Pricing and info - Blessing B88 (Elkhart)

[Jervin22000]

I have an early 2000s era Blessing B88 I’m thinking of selling. Slick slide, good valve, tuning slides all move. It has some spots of corrosion (not red rot, just brown spots that seem to polish up with some scrubbing and Brasso) on the outer slide. A local pro tried it out, said it played really well in tune and had a great sound in his studio, but kicked back at loud volumes outside and that he couldn't “push it”. He also noticed the large bore mouthpieces didn’t seem to fit quite right in the receiver.

From what I’ve seen online I think these were built on the same jigs and mandrels as the Conn 88H? It has a yellow brass bell and the closed-wrap F attachment. Does anyone know if they had a receiver that was different from the standard Morse taper? Any other info anyone can offer, including a reasonable price range, would be most welcome. Thanks!

[RJMason]

These horns don’t sell for very much, but they are underrated. Quality Elkhart parts. Really awesome workhorse trombones. Good for a student, but can work for a pro! The bells are a little thicker gauge than a Conn, so that could explain not being able to “push it?”. I have a custom trombone built with Blessing parts, the receiver is standard. No issue with mouthpiece. They are normally in the 4-700 range, maybe $800 high end?

[Posaunus]

I have an early 2000s era Blessing B88 ...
From what I’ve seen online I think these were built on the same jigs and mandrels as the Conn 88H?

Is this true?

[BGuttman]

I have an early 2000s era Blessing B88 ...
From what I’ve seen online I think these were built on the same jigs and mandrels as the Conn 88H?

Is this true?

The story goes that Blessing used to buy the worn-out tooling from Conn, hence the resemblance. I can't prove it one way or another.

[Jervin22000]

Is this true?

The story goes that Blessing used to buy the worn-out tooling from Conn, hence the resemblance. I can't prove it one way or another.

Ah ok. I thought I had read on another thread in here that Blessing made the parts for Conn and used the same tooling for their own versions. Thanks for the info!

[stewbones43]

What is the story behind Blessing's copper bells? Did they take over the equipment from Conn or did they make copper bells at the same time as Conn made them?

Never too old to learn-but sometimes too old to remember!

Cheers

Stewbones43

[MStarke]

I have no idea about the story behind the copper bells, but played their straight large bore with copper bell for around 2 years.

Really great and fun instrument. Really nice interesting and colourful sound, very good response and surprisingly easy high range (easiest high D I have had on a large bore until now). For me it just had a tendency to get a bit to extreme (quite bright and a little uncontrolled) when playing loud.

[BGuttman]

Anderson Plating had the mandrels for the Coprion bells. If Blessing had some kind of agreement with Conn they could have bought Coprion bells from Anderson. Otherwise, sheet copper is pretty easy to acquire.

Note: you won't find any seams in an electroformed bell like the Coprion.

[timothy42b]

These horns don’t sell for very much, but they are underrated. Quality Elkhart parts. Really awesome workhorse trombones. Good for a student, but can work for a pro! The bells are a little thicker gauge than a Conn, so that could explain not being able to “push it?”. I have a custom trombone built with Blessing parts, the receiver is standard. No issue with mouthpiece. They are normally in the 4-700 range, maybe $800 high end?

So normal leadpipe taper? Then a mouthpiece that wobbles wouldn't be the taper problem.?

Did Blessing make copies of the .525 Conn also?

[BGuttman]

...

Did Blessing make copies of the .525 Conn also?

The B7 is a copy of the 78H, while the B78 is a copy of the 79H.

[Jervin22000]

These horns don’t sell for very much, but they are underrated. Quality Elkhart parts. Really awesome workhorse trombones. Good for a student, but can work for a pro! The bells are a little thicker gauge than a Conn, so that could explain not being able to “push it?”. I have a custom trombone built with Blessing parts, the receiver is standard. No issue with mouthpiece. They are normally in the 4-700 range, maybe $800 high end?

So normal leadpipe taper? Then a mouthpiece that wobbles wouldn't be the taper problem.?

Did Blessing make copies of the .525 Conn also?

I didn’t notice a wobble with the mouthpieces I have (Bach 5G and Giddings Boreas), the guy I had check it out just didn’t think they went in as far as he expected them to. I don’t have a Remington to compare them to, so I’m not sure what the difference would be.

I’ll post a listing on the site tomorrow and include a photo with a mouthpiece in the receiver. Thanks for all the help everyone!

[Posaunus]

So normal leadpipe taper? Then a mouthpiece that wobbles wouldn't be the taper problem.?

Did Blessing make copies of the .525 Conn also?

A wobbly mouthpiece is a problem!
Could well be due to a different shank taper from the mouthpiece receiver. Conn 88H trombones used to have a special receiver taper to match the "Remington" large-shank mouthpieces. Perhaps Blessing followed their lead. If so, you'll need a Remington taper mouthpiece.

By the way, the Conn 78H and 79H trombones are 0.522" bore.

[MStarke]

So normal leadpipe taper? Then a mouthpiece that wobbles wouldn't be the taper problem.?

Did Blessing make copies of the .525 Conn also?

A wobbly mouthpiece is a problem!
Could well be due to a different shank taper from the mouthpiece receiver. Conn 88H trombones used to have a special receiver taper to match the "Remington" large-shank mouthpieces. Perhaps Blessing followed their lead. If so, you'll need a Remington taper mouthpiece.

The Blessing large bore I had, had a normal large shank receiver.

[brassmedic]

What is the story behind Blessing's copper bells? Did they take over the equipment from Conn or did they make copper bells at the same time as Conn made them?

Never too old to learn-but sometimes too old to remember!

Cheers

Stewbones43

I don't think Conn ever made a Coprion bell for .547 instruments. That was Blessing's thing. The Conn Coprion bells were small bore.

[JohnL]

Does anyone know when the B88 was first introduced? I'm wondering if it coincided with Conn moving to Abilene.

[Jervin22000]

Here’s a link to photos, including two with my Giddings Boreas mouthpiece in (fits tightly, seems fine to me).

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... lrUum24Y_k