For Sale: 1923 Conn 86I New Wonder 4-valve upright bell euphonium
I have decided to sell my Conn 86I New Wonder euphonium. According to the serial number, it was made in 1923, and more recently it has undergone a complete overhaul, including valve replating, in 2018. It looks and plays like it just came from the factory.
There is a story behind this horn. In 1960 my father and I (I was 14 years old) bought it from one Charles Towsley, the original owner, who was then 92 years old. (He also had a gold-plated naked-lady double-bell horn that he was not interested in selling, more's the pity.) He told us that he and Charles G. Conn had been friends, which is entirely plausible; they would have had a 48-year overlap in Elkhart, Indiana. He also said that the horn had been made especially for him. I am not entirely willing to discount that statement, given that the horn was made a year before that model actually went into production. The horn could also have been a prototype of the 86I model.
I used it heavily until 1968, when I pretty much dropped out of instrumental music to become a linguist and intel specialist in the Air Force. I didn't even have the horn in my possession until 1978, when I returned from my last overseas assignment. Between then and 2005 I used it only sporadically, but then it went back into full-time use in the local community band and in church programs. It went back into retirement at the end of 2012, when I bought a modern compensating horn. In 2018 I had Southeastern Music do the overhaul.
It comes with a case (which looks like a wreck, but still performs the function) and a 6.5AL mouthpiece. I am hoping to pass it on to someone who will honor its historicity. If you are interested, contact me here or via private message to ask questions or make an offer.
Dave
David Bjornstad
1923 Conn New Wonder 86I, Bach 6 1/2 AL
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