Back to the main page Back to category Trombones
musical instrument details
1966 Olds Opera Bb/F Trombone, nickel silver, .554" slide, press-fit leadpipe
Estimated price for orientation: 699 $
Category: Trombones
Class:
Description Brand: F.E. Olds Items Included: Case, Mouthpiece Finish: Clear-Epoxy Lacquer Trombone Type: Tenor Bell Material: Nickel Silver Model: Opera Skill Level: Professional Key: Bb/F Country/Region of Manufacture: United States MPN: 0-23 or 0-25 ?
This is one of just a few F.E. Olds & Son Operas that I have ever seen here on eBay. Why go for mine? Because this Olds Opera was made in Fullerton, CA and has weathered the years well since then. The serial number for this horn is 5637xx which, from Olds loyalist sites, seems to date it to 1966 or so. Please review all the photos which I consider to be part of the description.
I thought this was an Opera 0-23 when I bought it. I also thought the model 0-25 was an Olds Symphony with a lacquered brass bell. However, opinions differ! See reply #94 at page 5 in an old tromboneforum thread, search for the topic "Olds Bass Trombone Models" - eBay not letting me post up the link...In his reply, the poster provides a spreadsheet. Interestingly, his data indicates that in 1958, the Opera 0-23 came out with a dual bore .547"/.554" slide and a nickel silver bell only. This is what years of interest prior to buying made me think I had, but I always thought that the Opera 0-23 came with a single bore .547" slide. Reading on, he says that the Opera 0-25 came out in 1960 with a choice of red brass or nickel silver bells and a single-bore slide of .554". His comment also says "Symphony" after that one. My horn has a nickel silver silver bell and, what measures out to be, a .554" slide. I do not believe that any of these Olds Opera horns have a model number engraved anywhere; just the words "Opera by F.E. Olds & Son, Fullerton CA" engraved in script in the bell. So are Opera horns like mine models 0-23 or 0-25? Your call I guess. Whichever, this is a great instrument that plays very well.By the way, .554" slides are actually an inbetween diameter from a standard .547" large bore tenor slide to a standard .562" bass trombone size. Result - nice open sound. The F rotor flows well and is not stuffy like the older Bach 42B's are known to be. I bought this horn used a few months ago, and then I had the stock leadpipe pulled out to add a collar and make it a press fit. I measured the end of that leadpipe and got an outside diameter of 0.554" with my dial calipers. I also got an outside diameter of 0.482" at the narrowest (Venturi area) portion. This all-nickel horn shows surface scratches but I did not want to buff. Looks great to me as-is, however, as always....The slide runs smoothly and works well with Conn Superslick and formula 3, misted with water.You can see some scratches and minor marks, if your eyes are better than mine! However, the smallest may not show up in the photos. This horn has obviously been in good hands and I like the looks of it.This horn seems to play like these Operas are supposed to. A nice, full sound on the bright side, probably due to the horn being made entirely of nickel brass with a lightweight bell of 8.5" diameter. I like the low D and C on the rotor side, plenty of punch. This is a vintage Olds horn so note that the leadpipe has a fractionally smaller opening diameter for its Morse taper. This means that your standard large shank mouthpiece (none are included) may project out a quarter inch or so beyond how it fits into other horns. With a standard large shank, the tuning slide accommodated proper intonation for me. However, being a perfectionist, I had Doug Elliott make me a G8S shank, (not included), which has the same Morse taper but is slightly narrower. My Elliott XT G cup, XT104 rim, and the G8S shank worked perfectly in this application to go in that extra 1/4", which meant that the tuning slide came out a bit further. I will include an unmarked (not shown but looks like a 5G or 6.5 AL in size?) large shank mouthpiece just so you can play right away after you unpack the carton. Of course, the leadpipe is removeable, so you can try others if you have them fashioned to work in the .554" slide. Some say to get a .562" bass trombone pipe and trim it back to the .554" diameter? If you do this, maybe you'll consider a pipe like the Kanstul 62 (HornGuys in CA) or several others that feature a similar Venturi diameter close to this one. BrassArk could make one for you as well... I used a couple wraps of thin white plumber teflon tape to secure the leadpipe in the slide.The horn comes in a very nice hard non-original case - by Yamaha I think. I was impressed with how it fit and looks like it came that way from the factory. I will pad, wrap and pack it inside of a carton to protect the horn on its way to you.Glad to ship via UPS (who dim. wt. the 44x14x14 carton, and charge same, as a 50-pounder) to you in CONUS or internationally using the eBay Global Shipping Program.Sold as-is, where-is, no returns. Combined shipping is fine if there is room in the box. Common sense will prevail.
