Here’s a rare special order Bach Mt. Vernon Model 16B. Yep, that’s right! An original Model 16 with a factory F attachment, made in the late 1950s.
There are some particularly neat design features on this trombone, especially the hand-bent, elongated valve wrap, which manages to fit neatly within the narrow span of a Bach 16 small bore trombone. The valve itself is a German made rotary valve, probably left over from older stock dating back to the Bronx factory. By the Mt. Vernon period, Bach had already transitioned to Marston made rotary valves, so this valve is clearly from an earlier era.
The instrument has a narrow dual-bore .495″/.509″ slide and a 7.5″ yellow brass bell with a French rim. It’s a fascinating trombone and a great example of how the Bach factory would occasionally entertain custom, one-off instruments, even into the Mt. Vernon era.
I have seen one other intact 16B from the New York period, as well as the valve section from another 16B that had been grafted onto a Conn 42H with a 78H slide. That instrument was played for quite some time here in Los Angeles by our dear friend Clifford Childers (RIP) and I think it came by way of Robb Stewart.
As for this 16B, it certainly works! However, the combination of the extremely narrow slide and the placement of the valve trigger makes for some rather tight quarters. You need a fairly thin jawline to comfortably play this trombone, which perhaps helps explain why the Model 16B never became a regular production instrument.
