repaired crap, today
Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2026 6:44 pm
a really worn out Conn 88H trombone.
belongs to a school system.
Someone buffed the crap out of it and re-lacquered it years ago.
Stupidly, they also buffed the crap out of the rotor body.
I rebuilt the rotor bearings so at least it wouldn't rattle in the casing.
Because the bell was so thin, it was all twisted up and had a 5/8 inch crack in it. I straightened it out and silver brazed the crack. I did a nice flush job of fixing that crack.
Out of sympathy for the kid - & because it looked so horrible - I polished and re-lacquered the bell only (not the complete bell section which could have certainly used it). I didn't quote for this and didn't charge for it. When it was ready to shoot with lacquer, I realized I was out of thinner, so I used store bought rattle can lacquer, which is not a good idea when spraying an entire bell of an instrument. Of course, it fogged completely up (humid day, on and off raining), but - using a propane torch - I pulled the water vapor out from underneath the lacquer while blowing on it, so that the wet lacquer wouldn't catch on fire.
The playing slide must have been trashed years ago, because the Conn bell section was paired with a compatible Blessing B88 USA made playing slide, which was also messed up, but I got it going.
It looks like they bought a new case for it just this year that - in my opinion - is worth more than the instrument.
...but it's a zipper case, so - with school use - that zipper is going to last about six months.
The instrument wasn't that good in the first place. It was made in Abilene Texas, not Elkhart Indiana.
belongs to a school system.
Someone buffed the crap out of it and re-lacquered it years ago.
Stupidly, they also buffed the crap out of the rotor body.
I rebuilt the rotor bearings so at least it wouldn't rattle in the casing.
Because the bell was so thin, it was all twisted up and had a 5/8 inch crack in it. I straightened it out and silver brazed the crack. I did a nice flush job of fixing that crack.
Out of sympathy for the kid - & because it looked so horrible - I polished and re-lacquered the bell only (not the complete bell section which could have certainly used it). I didn't quote for this and didn't charge for it. When it was ready to shoot with lacquer, I realized I was out of thinner, so I used store bought rattle can lacquer, which is not a good idea when spraying an entire bell of an instrument. Of course, it fogged completely up (humid day, on and off raining), but - using a propane torch - I pulled the water vapor out from underneath the lacquer while blowing on it, so that the wet lacquer wouldn't catch on fire.
The playing slide must have been trashed years ago, because the Conn bell section was paired with a compatible Blessing B88 USA made playing slide, which was also messed up, but I got it going.
It looks like they bought a new case for it just this year that - in my opinion - is worth more than the instrument.
...but it's a zipper case, so - with school use - that zipper is going to last about six months.
The instrument wasn't that good in the first place. It was made in Abilene Texas, not Elkhart Indiana.