TromboneChat

Hello All,

A while back I was scanning for trombones on Ebay. In the Martin section I found an Imperial, but was not a Martin. The brand is Franklin, something I had never heard of before. The price was cheap, so I went ahead and bid and won the auction. This horn has a copper bell similar to my Conn 12H but it is much lighter. It seems to be built like a student horn but it plays remarkably well. Its tone and response are as good as a copper Director, maybe better. Has anyone heard of the Franklin Imperial? Has anyone heard of Franklin? I would appreciate any information.

Thanks,

Jeff

https://www.trombonechat.com/viewtopic.php?t=2304

Someone beat you to the punch. Apparently, the best current guess is that it's a Getzen stencil.

Can you post a link to the closed auction?

The closed auction does not appear to be available anymore. I went back to look at purchase history and it was October of 2016 when I got it. I have called several manufacturers, including Getzen. The lady I spoke with there said she had worked for Getzen for 30 plus years and had never heard of Franklin. Everyone else also denies association. I agree with you that without specific knowledge it does sound Getzen-ish. I can find a few references online, but only for sale items or people trying to identify their horn. Do you know anyone else besides Conn that made a small bore copper bell? I can't find any seams, so it is possible that like Conn this bell was electro-formed.

Jeff

Getzen and Blessing both made copper bells for small bore horns. The thread I linked to mentions a different thread on Chisham net. That one has pictures of the Franklin horn. His does not have a copper bell, but it has the same model designation as yours. Does it look similar to the one that you bought? in that thread, the owner makes a whole bunch of claims about hex shaped braces and so on, but he seems to be basing it all simply on the water key. There are other companies that used hex stock for water keys. The braces on his don't look like Getzen.

I have the Franklin at work right now sitting next to my desk (just in case of an emergency need to improvise). The water key is not hex stock and is not curved. It looks more like a water key from a trumpet in that it is symmetrically located on the side of the slide. The bone on Chisham I saw is an Artist where mine is an Imperial. The only similarities I see are the brand and the engraving. I will take some pictures tomorrow and see if I can figure out how to post them. By the way, Blessing also denied knowing anything about Franklin. I fully believe it is a stencil, but by who? Mysteries are great, but only if there is a way they can be solved...

Thanks,

Jeff

Buescher (pronounced Bisher) was also a major stencil horn maker through their subsidiary the Grand Rapids Instrument Co.
The cross braces look like Buescher. I recently found a Franklin Imperial however the slide lock screw doesn't have the hexagonal appearance of a Buescher. They widen or flare out like Holtons. Maybe the one i saw may haveca mismatched slide. But the bell is very Buescher looking