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I picked up the Duluth Craigslist Conn 12J. I was looking for a little smaller horn for carrying around. It was literally purchased about 20 yards from the Superior Hiking Trail, so I'm feeling good vibes.

It seems in pretty good shape, the normal dents but the valve plating looks good. The serial number is 301648. The serial number at Conn Loyalist, https://cderksen.home.xs4all.nl/ConnSer ... Brass.html would put that at about 1935. Is that right?

That seems awfully old for what I thought would be a standard school horn that looks OK. It does have that darker brass finish though. I'm going to drop it to a local service shop to have the stuck slides pulled, cleaned and few dents pulled. Thanks for any info.

The serial number does indicate 1935. I don't know if 12j's were actually being made in the 30's for sure, but this ones condition wouldn't mean that it wasn't made in the 30's. I've seen older horns in better condition.

bloke wrote:

lost wrote:1980 to 86....some inexact serials according to hornucopia...

I remember Marty Erickson (at a Kansas/Colorado music educators blah-blah in the spring of 1978) manning a booth showing off the new Conn tubas (those that weren't the same as Olds/Reynolds anymore, and actually - once again - made by Conn). It was this generation of instruments...so that's probably when they first emerged.

That's about what the owner of the repair shop thought for age. That seems about right.