TromboneChat

I found a Antoine Courtois Prestige Orchestra 500R Bass for a decent price (2700) but I can't find too much info on it. Does anyone have info on it?

I have an Antoine Courtois trombone catalogue from around the year 2000 ( rough guess as there is no indication of publishing date) It has a Prestige Orchestral Bass Trombone Model 500B and a Model 500BR (yellow brass bell and gold brass bell) They are both handmade, independent double trigger basses, tuned to Bb/F/Gb/D and have standard rotors. The bore is 0.562 in and the bell is 10.511 in diameter. The bell is fixed/ non-detachable but the leadpipe is a screw-in removeable type. The instrument originally came with a green, soft sided case. The instruments were made in Amboise, in the Loire Valley in France.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Stewbones43

There was some previous discussion of the 500R in this thread. There seem to have been a lot of variations in the 500 series.

https://www.trombonechat.com/viewtopic.php?p=202697

I have a Courtois Opera Prestige 500, double rotors Bb/F/Gb/D that I bought new about 20 years ago. I love it! I did replace the bell with a gold-brass Shires 9 1/2" because the 10 1/2" was just too much bell for me.
I love the sound; the slide is a lightweight brass with no oversleeves and is fast and smooth; never had any issues with the rotors. It is well balanced and the rotor levers are in a comfortable place, a good fit for my left hand. (Although I lost the Gb paddle and had to have a new one made).
And the original case was made by Bam.