This is a rare one! An all-original Vincent Bach Model 127 tenor trombone, serial no. 85, completed in 1930 and still bearing its original bell date stamp.
The surviving shop card is intriguing in its simplicity. It records the instrument as being sold on March 5, 1932, to a customer whose name appears to read Albert Scholl (though the handwriting is difficult to decipher). What’s fascinating is what the card doesn’t say. Unlike many later Bach shop cards, there are no notes describing the bell diameter, tuning bow, or gooseneck nor additional factory visits or multiple owners. It simply specifies a .524″ bore handslide with nickel silver outer tubes and raw bronze inner tubes.
Nearly a century later, that’s exactly how this trombone remains. It retains its original friction-fit bell-to-slide connection with no later modifications, making it an exceptional survivor from Bach’s earliest New York production.
Just as remarkable is the original New York Bach case, complete with its original emblem, cloth banner, and even the original handle still intact. It’s another wonderful mystery from Vincent Bach’s formative years, raising as many questions as it answers and adding to the mystique of these extraordinarily early Bach trombones.
