complicated.
The Olds Recording is verrrry nose heavy. I used to have two counterweights on mine until I replaced them with a large custom weight.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the info. I’ll keep my eye out for an old Besson weight and consider boring out a generic weight.

Matt

My Olds Studio was nickel plated on both the slide and bell. The counter weight had a screw similar to Conn
Counterweights. The hole for the brace was offset. This allowed the counter weight to sit closer to the tuning slide bow and produced a larger moment. It felt okay with the counter weight and very nose heavy without. Original Olds Studio counter weights may be hard to come by.

The photo is from Doug Bert’s site at Brass Exchange. The screw is better shown in other pictures.