Expert: Kenton Scott - 4/16/2008

Question
I have a trombone and I have absolutely no idea how old it is or anything else, and it is driving me crazy because I have looked with no avail for months!!!!! HELP!!! The exact wording on the bell is "ELKHART BUILT BY BUESCHER ELKHART - IND. U.S.A." On the left part of the hand slide, there are numbers, facing the outer side and are upside down if it is standing up. The script reads: "66560", then the next line reads "LP" in very small letters, followed by on the next line: "66I". The bell itself is very small, and I've been told that smaller bells are characteristic of the popular jazz horns form the early 20th century. The curve n the top is also on the smallish side, and the bar supports up there are tilted, rather than straight on modern traditional models. It came with the original owners manual that proudly proclaims on the front "GUARANTEED BY THE ELKHART BAND INSTRUMENT CO. ELKHART, INDIANA", and underneath that it says: "HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR INSTRUMENT". I have played on an Elkhart before, but it was built by C.G. Conn. This one is gold brass, with a silver metal that is probably nickel only on the bell support that has the counterweight on it, which by the way is a Heart with an Elk in it. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!

Answer
The Elkhart Band Instrument Company

. . . not to be confused with the Elkhart Musical Instrument Co which was started by Gronert in 1912 and merged with Martin in 1917. . .

was started in 1924 by Buescher President Andrew Beardsley.  After Beardsley's death in 1928, Elkhart Band Instrument company was merged into Buescher and Buescher used Elkhart Band Inst as a trademark.

So from that, we know that the horn is no older than 1928.  Unfortunately, it appears that Buescher did not use the same serial number sequence on the Elkhart instrument, because if that were true, this horn would date to 1920.