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Olds Serial Numbers and Dates for Trumpets and Cornets. The last date below is based on Uan Rasey's memory of getting his Recording model trumpet.
I figured I would write this guide after an unfortunate experience I had on Ebay purchasing an Olds Ambassador for my son due to a deceptive listing. Having previously done my research I am sharing it here so those in search of this wonderful instrument can hopefully avoid my unfortunate experience.
James Donaldson's Trumpet Gearhead web site at dallasmusic.org provides wonderful information about trumpets. He gives useful advise on purchasing trumpets, care, testing, what not to do etc...
One topic he covers is the Olds Ambassafor Trumpets, which were made for the student market. This is where I learned about these wonderful trumpets, including the other models made by F.E. Olds in the USA until the company went under in 1979.
Donaldson recommends the Olds Ambassador model as one of 'the best ever' that are still very available. There are plenty to find on Ebay. However, there is a certain caution as the horns for sale are not all the same. I have seen Ambassadors for sale that have been totally restored like new without knowing what their serial number is since it was removed during the polishing so it is unknown what year model you are getting sometimes. Unless of course the restorer does not buff out the serial number. Refinishing can vary from a brushed finish or a restoration as the horn was orignally sold or even unlaquered brass. Purchasing a restored horn, regardless of the type of restoration usually costs more and the buyer should still beware and ask the seller lots of questions before bidding or buying it now.
Another condition is original with rub spots in the lacquer. While the condition of the lacquer can vary from horn to horn depending on the care it was given by the prior owner or owners, having a horn with at least 70% of its lacquer can usually be a sure bet the horn is in good condition. I have seen horns from the early 50s with a lot of their lacquer and minimal wear or mininal dings.
Also consider that improvements to lacquering can affect a horn depending on the year model. For instance the Ambassadors manufactured in Los Angeles when found today often have a darker color probably due to the type of lacquer used. Often the Fullerton models retain their color better which may be due to a change in the lacquer used.
Climate can also affect lacquer on an instrument and how the instrument is stored. Humid climates can take their toll on brass instruments unlike dryer climates.
The next category of condition Olds Ambassadors have been up for auction on Ebay are those that have been the subject of self-help restoration or those that have been modified or sustained damage. While seller descriptions may not be thorough, buyer's should beware and look at the pictures carefully.
Such horns subject to self-help polishing reduce the value of such instrument and should be avoided unless the buyer is experienced in restoration and knows what they are doing. It is often easy to spot such self-help polished instruments as the brass is bright and shiny and not a mellow warm tone color of an instrument with most of its original lacquer. These self-help Ambassadors are often listed as estate finds with the seller knowing nothing about instruments..
Buyer care should also be taken with instruments that have damages. Carefully review the description and pictures for any damages. Dings and minor dents don't usually detract from an instruments playability. What should be the upmost concern for Buyers is whether any of the tubing is bent. I encounterd such a problem with an Ambassador in which the Seller neglected to describe that a main tube was not only compressed it was bent and this was not visible in the photos.
While an instrument with a bent tube may play, it may not play up its top quality. Also repairing such an instrument can be costly as the tubing usually needs to be replaced when it is damaged beyond a simple ding. Hence Buyers should ask if any of the tubing is bent or out of the original alignment or if there appears to be repairs to the bracing or if any parts have been rewelded.
While may prize the Los Angeles Ambassadors, the early Fullerton ones are also gems. The early Fullertons have the same bracing as the Los Angeles ones as it was later on that Olds changed the bracing, mouthpiece receiver and the pinky ring to a finger hook, which may have been around 1958. Also the engraving from the early models changed and this is evident comparing the 50s models to the 70s models. The earlier engraving is much more elaborate.
Serial numbers are another important factor to consider to date a horn. It is fairly easy to date the Los Angeles models that have 'Los Angeles' engraved on the bell, as those were made until Olds moved to Fullerton around 1954. After the move the Ambassador trumpets had engraved Fullerton on the bell. The Ambassadors manufatured in Fullerton had a much longer run. Musictrader.com on their Olds page lists Olds serial numbers from March 1952 at 73000 (anything earlier would be before that date) to number 999999 in September 1977.
The serial numbers are also carried on each of the 3 valves and this is another consideration a Buyer should query a seller. If a valve has been replaced it will not carry the same serial number or may not have one at all. Seller's should disclose this information in their listing as it is easy to determine by removing the valves from the horn.
Several other details that Buyers should beware are whether any of the slides are stuck, whether the valve covers are stuck in place or the threads stripped, the water keys are in working order or missing, any parts are missing. Purchasing an instrument with these problems can be quite costly to repair or find replacement parts for and may not be worth the investment.
As James Donaldson stated in his wonderful guide 'these are great playing horns, often better than other companies' allegedly professional models, built to withstand all the rigors of the school band room, marching field, and street. They were built to be played at Armegedon.'