Description
| Brand: | F.E. Olds | Items Included: | Case, Mouthpiece |
| Finish: | Clear-Epoxy Lacquer | Trombone Type: | Tenor |
| Bell Material: | Nickel Silver | Model: | Opera |
| Skill Level: | Professional | Key: | Bb/F |
| Country/Region of Manufacture: | United States | MPN: | 0-23 or 0-25 ? |
This is one of just a few F.E. Olds & Son Operas that I have ever seen here on eBay. Why go for mine? Because this Olds Opera was made in Fullerton, CA and has weathered the years well since then. The serial number for this horn is 5637xx which, from Olds loyalist sites, seems to date it to 1966 or so.
Please review all the photos which I consider to be part of the description.
I thought this was an Opera 0-23 when I bought it. I also thought the model 0-25 was an Olds Symphony with a lacquered brass bell. However, opinions differ! See reply #94 at page 5 in an old tromboneforum thread, search for the topic "Olds Bass Trombone Models" - eBay not letting me post up the link...In his reply, the poster provides a spreadsheet. Interestingly, his data indicates that in 1958, the Opera 0-23 came out with a dual bore .547"/.554" slide and a nickel silver bell only. This is what years of interest prior to buying made me think I had, but I always thought that the Opera 0-23 came with a single bore .547" slide. Reading on, he says that the Opera 0-25 came out in 1960 with a choice of red brass or nickel silver bells and a single-bore slide of .554". His comment also says "Symphony" after that one.
I thought this was an Opera 0-23 when I bought it. I also thought the model 0-25 was an Olds Symphony with a lacquered brass bell. However, opinions differ! See reply #94 at page 5 in an old tromboneforum thread, search for the topic "Olds Bass Trombone Models" - eBay not letting me post up the link...In his reply, the poster provides a spreadsheet. Interestingly, his data indicates that in 1958, the Opera 0-23 came out with a dual bore .547"/.554" slide and a nickel silver bell only. This is what years of interest prior to buying made me think I had, but I always thought that the Opera 0-23 came with a single bore .547" slide. Reading on, he says that the Opera 0-25 came out in 1960 with a choice of red brass or nickel silver bells and a single-bore slide of .554". His comment also says "Symphony" after that one.
My horn has a nickel silver silver bell and, what measures out to be, a .554" slide. I do not believe that any of these Olds Opera horns have a model number engraved anywhere; just the words "Opera by F.E. Olds & Son, Fullerton CA" engraved in script in the bell. So are Opera horns like mine models 0-23 or 0-25? Your call I guess. Whichever, this is a great instrument that plays very well.
By the way, .554" slides are actually an inbetween diameter from a standard .547" large bore tenor slide to a standard .562" bass trombone size. Result - nice open sound.
The F rotor flows well and is not stuffy like the older Bach 42B's are known to be. I bought this horn used a few months ago, and then I had the stock leadpipe pulled out to add a collar and make it a press fit. I measured the end of that leadpipe and got an outside diameter of 0.554" with my dial calipers. I also got an outside diameter of 0.482" at the narrowest (Venturi area) portion. This all-nickel horn shows surface scratches but I did not want to buff. Looks great to me as-is, however, as always....
The slide runs smoothly and works well with Conn Superslick and formula 3, misted with water.You can see some scratches and minor marks, if your eyes are better than mine! However, the smallest may not show up in the photos. This horn has obviously been in good hands and I like the looks of it.This horn seems to play like these Operas are supposed to. A nice, full sound on the bright side, probably due to the horn being made entirely of nickel brass with a lightweight bell of 8.5" diameter. I like the low D and C on the rotor side, plenty of punch. This is a vintage Olds horn so note that the leadpipe has a fractionally smaller opening diameter for its Morse taper. This means that your standard large shank mouthpiece (none are included) may project out a quarter inch or so beyond how it fits into other horns. With a standard large shank, the tuning slide accommodated proper intonation for me. However, being a perfectionist, I had Doug Elliott make me a G8S shank, (not included), which has the same Morse taper but is slightly narrower. My Elliott XT G cup, XT104 rim, and the G8S shank worked perfectly in this application to go in that extra 1/4", which meant that the tuning slide came out a bit further. I will include an unmarked (not shown but looks like a 5G or 6.5 AL in size?) large shank mouthpiece just so you can play right away after you unpack the carton. Of course, the leadpipe is removeable, so you can try others if you have them fashioned to work in the .554" slide. Some say to get a .562" bass trombone pipe and trim it back to the .554" diameter? If you do this, maybe you'll consider a pipe like the Kanstul 62 (HornGuys in CA) or several others that feature a similar Venturi diameter close to this one. BrassArk could make one for you as well... I used a couple wraps of thin white plumber teflon tape to secure the leadpipe in the slide.The horn comes in a very nice hard non-original case - by Yamaha I think. I was impressed with how it fit and looks like it came that way from the factory. I will pad, wrap and pack it inside of a carton to protect the horn on its way to you.Glad to ship via UPS (who dim. wt. the 44x14x14 carton, and charge same, as a 50-pounder) to you in CONUS or internationally using the eBay Global Shipping Program.Sold as-is, where-is, no returns. Combined shipping is fine if there is room in the box. Common sense will prevail.