Blessing trombones

[BflatBass]

Can anyone tell me why Blessing trombones are so inexpensive? I'm seeing prices online (including Amazon and WalMart) for the BTB-88-0R for less than $1800 new. That's pretty cheap for a large bore tenor. I'm assuming they are made in Indiana so they're not Chinese. Most new trombones of that type in that price point are student models.

Cheers,
Robert

[sirisobhakya]

It is likely that the horn is made in Indiana from parts manufactured in China.

[TBoneHalfNote]

May I share with you my observations regarding the Blessing student line of trumpets (cornets) and trombones?
For some reason and I'm really puzzled - if I see a relatively recent (made within 15 past years) Blessing horn on eBay it more often than not has obvious spots of Red Rot!
I wonder - do they use inferior brass stock for these?

[walldaja]

The Blessing name was sold several years ago to St Louis Music. I went to visit the "factory" after Blessing was acquired by Powell. The building looked abandoned. I wouldn't touch a new Blessing and would not give much consideration to an older one. So they don't come from Indiana.

[SirJohn]

Blessing ceased manufacturing at Elkhart several years ago. However, it seems like there is still old stock of BTB-88 floating around that was Elkhart made from what I can tell. I am not entirely sure that they make the BTB-88 model in the chinese factories or not. It's possible if you buy one, that you could end up with an Elkhart made one, but realize that it may actually be several years old. $1700 would actually be considered a high price for even a brand new Elhkart BTB-88. Used they go in the $400 range. Like others, I would not pay that type of cash for anything new labeled as Blessing.

[BillO]

I'm guessing a lot of the comments, especially WRT older Blessings, are by people that have no real experience with them. To be honest I have not tried the particular horn you mention and really have no idea where it's made. However, I do own a B-88 that was made back in the late 70's in Elkhart. I bought it used in the late 80's from a music store that had it in it's rental inventory. So I'm guessing it had a hard existence. Even still, after more than 30 more years of constant use, it is in excellent condition - cosmetics not withstanding. It has no red rot, the slide is 8/10, it sounds great, the valve is quiet, freely-rotating and leak-free. Oh, and it plays very nicely.

The older Blessings were well made and solid instruments. I would not hesitate to recommend and Elkhart built B-88 in decent condition.

Again, I have no idea about the new horn, but given Walmart's and Amazon's return policies it might be and idea to get one and try it out. Trying is really the only way to judge.

Just as a point of note, Blessing made many of the parts for the Elkhart era Conn 88H. They knew how to make quality instruments.

[BflatBass]

Interesting stuff. Thanks for all the input.

Robert

[TBoneHalfNote]

I'm guessing a lot of the comments, especially WRT older Blessings, are by people that have no real experience with them. ...
I do own a B-88 that was made back in the late 70's in Elkhart.
...It has no red rot, the slide is 8/10, it sounds great, the valve is quiet, freely-rotating and leak-free. Oh, and it plays very nicely.
...
The older Blessings were well made and solid instruments.

I have no experience with the Blessing trumpets or trombones from 1970-s but I once won a 'Blessing National' trumpet from 1930-s in... new condition. Yes, it was new. It was at the lower end of then Blessing line of horns but... I still regret selling it at some point. What a nice horn it was!
No red rot...
Please note - when mentioning red rot on many recent Blessing horns made in last 15 years or so I didn't mean they had any kind of relation to the GREAT old Blessing company and its superb instruments.

[RConrad]

My first trombone was a Blessing Scholastic. I actually just found it over the holidays in my father's basement while I was visiting. One of my favorite horns and there's just something about the sound I get from it. The slide was a bit lacking though. Not much else I can say about Blessings other than I'd buy an old used marching horn or B-88 without much of a second thought. I wouldn't bother the new stuff since it's hard to tell where it's actually coming from.

[JohntheTheologian]

A few years ago I purchased a online well-used Blessings B88 from a Texas pawn shop.