Donaldson points out that these vintage Ambassadors 'are not the prettiest things around' and considering Olds stopped production in 1979 such horns are at least over 30 years old and goes on to state that those 'worn and in need of some repair . . . I wouldn't bother with . . . unless you know pretty much what you are doing.'
As Donaldson said '[l]ook at the more expensive ones--they are essentially ready to go . . .' although 'they may have some splotchy lacquer.'
And just that, an Olds Ambassador with some cosmetic wear, minimal dings or none at all, aligned tubes and some splotchy lacquer, with a little TLC, can make some nice music.
The bell of an F. E. Olds trombone, c. 1927, with the trademark 'Golden Bear' and date of the 1912 patent.
F. E. Olds was a manufacturer of musical instruments founded by Frank Ellsworth (F.E.) Olds in Los Angeles, California in the early 1900s. The company made brass instruments, especially trombones, cornets, and trumpets.
By the late 1960s or early 1970s, although still producing some professional level instruments, the company had become better known for mass-produced student instruments. Construction quality declined as production quotas were emphasized.[citation needed] That plus competition from other companies and cutbacks in school music budgets led to the firm going out of business in 1979. The Olds and Reynolds names (Olds merged with F.A. Reynolds in 1964) have since been bought and revived in 1983 by a new company under the name F.E. Olds and Sons,[1] based in Mountainside, New Jersey.
History[edit]
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Frank Ellsworth (F.E.) Olds was born in Medina, New York in 1861. He was named for the Civil War hero Frank Ellsworth of the Ellsworth Zouaves. While a child his family moved to Toledo, Ohio. After finishing high school, F.E. went to Elkhart, Indiana to work for C.G. Conn and learned the brass instrument making business. In 1885, he moved to Los Angeles, California. An amateur trombone player and entrepreneur, he first set up a shop to build bicycles, which was the only one in Los Angeles at the time. By 1886, he had established the first electroplating shop in Southern California, doing silverplating with H. T. Hazard, establishing the Los Angeles Tool Works by 1887. 1886 also marked the arrival in Los Angeles of F.E.'s future bride, Helen Daisy Birdsall. In 1901, he was a machinist with the Locomobile Company of the Pacific, branching out from bicycles to automobiles.
All along experimenting with trombone design, he was repairing band instruments full-time by 1910. This early work was done in a small workshop behind his house, which was just south of downtown Los Angeles. It was probably about this time that he first offered his new trombones for sale. Implementing new ideas patented in 1912 (some of these are incorporated in trombones today), Olds started producing quality trombones on a small scale. From the earliest years, he was offering a variety of bore sizes (.485' and dual bores from .494'/.509' to .509'/.535') and bell diameters from 6' to 9 ½'. Model designations were Solo, Small Medium, Medium, Large Medium, Large and Symphony, which did not indicate a particular bore and bell combination, but a relative size. Most Olds trombones were made to order at this time. These new trombones apparently met with success quickly, and with the help of Earl Strickler and Earl Williams, Olds expanded production to about 200 a year and moved into a large facility by the early 1920s.
Reginald Birdsall (R.B.) Olds (b. September 11, 1899) came to work with his father in 1920, having served in the U.S. Navy during World War I. With R.B.'s enthusiasm, Olds published their first catalogue in 1925 and introduced new models shortly after. It was about 1924 that Olds started making mouthpieces with ivory rim and cup and the trademark 'Golden Bear' playing the trombone was first engraved on the bells. R.B. was most likely responsible for using the slogan: 'It's a Bear', and otherwise modernizing the image of the company and its products. Also, during these years, they were working on trumpet design, finally tooling up for its production by 1928.
On October 9, 1928, F.E. was traveling with his wife and other prominent Californians on the S.S. City of Los Angeles (later commissioned, USS George F. Elliott) to South America. He died suddenly and unexpectedly, suffering a heart attack, and was buried at sea. His new trumpets were not offered for sale until after his death.
R.B. introduced cornets soon afterward. The Super Olds line of trombones, trumpets and cornets was introduced in about 1932 and soon became legendary. Other models introduced in the 1930s include the Special, Military, Symphony and French models. All but the Super models could be ordered with a distinctive hammered finish on the bell. This was the standard finish for the Military line. The Super bass trombone could be had with two valves, both actuated by levers. This is likely the first production bass trombone with two valve levers.[citation needed] There were also some french horns made in the late 1930s, although they didn't appear in the catalogues at that time. The Recording model trumpet and cornet were probably designed shortly before the war halted production. During World War II, the government had Olds produce saxophones along with the more standard strategic production. Today these are very rare as they were not generally available to the public and a large number of them went down with a supply ship in the Mediterranean. By 1941 Olds held al least six patents for trumpet and trombone design.
Shortly after World War II ended and brass instrument manufacturing restrictions were lifted, Chicago Musical Instruments purchased F.E. Olds & Son.
