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Thread: For Sale: 1923 Conn 86I New Wonder 4-valve upright bell euphonium

  1. #1

    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.

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    Dave
    David Bjornstad

    1923 Conn New Wonder 86I, Bach 6 1/2 AL
    2018 Wessex EP100 Dolce, Denis Wick 4ABL
    2013 Jinbao JBEP-1111L, Denis Wick 4AM
    2015 Jinbao JBBR-1240, Denis Wick clone mouthpiece of unknown designation
    Cullman (AL) Community Band (Euph Section Leader)
    Brass Band of Huntsville (2nd Bari)

  2. #2
    That's a very nice-looking horn! I imagine it has a really sweet tone. Good luck with the sale!
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  3. This horn with the bell front bell instead of straight bell is what I recall Leonard Falcone playing in his famous mid-century recordings.

    Doug
    Adams E3 0.60 Sterling bell - Prototype top sprung valves
    Concord Band
    Winchendon Winds
    Townsend Military Band

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