Conn 6h

[Bassbonechandler]

Hello all,

A friend of mine is about to buy a 6h off another one of my friends and I'm trying to figure out when the horn is from. I know it's not an elkhart because of the bell engraving but the hand slide appears to be rose brass. If anyone could help me figure out when it might have been made that would be great.

[Burgerbob]

All you need is the serial number.

[Bassbonechandler]

All you need is the serial number.

I'm not familiar with conn horns very much, where is the serial number? I tried looking already and didn't see anything. Only 6h on the bottom of the slide.

[Burgerbob]

Should be on the slide near the tenon.

[BGuttman]

Note that after 999999, Conn started adding letters to the serial starting with Axxxxx. I believe the last Elkhart serial was around Nxxxxx and Abilene horns with Elkhart parts went to Rxxxxx. If you have a serial starting with something like CG, it's much later.

There are some Abilene horns that don't have recognizable serial numbers, but you say the engraving on the bell says "Elkhart" so that may be moot.

Some Elkhart Conn 6H's say "Conn USA", but no Abilene horns say "Conn Elkhart".

[Bassbonechandler]

Note that after 999999, Conn started adding letters to the serial starting with Axxxxx. I believe the last Elkhart serial was around Nxxxxx and Abilene horns with Elkhart parts went to Rxxxxx. If you have a serial starting with something like CG, it's much later.

There are some Abilene horns that don't have recognizable serial numbers, but you say the engraving on the bell says "Elkhart" so that may be moot.

Some Elkhart Conn 6H's say "Conn USA", but no Abilene horns say "Conn Elkhart".

The serial number is 959724. Is this older?

[BGuttman]

According to this list:
https://cderksen.home.xs4all.nl/ConnSer ... Brass.html

it's from around 1962

[Bassbonechandler]

So it's most likely an elkhart then? It does say conn USA on the bell.

[Burgerbob]

Yup!

[doctortrombone]

Best thing is to post some detailed pictures. Conn went back to numbers only in the '80s, so just the number isn't enough. Here's what a '62 Elkie would look like:

https://www.thebrass-exchange.com/index ... azing-sold

A later Abilene horn would have round flanges on the tuning slide brace, as compared to the diamond-shaped ones on the Elkhart one.