Antique Musical Instruments/old trombones

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Expert: - 11/4/2010


Question

J. W. Pepper
I have recently purchased a J. W. Pepper trombone, the bell is inscripted with "Premier J. W. Pepper Maker Philadelphia Highest Award And Diploma World's Fair Columbian Exposition Chicago 1893". it is in almost mint condition with some tiny dents and wear, the slide is also missing its plating but still works very well. It has its original case (has some wear), mouthpiece (it doesnt have any marks except for this weird "swirly" design, this is also in mint condition) , and lyer (mint). There is a small leak by the spit valve because it needs a cork. It also have a gold wash on the inside of the bell. The serial number is 9260 (inscripted on the bell). I have also purchased a H. N. White trombone. The bell is inscripted with "H. N. White THE KING Cleveland Ohio". It has some small dents but it is in absolute mint condition. It was pretty tarnished when i got it but i used some Brasso and it looks band new. The slide is excellent. It comes with 2 tuning slide, one of which is stuck but i am bringing it to get an ultrasonic cleaning and to be repaird as well as the J. W. Pepper. It also has it original mouthpiece (mint condition, inscripted with H. N. White Co. 28 Equa-Tru), original case (really bad condition), old oil can (mint), and original lyer (mint). The slide says Pat. May 17 1910 and has a serial number of 42390 on the slide. I saw that Douglas Yeo also has the same trombone as listed on his site. I know this is a ton of info but i would like you to find out the age of the H. N. White and any other info you can supply me with on both of the trombones. And are these trombones valuable? (I am not asking a price range)(i attached a pic of the J. W. Pepper, do not have one of the H. N. White)

Answer
Here is our information on Pepper:  http://www.horn-u-copia.net/Reference/display.php?thisrec=574

The two tuning slides are to allow the horn to be used in bands that played in high pitch, and bands in low pitch (modern pitch).

The horn was made between 1915-25, probably closer to 1915.

The patent is for the Curved inner slide brace reinforcement.


Here is our information on the White company:
http://www.horn-u-copia.net/Reference/display.php?thisrec=816

Antique Musical Instruments

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Kenton Scott

Expertise

Please note: My area is BRASS instruments, not other wind, string or percussion instruments. I will provide information on antique, obscure and out of production BRASS instruments. 1) Please don't ask for evaluations, I'll not provide them on this site. 2) I am often asked very similar questions, so I'd invite you to first check on Horn-u-Copia.net. Much of the information I have garnered about this topic, I have posted on this WEB site.

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I perform in several historical bands, have informally researched the area, repair brass instruments, and operate a Forum dedicated to the topic at http://horn-u-copia.net

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B.S. Ed, M.S.

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