[Trombone-l] Your first trombone?

[Raymond Horton]

I don't have any horns that I wish I hadn't sold, but I once passed up a
bargain that will drive many of you crazy. When I was a sophomore in high
school, which would have been 1967 or 68, I was teaching a freshman girl
trombone lessons occasionally, and I am pretty sure she had a crush on me.
I did not own a trombone at the time, I was playing euphonium, and she knew
I was looking for a "bass trombone". (I was quite uninformed at the time,
and I thought that was the term for any trombone with an F attachment.) My
student called me up one day, and told me she had been checking the
classified ads and found a pawn shop that had a "bass trombone, $100" but
warned me that, when she called the shop about it, the owner could not
confirm that it had an F attachment, he said it was just "bigger than all
the others".  My parents took us both down to see it, and it turned out to
be a Conn 8H! I wiped off the slide oil and put slide cream and water on
it, and it played just fine. However, I did not know that this was a
tremendous bargain, and a tremendous horn (ignorance!) and was so focused
on an F attachment that I passed it up. (The store owner, who had looked at
me very suspiciously when I was cleaning the slide, wiped it all off and
put oil on it again and put it back in the case.) If I had bought it, I
think my career would have been much different, as I actually think I would
have done much better on tenor trombone then I did on bass! But just over
three years later, I auditioned for bass trombone in the Louisville
Orchestra. I got it at a very key time in my life, as I was extremely
concerned about money at the time. Second trombone was also open, but we
had a guy from Curtis audition for that, and I never would have beat him.
And So It Goes, little decisions in life have big impact later. I hope this
wasn't too much off topic, and might have been of interest to some of you.
I actually appreciate being able to relate the story to an audience that
would really understand! (I would like to go back and buy that 8H for 100
bucks, but it might not fit in the DeLorean.)

On Aug 23, 2017 2:01 PM, "Denny Seifried via Trombone-l" <
trombone-l at trombonelist.org> wrote:

> 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
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Trombone-l mailing list
> Trombone-l at trombonelist.org
> http://trombonelist.org/mailman/listinfo/trombone-l_trombonelist.org
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Trombone-l mailing list
> Trombone-l at trombonelist.org
> http://trombonelist.org/mailman/listinfo/trombone-l_trombonelist.org
>