[Trombone-l] Is the Blessing Large bore still a good horn?

[Chris Waage]

My personal opinion, which along with $2 will get you a nice drink at Quik
Trip.

The old Blessing horns were made by the Blessing Company.  Budget-level
instruments, usually copies of other brands.  B-88 was a direct copy of the
Conn 88H.  I seem to remember hearing they bought Conn mandrels when Conn
moved to Abilene, TX, but I can't confirm that.  I do know their
double-rotor bass trombone was an exact copy of a Bach 50B3.  The
reassembled horn was floating around for sale back in the late 1980s or
1990s.

The "new" Blessing company is owned by St. Louis Music.  They used to be a
great company, selling guitars, basses, amps, etc.  I think they used to
own Ampeg, but again, that's trusting my memory so odds are I'm wrong.

The current Blessing horns are Chinese stencil instruments, so they're hit
or miss.  I tell my students that the Chinese-made stencil instruments are
much like gas station sushi - you might get some great stuff, you might get
food poisoning.

I'd avoid them.  Go with a good used 42B, 88H, B-350, etc.  The hard part
is convincing students that the "ooh, shiny" factor doesn't mean the
instrument is worth buying.

Again, my opinions - your mileage will vary.

Chris

On Thu, Oct 19, 2023 at 5:33 PM Raymond Horton via Trombone-l <
trombone-l at trombonelist.org> wrote:

> Back in the 90s or so, when I had a bunch of students buying large bore
> trim bones w F attachment, I remember feeling that the Blessing was about
> 90% of the quality of the Bach 42B for about 55% of the price. Is it still
> true?
>
> Raymond Horton
> Composer/Arranger
> Minister of Music,
> Edwardsville (IN) United Methodist Church
> Retired Bass Trombonist,
> Louisville Orchestra, 1970-2016
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> Trombone-l at trombonelist.org
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>


-- 
*Chris Waage, DMA                      *
        Adjunct Instructor of Trombone, Euphonium, and Tuba, Temple College
        Freelance teacher, clinician. and low brass artist