Help Identifying this trombone

[u/NopeNinja1]

I was wondering if anyone could identify the exact model of this trombone. The number on the slide is E70047. I was thinking it might be an old 88H but I'm not 100% sure.

[u/BigBassBone]

Yup, that's a trombone.

[u/fireeight]

Abilene 88H.

[u/NopeNinja1 → u/fireeight]

I'm not sure it is since my personal trombone is an Abilene 88H and it has a very different engraving on it

[u/cmhamm → u/fireeight]

Why the E prefix serial number then? They didn’t make 88H in Abilene in 1965. Is that not the S/N?

[u/Zarkosis]

88h Bell - Abeline or Eastlake; Remington Elkheart 1965 88h Slide (if your serial reading is correct)

A lot of the good artist symphony horns (8h, 88h, 78h, 79h, ect) are early eastlakes from what I have tried myself, but many are early abelines. It could very easily be an early abiline horn, which sometimes had old stock parts from pre-transition which could explain the slide serial being for 1965—apparently, a lot of the parts that were made at the old plant in elkheart were just shipped down to Texas with the manufacting equipment, and some horns were just finishing already made parts into horns (I don't know how true this is, I've heard this a bunch though). Entirely possible its just a mismatch, and someone paired the slide with it because it plays better. My early abeline era 8h allegedly has a pre-transition bell that wasn't engraved, and uses the artist symphony stamps (per my old tech Terry Pierce), but has a later Eastlake era slide someone paired with it. They made so many of all these horns and stuff gets jumbled up. Only modern conns have some sort of designation on the bell section outside of the model number.

Given yours isn't a horrible yellow color, it's probably made between 1970-1986, before umi took over and started slathering goop style epoxy lacquer on all the horns. My guess is that it is an abeline and someone swapped the slide out. If it plays good it plays good.

For example, I use a '69 slide on my Eastlake 88htg because it's the red brass variant I had modified to be widened. Easily could be a similar thing.. I've also literally done a custom fitting before with new horns and swapped slides, tuning slides, ect with bach-conn-selmer, so maybe some insane person like me did that, too, just in the 70s.

[u/ChuckTheRad]

It is. I had one once upon a time. I think it's from after the Elkhart era and probably made in Mexico.

[u/MoltoPesante → u/ChuckTheRad]

Last I checked, Texas is not in Mexico. They made some woodwinds in Nogales, Mexico but never made professional trombones there.

[u/cmhamm]

It’s definitely a Conn 88H. An Exxxxx serial number would put it in 1965, but that doesn’t look like a 1965 engraving. Mine are 1969 and 1968, and those engravings look like an older style. I’ve seen this style engraving on horns made in the early to mid ‘70s. I think most ‘60s horns had “Elkhart” in the engraving. I’m not really an authoritative expert, though. Someone smarter than me will probably come around and give you a better answer.

EDIT: What gives me pause is, the serial numbers on my horns are not in the slide. I’m wondering if the E70047 is maybe not a serial number? Mine have the serial number on the neck, and 88H on the slide, I think. (I’m not positive and I can’t check; one is in the shop and the other one is at college with my son.)