Expert: Kenton Scott - 5/1/2006

Question
Hi Kenton,
I bought a trumpet a few years ago engraved Dabico -- which I think is Dayton Band Instrument Company.  It appears to be 30-40 years old, and in looking about I think it may have been a stencil instrument produced for Tom Daugherty (I saw a listing for a Dabico alto sax which makes me think neither the trumpet or sax are a custom shop product).  There is a Tom Daugherty leading a big band in Dayton now (a son, perhaps?).  The horn is nickle plated (I think) w/ 1st valve slide trigger.  Looks well made, plays well (looks like Monel valves), but I can find no additional reference on the maker. I'd love to learn about the origin of this horn, and any help is very much appreciated. Thanks in advance! John

Answer
John,

I would concur with your suspicions.  Though obviously, I can't tell how old it may be since I haven't seen it.  Nor do I know Tom Daugherty so I'll defer to you on that as well.

Unless it was a domestic product, somewhere on the horn the country of origin should be indicated.  So, assuming there are none, then it is likely that it was made in the US.

Most stencils were the 2nd line products of the manufacturer.  So, it may be worthwhile to start to compare it against those second line products to see if you can find a match.  IF that produces no results, then you may want to compare it with the first line products.  If you havn't already been to my WEB site, www.horn-u-copia.net is a good place to compare it.

Good Luck
Kenton