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Another early Olds double-rotor bass trombone

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2023 11:58 pm
by JohnL
So I picked up a couple really rough Olds bass trombone bells from quinntheeskimo's eBay "garage sale"...

A Fullerton single:
single.jpg
and an LA double:
double.jpg
The single's pretty interesting. At first glance, it looks like an S-20 - until you notice that it's got a tuning slide. The f-attachment is also significantly different; the valve is closer the tenon and the linkage is "thumb under brace" . My theory is that it's yet another prototype from when Olds was developing the original George Roberts model.

But the prize is the double. Not because it's significantly different from the ones already in my collection, but because it's OLDER! The serial number is in the low 10,xxx range; until now, the oldest one I'd seen was in the 13,xxx range, so this one is a couple years older (probably about 1938).

Re: Another early Olds double-rotor bass trombone

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 7:33 am
by elmsandr
Wow. Now I wish I had bid on it! Probably better with you, but I was very curious about these and love seeing confirmation that they were as interesting as I thought they might be.

Cheers,
Andy

Re: Another early Olds double-rotor bass trombone

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 11:08 am
by Mamaposaune
Other than a good cleaning, how much work do they need to be playable? And I'm curious what slides you'll pair them up with.

Re: Another early Olds double-rotor bass trombone

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 2:18 pm
by JohnL
Mamaposaune wrote: Thu Feb 16, 2023 11:08 am Other than a good cleaning, how much work do they need to be playable? And I'm curious what slides you'll pair them up with.
It's mostly a matter of getting everything moving again. There's a few dents in the double, but nothing that would render it unplayable. As for slides, I do have a few Olds slides around that I can try...:)