H.C. Smith`s Elkhart Conn 8H trombone

[vintage88h]

I recently purchased an fantastic instrument and i wanted to share some thoughts about it.

It´s an Elkhart 8H from 1953 which belonged to the legendary Henry Charles Smith. (principal trombone of the Philadelphia Orchestra 1957-1967)

This 8H is very special. I guess H.C. Smith special ordered some things, because it´s different in some ways to the standard 8H.


* It has a yellow brass outer slide with nickel silver crook (most of the Elkharts had rose brass outers)

* Yellow brass bell (instead of the common rose brass bell)

* soldered rim ( That´s really interesting, because the unsoldered bell rim is the "special thing" which makes Elkharts so great. But the soldered rim really works great on this horn. It plays so stable and even through all register. I never thought i would like a bell with soldered rim.

* thicker hand slide brace. The brace of the handslide is thicker in diameter , than the standard one. I really like it. I love the feeling.

* the brace of the bell is a "nickelsilver - yellow brass combination" (normally only nickelsilver)

The horn has a wonderful sound. The whole horn has more weight than any other 8H i played. This makes it very stable. Plays great in fff. I love it, because i always found the 8H a bit lightweight for me personally. Maybe because i am playing f-attachment horns most of the time. So this one is perfect for me.

It´s really one of a kind! A great piece of history and a joy to play.

[Tbarh]

Conn Elkharts from Before WW2 had soldered steel rim and hammered flares (look for an «extra»seam on the flare..check the serial number ! Could be a really ild one . Some also had a bigger bell throat. I have to use bass trombone mutes on my ‘20 model

[vintage88h]

Serial dates the horn to 1953.

[walldaja]

Pictures?

[CalgaryTbone]

My 1950's 8H has those thicker braces on the slide too - all of the Conns I've played from that era have had them. I like them too, although I guess it does add some weight to the slide. I think the extra weight makes those horns more stable at loud dynamics.

Congrats on the "new" horn!

Jim Scott

[Slydeguy]

Please post some pics. Many of us instrument addicts would greatly appreciate it!

[hyperbolica]

Wow, that sounds great. I've become an even bigger 8h nut. My '58 is definitely on the lighter side, and with the smaller 525 slide, its just great to play. Maybe not very orchestral, as it sounds this HC Smith horn probably was/is, but certainly a really great chamber horn.

[vintage88h]

Here are some pics of this special horn.