Expert: Kenton Scott - 7/31/2009

Question
I have a J W Pepper and son trombone. J W Pepper and son , Premier, and PHiladelphia are engraved on the bell. Also on the bell is the number 65814. It is a friction fit slide and there is no slide lock. The is also an extra C back-end pipe that is shorter than the one in the horn that I assume will transpose it to a different key ( although I will have to take it to my repairman to get those loose enough to move. The weight is attached so that it  can be switched from one back pipe to the other. There is engraved trim on the slide in several places, and the inner slide is a brass color, rather than silver.
Please tell me anything you can abut the horn.
I now play a 1957+- Conn, with a rose colored bell  that I love.  Its number is 524237 and it has a fancy engraved design on the bell but no writing. It (as well as the Pepper) weighs a ton, but has a great sound. Anything that you could tell me about that horn would be appreciated as well.
Thanks, Dan DeWalt

Answer
This horn was made around 1910-19, and was imported as Pepper had discontinued making instruments by that time.  The extra tuning slide is to switch the horn from high pitch to low (modern) pitch.  The counterweight is likely an after-market device.   The slides of that time were typically brass on the inner slide rather than nickel plated.