? old tuba history

[tubajon]

I have an old Conn I'm using now. I'd like to know more about it. Serial number is L61817. 3 pistons BBb. Thanks for any info.
Jon

[tubajon]

Thanks.

[Michael Bush]

Pictures???

[Rick Denney]

When MacMillan bought Conn in 1969, they changed the serial numbering to start with "M" and subsequent letters, until the middle 70's when they changed the scheme completely. It was MacMillan that moved the brass instrument manufacturing to Abilene, Texas, and sold off the Elkhart plant (to an RV manufacturer).

An L instrument predates the MacMillan acquisition, but it's from the waning years of the Greenleaf era when Conn's fortunes were on the decline (which is what led to the MacMillan acquisition).

Rick "noting that the Abilene instruments are not highly regarded in general because of poor quality control" Denney

[jacobg]

Many people regard the late Elkhart era as an excellent time for Conn instruments, as the veteran craftsmen were still on staff before the move to Abilene.

[Rick Denney]

Many people regard the late Elkhart era as an excellent time for Conn instruments, as the veteran craftsmen were still on staff before the move to Abilene.

Could be. But their motivation might have suffered some from all those head-office rumors about declining revenues and stock prices, and talk of pending acquisitions.

I've always thought their post-war heyday was in the late 50's. But the real heyday for U.S. brass instrument makers was before WWII.

It doesn't matter, though. The instrument should speak for itself, and at this age, condition may be as important as anything. Even the Mexi-Conns could be excellent, at times. My own Holton comes from that era, and the construction quality is dreadful which I think was typical of U.S. manufacturing in general in those days (despite how nostalgic we are about American manufacturing in the 70's). But they got it right otherwise.

Rick "who owned an M-series 20J that was definitely not their best effort compared to a 1930's model" Denney

[tubajon]

Thanks for the info. The horn is pretty fun to play. I'd consider it a great instrument. Perhaps I'll figure out how to post a picture.

[Michael Bush]

Having lived through the '70's (as did Rick, I'm thinking) I mostly remember (particularly based on the automobile industry) that "stuff made in America is crap".

It was not a good time. Overall quality of American goods rose after that, but I consider the 1970's to be the "beginning of the end".

Ugh. Reminds me of the '78 Oldsmobile I drove in the early 80s. Junk.

[tubajon]

Here is a picture.

[tubajon]

Thanks.

[tofu]

When did production move from Elkhart, IN to Abilene, TX?

[tbn.al]

Here is an interesting post about the timing of the move to Abilene.

http://contemporacorner.com/2009/02/con ... confirmed/" target="_blank

[Rick Denney]

Here is an interesting post about the timing of the move to Abilene.

http://contemporacorner.com/2009/02/con ... confirmed/" target="_blank" target="_blank

Yes, that is interesting. And it reminds me that Reynolds had been the first to move from Ohio to Texas, in late 1964. Conn bought it after the MacMillan acquisition, which took place in 1969. They would have had to go through a process to acquire that plant, and then it would have taken them some time to move the tooling and train the workers on the Conn tooling. The article states that they "will begin operations in February", which was 1971. That suggests that the M and N-series tubas were made in Elkhart, and the P-series tubas...maybe. But we don't know when they moved what instruments to Abilene--I suspect it would have been a phased operation.

In any case, perhaps that M-series 20J I had was made in Elkhart after all. But it still was not anywhere near the best of that breed that I have played.

Rick "noting that MacMillan purposely destroyed most of Conn's records" Denney