Conn New York Symphony Silver & Gold 1925 Trumpet Excellent Player

Description

Conn "New York Symphony" Silver & Gold 1925 Trumpet Excellent Player.
This Conn Trumpet ("New York Symphony" or 22B) was made in 1925 (serial #221315).  It is therefore almost 100 years old; however, given how long it has been engaged in the music wars, it is still a remarkable player.  Its valves are all tight and compression is very strong.  Both the first and third valve slides deliver healthy pops when those slides are pulled out. However, the best quick test of a horn's compression is to remove the first valve slide, place your finger over the endof the top tube, depress all three valves, and try to blow air through the horn.  When I do this test with this horn, I get incredibly strong resistance indicating that all valves are very tight.
Tone on this horn is excellent.
This horn does not come with a vintage mouthpiece.  However, I have found that these early Conns play much better with a modern mouthpiece. I own and have tried several of the old mouthpieces just to try for an "authentic" sound, but always come back to my Bach 3C.  With it in the horn, I get a nice, rich tone: full at the bottom of the range; bright at the top.  The 22Bs were made with a small 0.438" bore which makes it easier to play (especially for a beginning player) than a larger bore instrument.  It was made as a professional instrument, but that smaller bore takes less air and is easier on the lip.  I've used a 22B several times when my group had programs that were more demanding and I needed more endurance.
Mechanical Condition:
As you can see from the picture of the horn disassembled, all slides,valve buttons, or valve caps (top and bottom) are free.   They all move or unscrew easily.  The valve stems where they screw into the spring tower are also free, but the one on valve 3 has a bit of resistance.  As is the case on all older trumpets, the danger is cross threading any of the valve pieces (top caps, bottom caps, and [especially] valve stems) when screwing them back in.  With a little care you can avoid that issue.
The finish on the horn is excellent--with only one exception
.  First, the exception:  as you can see in the photos, the top pipe where the main tuning slide fits was replaced with a tube that no longer has its silver plating intact.  A good brass instrument repair service should be able to re-plate that area for a reasonable price.  And if you are into fix-it-yourself projects, plating kits are available.
The finish on the rest of the horn is beautiful.  Conn's silver and gold horns are, for me, the most attractive horns they made.  On this horn the base plating is silver.  The bell is gold and ornately engraved almost as far as the valve cluster.  The valve buttons and valve caps (top and bottom) are also gold plated.  Finally, there is no wear to the plating around the valve cluster where the player's hands usually cause wear.
I find only one shallow dent on the back bow and a few wrinkles on the bell right at the valve cluster where a dent has been "rolled" out.  There is also a bit of solder showing where the top tuning valve pipe fits.  All these little flaws are shown in pictures.  None of them affect the tone or playability of the trumpet.
Other Parts in the Case:
This horn comes with the original Bb to A tuning slide with a rotary valve, the cleaning rod, and a screwdriver.  The Bb to A tuning slide is probably a part you will not need, but that feature  came in handy for me once when I had to play an arrangement in a key that required me to keep up with about five sharps.  I had to transpose the music, but moving the key to A allowed me to play it with only two or three sharps.  Much more comfortable under my fingers.  This horn also originally came with a stop rod for the main tuning slide that also facilitated the move to the key of A.  It is missing on this horn and on most Conn horns from this era, probably because it was so rarely used and is a bother to replace every time you clean the horn.
I have collected and played early Conn trumpets and cornets for almost 30 years and this is one of the better ones I have found.  And when I have taken one of these horns to a professional repair person, their responses are usually amazement at how well these early Conn horns play.
I have priced this horn a bit lower than other excellent playing 22Bs because it is not (yet) in mint condition.  However, it easily could be.