[Trombone-l] Your first trombone?

Denny Seifried ddsbstrb at woh.rr.com
Wed Aug 23 13:00:21 CDT 2017


List Members....It is, indeed, great to see the list come alive once again.
As I was telling Tom, in a reply to the first instrument topic, my first
trombone was, sadly, not a "real" trombone, but, I  purchased a very nice
Conn 5G valve bone. I picked this up around 1959, while I was a junior in
Findlay (OH) High School, with money I earned in giging around on string
bass. At that time, I was a tuba/string bass player and only had dreams and
aspirations to be a trombone/bass trombone player, someday in the future.

Those of you in my generation will remember those Conn Elkhart 5G's were
actually a Conn Elkhart 6H bell section, a 5G valve section, and an optional
Conn 6H slide section. The case was built to contain all three sections!
Unfortunately, mine did not include the optional 6H slide section. I took
the valve-bone with me to Bowling Green State Univ. in the fall of 1960;
and, we found our way into the BGSU "underground" big band. In those days,
you had to operate a big band in deep cover from the chair of the
department! Around my junior year, I really had the "itch" to learn how to
function on the......slide. While taking a walk to downtown Bowling Green, I
had to pass Bigelow's Music Store. The owner, Jack Bigelow, was also a
trombonist; so, I went in and asked Jack if he might have a used, Conn
slide, which might fit my 6H bell. He went into the back a brought out a
slightly used Conn 4H slide section. It fit the bell nut; but, I didn't
realize at the time, it wasn't a .500 bore like the proper 6H slide. I
surely didn't care, and began playing with the help of my best friend from
BGSU, the late Frank North. Eventually, I switched my tuba lessons to
trombone, and, began to study with Dave Glasmire.

Sadly, I traded that Conn bell and slide section in on a 1964 King 3B, which
took me through a lot of playing until I got into bass trombone playing in
1970. Sadly, I sold that King to a student, which I regret even today! This
was a King with the small, counterbalance, before they went to the larger,
black, weight.

Maybe we need to start a thread on good/great trombone which were traded-off
or sold; and, like a fool, you regret to this day.

Have a great day!

Denny Seifried
Bass Trombone-Springfield (OH) Sym., Dayton Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Central Big
Band
Bb Tuba-Ohio Valley British Brass Band, Western Ohio Tuba Quartet
Adjunct Trombone-Wittenberg Univ. Dept. of Music

-----Original Message-----
From: Trombone-l [mailto:trombone-l-bounces at trombonelist.org] On Behalf Of
Ervin, Thomas R - (ervint) via Trombone-l
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2017 6:02 PM
To: Trombone-l at trombonelist.org
Subject: [Trombone-l] Your first trombone?

Curious to hear how many of us on the list started on a really lousy
instrument, silver, with a green slide and a pitted mouthpiece, etc.


> Tom Ervin
> ervint at u.arizona.edu
> Prof of trombone, Univ Arizona (Emeritus) ...now a recovering trombone 
> player... ; >)
> (520) 743-5062
> website:    tom-ervin.com





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