Price: $5300 sold
This is a very unique bass trombone and has a lot of history! The bell is an Osmun Beryllium bell flare, made by the Kiefer Mfg company (same company that also made trombones bells for Schilke and Monette in the 80s, as well as Mack Trucks!). The valves are inline O.E. Thayers with stainless casings assembled by Chuck McAlexander of the Brasslab NYC and dated 8/86. The slide is a Bach 50 with a press fit Shires leadpipe. These Osmun bells were finished by Steve Shires when he was just getting started and Steve told me that they were very popular at the time, made for all the orchestra guys on the East Coast in the 1980s. This one has valve tuning in Bb/F/G/Eb with extension to Bb/F/Gb/D. Valve action is good but these are older valves and have heavier cores, so they are not as fast or smooth as modern thayer valves. The sound is pretty remarkable I must say, and I’m super tempted to keep this one for my museum because of all the famous trombone builders that have had a hand in its creation… but this one wants to be played so its available until I change my mind! One of the most stable and focused playing basses I’ve ever tried. Without case.
