FS: King Silvertone. Early Bell with Modern Slide and Body. $675
Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2017 8:38 pm
The bell on this horn is a 7" sterling silver bell from a very early Silvertone. The bore was very small, and it wasn't playable with its original slide and neck pipe/tuning slide. I grafted the bell onto a King 605 body using nickel slide tubes. It's a .481 bore, and it plays well in tune at modern pitch. I wasn't able to use the original curved bell brace, but the straight brace that's on it now lines up well with the original placement, and I brazed the socket from the 605 onto the flange from the Silvertone to keep it as original as possible.
The bell is very thin, and it had three small splits in it. I used silver-bearing solder and very thin sterling silver patches to repair the splits, as can be seen in the pictures. The body of the horn is lacquered, but the bell is unlacquered.
The slide works well. I built it from used parts, and did a full alignment. There's some chrome loss on the inners, but they're nickel under the chrome and they polish out well.
This is a very lively horn. It lights up with the slightest input, and has a beautiful rich tone. I've been using it for dixieland and ska, but I think it would be great for any kind of lead work.
The case has been re-blocked to fit the horn and it's a good fit.
Pictures are at http://imgur.com/a/ohyRR
The bell is very thin, and it had three small splits in it. I used silver-bearing solder and very thin sterling silver patches to repair the splits, as can be seen in the pictures. The body of the horn is lacquered, but the bell is unlacquered.
The slide works well. I built it from used parts, and did a full alignment. There's some chrome loss on the inners, but they're nickel under the chrome and they polish out well.
This is a very lively horn. It lights up with the slightest input, and has a beautiful rich tone. I've been using it for dixieland and ska, but I think it would be great for any kind of lead work.
The case has been re-blocked to fit the horn and it's a good fit.
Pictures are at http://imgur.com/a/ohyRR