One of CMI's initial operating decisions was to begin producing a full line of background and low brass instruments in addition to the trumpet, cornet and trombone models that Olds was already making and had built its reputation on. However, the Olds plant in Los Angeles was not set up for manufacturing the additional brass lines and CMI had difficulty finding a partner who would provide these instruments to Olds without also producing the more profitable small brass and trombones. Instead, CMI's president, Maurice Berlin, coaxed Foster Reynolds, a former apprentice at J.W. York,30 year veteran of the H.N. White company, and founder of F.A. Reynolds Co., out of retirement and sent him to Los Angeles with a directive to tool up the factory and begin manufacturing the full line of brasses.
Reynolds was regarded as one of the top brass instrument designers in the country, and was responsible for the introduction of many of the finest Olds trumpets and cornets.
In the late 1940s, in a meeting between Reynolds, Reg Olds and Berlin, it was decided to pursue the student musician market for which great projections had been made. Among his first design actions were the renowned Ambassador model trumpet, cornet and trombone (1948). In fact, the trumpet was designed in tandem with the Mendez professional model. Because Olds management was concerned about the possible effects of a low-priced model on the company's reputation, Reynolds insisted the horn be built to the same quality and tolerances of the rest of the line, only with less-expensive bracing and other features. According to R. Dale Olsen, who was R&D director at Olds in the 1960s, the company was a 'one tolerance shop,' meaning that all brass instruments were crafted to the same close tolerances, regardless of price or market niche.
Built on the same bell mandrels as the premium Recording models and featuring extremely reliable valve sections, the Ambassador line was intended to reflect Reynolds' professional commitment to providing high-quality, dependable horns at an affordable price. The 'Brilliant Bell' of the 1948/49 Studio line (trumpet, cornet, trombone) points to either collaboration or competition with Reynold's former company in Cleveland, who had launched an identical nickel-silver bell flare on the Emperor ('Silver Flare') and Roth ('Tone Tempered') lines in 1947.
Another accomplishment to Reynolds' credit was his signing of the trumpeter Rafael Méndez in the late 1940s to be an Olds clinician and endorsor. He worked closely with Mr. Mendez to create the artist's signature model trumpet and long cornet. Reynolds began by measuring the F. Besson Meha trumpet that Mendez was so fond of and then evolving the design (actually, the measuring was reportedly done by his brother, Harper. The lead pipe, for example, was very different from anything Olds had produced). These were professional trumpets accepted as equal to or better than what was currently on the market. The Mendez trumpet was used and endorsed by the likes of David Jandorf and Clyde McCoy.
The large bore (.468') Opera trumpet and cornet models followed several years later. Rafael Méndez's name and the use of the Recording and Super models by other professionals is credited with enhancing the image and sales of Olds instruments.
In 1952, Reynolds, as the plant supervisor, brought Don Agard to Olds from F.A. Reynolds Co. One of Agard's first projects was managing the move in 1954 from Olds' long-time factory in Los Angeles to larger facilities in Fullerton, California.
In 1953, the company was joined by a young Zigmant Kanstul. Starting out at Olds as a French horn assembler, Kanstul apprenticed in the art of brass instrument building from Reynolds.
Reynolds died of a heart attack on July 18, 1960, while at work at the Fullerton plant. After his death, Agard took over plant operations while Kanstul became factory superintendent. Reynold's brother, Harper, who was shop superintendent and who helped launch the Ambassador instruments, retired. R. Dale Olsen was brought in as director of research with a directive to create a line of upper-register trumpets. He succeeded in designing the 'C', 'D' and 'E Flat' trumpets and subsequently the 'Custom-Crafted' series of B flat trumpets that featured one-piece hand-hammered bells.
By the 1960s, Olds was producing trumpets, cornets, slide and valve trombones, alto horns, mellophones, french horns, euphoniums, tubas and sousaphones. They also supplied imported woodwind instruments in the Ambassador line. Olds was the second U.S. maker to have produced over one million brass instruments. Increases in volume were accompanied by a lessening in quality, however.
Kanstul remained at Olds until the early 1970s when he left to become manager of the nearby Benge plant and eventually his own company, Kanstul Musical Instruments. Agard ran operations at Olds until the company finally closed its doors in 1979. Olds merged with competitor and Foster's former company, F.A. Reynolds Co., in 1964.
By the mid-1970s, with parent company Norlin in control, there was a perceived[by whom?] decrease in the quality of construction that made Olds famous. The name became closely associated with the student models, and less with the professional models. A buyer for the firm was sought beginning in 1978, but Norlin could not sell the Olds factory for its asking price. The decision was made to close the Fullerton plant and the machinery, tools and parts inventory were auctioned.
References/External links[edit]
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- ^https://www.njportal.com/dor/businessrecords/EntityDocs/BusinessCopies.aspx
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