Old Trombone Indentification

[HornboneandVocals]

Hi all,

I’ve found some olds trombones on OfferUp and I was curious if anyone knows anything about them. Seller knows nothing about them.

[Dennis]

That's an Olds Ambassador, a rugged student horn. I was never a fan, but some folks swear by them.

[Posaunus]

They both appear to be Olds Ambassadors. The brown plastic case is authentic Olds, used at least in the late 1960s. That trombone looks near-new. Not sure about the black case, but its trombone appears to be older and "worn."

The Ambassadors are good intermediate trombones (originally marketed as "student" instruments, that were well-made [from at least the 1940s to late 1970s] and sturdy (appropriate for the purpose). They do tend to play best with the original Olds 3 mouthpieces (or mouthpieces with an "Olds" shank). They may need a "refresh" from a tech, but if they are in good shape, they should be played instead of sitting in a closet!

Additional information about these trombones in many previous threads on TromboneChat. (Use the "Search" function.)

[JohnL]

The one in the black case is the older of the two (late 1940's or early 1950's - probably before Olds moved from Los Angeles to Fullerton). Notice that the handslide brace is the same shape as the other braces? They only did that for the first few years of production; most Ambassadors have a one-piece round handslide brace (like the one in the brown case).

As for the one in the brown case? The tuning slide has a brace, so it's no earlier than the late 1950's, and the counterweight is attached to the tuning slide bow (rather than being on the tuning slide brace), so it's no later than the early 1970's.

That's assuming they're all original; if someone swapped parts around, all bets are off.

The one in the brown case looks to me like the slide isn't properly positioned in the case. Caveat emptor.