The horn was dirty and needed the string linkage cleaned and restrung. It took hours to clean the slide, but after cleaning it and having the valve reworked, the horn has played very well. The slide is smooth, in spite of a small amount of plating wear on one of the inner slide stockings and the valve is quick, smooth and quiet.

The horn plays very well and while the finish is not perfect, it' s a very good horn, espcially for the very low price I paid for it. I'm a Conn guy and while I've never played a good, vintage Elhart 88H, the horn plays like I would expect a good Conn-like horn to play.

As I mentioned, the horn came from Texas, where I've heard that boatloads of these horns were sold to high school students who wanted a horn with a "big sound" for their enormous marching bands. These horns regularly show up for sale online. Some are rather beat up, but others are still in good shape.

I would commend them as a good, large bore horn, usually for a decent price.

[Djbase]

I just bought a new btb-88. It is stamped made in China. So I think it is safe to say they aren't mad in Indiana anymore. It is my first tenor trombone that I have bought so I dont have anything to compare it to but it seems to play pretty well and the slide is smooth. I did get it for a steal though $350 from music arts . Com. So I figured not out much if it wasn't good. I have only had it for a month so dont know how well it will hold up.

[ghmerrill]

It would be interesting to see a head-to-head test/evaluation of this new BTB-88 and something like http://www.mackbrass.com/MACK-TB810L.php.

[thejazzter]

Just bought a Blessing B-88, that seems to be vintage with filthy slide and numerous dings, screws missing from the rotor and seized slides. It was rough!

A few hours in my workshop and I’m amazed how lovely this hooter plays. I picked it up for £80 (roughly $100) and I’m looking forward to spending some time with it! Can’t go wrong for this price can I??

[Mamaposaune]

The Blessing B-88's and B-78's (.525 bore) were made in Indiana thru the mid-90's, at least. WW+BW sold plenty of them for +/-$750 brand-new. Schools bought them by the boatload.
They were very good horns for the price, but a notch or 2 under a good 42B or Conn 88H. I had one on trial (I wanted to replace my Elkhart Conn 8H with a f-attachment large bore) but wound up buying a 42B and sending the Blessing back. I was able to do a back-to-back comparison with the B-88, 8-H, and 42B. (LtBOG, actually) As far as tone and response, the 42B and 88H were very close. The Blessing just felt a little less responsive and the sound was more dull, at least that's what I remember thinking back then. It was also a little heavier, and not balanced as well.
But - it was also $400. cheaper than the Bach.
I would say the Blessing back then was 90% as good as the Bach at 65% of the price.
I think they moved production to China sometime around 2000, and the quality went way down.

[thejazzter]

So, I posted a couple of months ago about a Blessing B-88 that I overhauled and got back to good playing condition. I noticed that there are 2 different serial numbers on the slide braces. Is this normal??

On the main slide (attached inner) brace the number is 738366 (I think!) but on the outer the number is almost impossible to clarify but looks like 280865.. can anyone help please?

Thank you in advance.

Ps. Everyone seems to match up nicely, the colour of the outer slide (and the design) is correct.

[BillO]

Gee, I don't remember. I gave mine away to a lovely lady in BC last summer. She's enjoying it a lot. Maybe the slide had a tube replaced?

[thejazzter]

There’s no sign of repair work and unless the (very worn) inner is a very recent replacement the serial numbers don’t really make sense.. the outer suggests a very credible 1979 hooter.. if I was replacing the brace as a tech I wouldn’t put a bar with a serial number on.

I did wonder if the inner slide might be from a Conn 88h perhaps? Or maybe it’s simply how they were catalogued

[pjanda1]

I've got a frankenbone with a B-88 bell. It is a Conn 88H style bell, just yellow and heavier. It isn't entirely different from some things folks pay a good bit of money for Edwards or Shires to make, as it seems to project a little more and hold together a little better at the loud end of the spectrum. From that, I'd think they would be sought after. But, old Elkhart B88 prices are all over the map on Ebay. And the downside for an old horn is that most are likely to have been student owned. I saw one in a Music-Go-Round recently and passed because the outers were not salvageable.

Paul