Expert: Kenton Scott - 3/3/2006

Question
I have an old Carl Fischer Inc. "Reliable" Trombone made in NY. The serial number is hard to read but it might be 34658 or 39658.  I have had difficulty finding info on this horn (age, worth).  It came with an extra tuning slide, mouth piece and case. It all seems original. The extra tuning slid looks shorter than the one in "C".  What can you tell me about this trombone?
Thanks,
Tim
ps- on small print it says czecho slovakia and the #13, the slide says the same with the#20

Answer
Hi Tim,

Well, in spite of the engraving that says it was made in New York, it wasn't.  It is Czech made.  If you read the competitors ads of the time, you would think that was a bad thing.  It really isn't.  Many of the Czech horns are good players.  They were criticized just to try to get a market advantage.  The U.S. makers tried to make the imported horns out to be inferior. And, in once sense, it worked because the imported horns don't have the value that the domestic ones do.

Unfortunately, the serial numbers on Fischer instruments don't have much meaning, since no one so far have been able to put together a dated serial number list.  

However, the extra tuning slide MAY be a clue. However, I'm a bit hesitant because you say with the longer tuning slide, it plays in C.  

Horns would come with different tuning slides for two reasons.  1) was to play in 2 different keys.  and 2) to play high or low pitch.  Back in the first couple of decades of the 20th Century, it became fashionable and practical to build horns that could play in both high and low pitch.  Efforts were seriously started in about 1917 to standardize pitch at the low pitch (A=440).  But, even though they were eventually successful, many bands had investiments in high pitch instruments so sellers found it prudent to sell horns that could play at either pitch

The government required importers to stamp the country of origin on horns starting in 1891. And, in 1923, they additionally required them to say "made in. . . "  If your horn only says Czech...  Then it is likely older than 1923.

kms