Antique Musical Instruments/Frank Horton Bugle

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Expert: - 1/25/2012


Question
greetings,
    I have recently come into possession of a bugle and am trying get at least an approximate dating of its manufacture.  It is marked FRANK HORTON & CO, ELKHART, WIS on the bell.  Below the maker mark in large letters is U. S. N..  The mouthpiece is marked VINCENT BACH CORP NEW YORK and 7C.  There is no serial number so I do not know if there is any way to date it.  It is all brass.  From looking at photos on the internet, I believe it is Bb.  I found very little information on this manufacturer on Horn-a-Copia.
Thank you for making this service available.
David

Answer
Try with Holton rather than Horton.  I believe you will find quite a bit of information on Horn-u-copia.  If it is a bugle, then it probably is not in Bb.  But if it is a cornet or a trumpet then it is likely that it is in Bb.  Look for a serial number on it.  

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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