Expert: Frankie Bull (Mr.) - 10/31/2009

Question
I have an E Benge silver model 3 medium large bore trumpet Serial Number 5420 which I think dates it to 1959-60. Has the Burbank street address and the resno tempered stamp on the bell. I would like to know an estimated value of this horn. Great condition, few blemishes, finish is excellent, and plays and sounds wonderful. Thank you.

Ken

Answer
Hi Ken,

It's always difficult to put a valuation on a horn becasue of the many variables invoilved, but we'll have a go anyway.

"Resno tempered" refers to the bell and is a later version of "hand-tempered". The dating sounds about right.

There are many, many (even more) variables, but generally the range of values for used Burbank Benge trumpets is around $600 to around $1200, depending on:

   * finish (silver, though rare, increases the value by around $200 or so);
   * the condition of the finish (half the lacquer missing pushes it towards the bottom, all the silver pushes it towards the top). Yours sounds pretty good condition-wise;
   * the general condition (the closer to new the nearer to the top, several dings and dents pushes it closer to bottom, large dents even closer and maybe even lower);
       * the patience of the seller (if you need the horn sold for next months rent, the sales price is going to be on the low end, if you can sit on it for several months, you can usually get more);
 As a recommendation, Ken, on trying to sell the horn, please be aware of the following point.
The breadth of marketing (advertising it in your local paper) is likely to bring less $$$ than advertising it on the web with national exposure. Using eBay is  NOT a good indication of the value. eBay tends to be more what the seller NEEDS to get, rather than what the object is actually worth.

Burbank Benge trumpets which are virtually new, undamaged, unmodified and unrefurbished, could attract a greater price by a couple hundred dollars. People do occasionally spend crazy amounts for them, but the operative word is crazy.

Burbank Benges are still sold primarily as players, i.e., to trumpet players who intend to play them, not store them in their cases as collectors items. They are viewed as hand made trumpets, equal in quality to Schilke trumpets and the pre-Selmer Bachs, the performance of which is still greatly desired.

I hope you can come up with a good valuation from all of this, Ken. It sounds like you have a good horn on your hands. Why don't you make a come-back instead of selling it?

Cheers,

Frankie
(Australia)