B & H Imperial 1952 beginner question...

ttf_anonymous · Post by **ttf_anonymous** » Sat Sep 16, 2017 9:04 pm

Hi everyone
I'm a trumpet player who has just been gifted a lovely silver Boosey and Hawkes Imperial tenor trombone. It came from my sons' high school and was broken. Being a jeweller though, I was able to fix it. Hurrah! I dated it from its serial number, and noticed that it also has '560' stamped where the two parts of the horn join. My guess is that refers to the bore of the horn (it has a seven inch bell) Can any of you clever people confirm if I'm guessing correctly, or does it perhaps refer to something else?
And hey; while I'm here, how would you rate a '52 Imperial as an instrument?

Thanks in advance.

ttf_BGuttman · Post by **ttf_BGuttman** » Sun Sep 17, 2017 7:26 am

I can't help you with much about a Boosey horn, but we have a member, Stewbones43, who is probasbly your best bet.

As a trumpet player you probably will find a small bore easier to control. Naturally, there are a lot of things to learn about playing a trombone. I would think that a smallish mouthpiece like a Bach 12C would probably be ideal for it.

As to 562 being a bore size, no. That's the bore size of a bass trombone and I don't think your Boosey gets to that diameter until somewhere in the middle of the tuning slide.

Good luck with it. Doubling trombone can be a lot of fun.

ttf_Stewbones43 · Post by **ttf_Stewbones43** » Sun Sep 17, 2017 10:11 am

Thanks Bruce.
Hi Jono, what you have is a professional level trombone made by a one-time top quality maker, sadly bought out in the early 2000s.
You say that you have dated it by the serial number to 1952, the 560 numbers could be the last 3 digits of the serial number to match the 2 parts and prevent them getting mis-matched. They are not the bore size. The bore size is probably 0.487in (31/64ths). Way back in 1952 that was a popular size for a trombone in a brass band or military band (Boosey and Hawkes main customers) but it is now considered to be a small bore and suitable only for jazz.

Does it have the trade mark "Globe and Semiquaver" counterweight?

Its value is probably between £100-£200 GBP depending on condition.

Cheers

Stewbones

ttf_Duffle · Post by **ttf_Duffle** » Sun Sep 17, 2017 1:29 pm

Old school........ nice......

ttf_LuckyJono · Post by **ttf_LuckyJono** » Sun Sep 17, 2017 2:29 pm

Thanks for the swift replies everyone.
Stewbones, you are correct. '560' indeed corresponds to the last three digits of the serial number. 0.487 seems right for the bore. Yes it has the globe and semi-quaver counterweight. That was the first thing that caught my eye, upon opening the beat-up Blessing case (which this horn doesn't really fit)
I'll send a photo or two to the gallery once I have cleaned up the solder join I had to make.
Cheers!

ttf_BGuttman · Post by **ttf_BGuttman** » Sun Sep 17, 2017 2:39 pm

I would love for pictures to go in the Gallery, but unfortunately it is not accepting any more images. I wish I could fix this, but I can't. If you want, you can post photos elsewhere and link to them in this thread. See my post "I can't post pictures" in the Comments section.

ttf_stephenkerry · Post by **ttf_stephenkerry** » Sun Sep 17, 2017 2:40 pm

I started out on one of those B&H Imperials, almost 50 years ago!

ttf_stephenkerry · Post by **ttf_stephenkerry** » Sun Sep 17, 2017 2:40 pm

I started out on one of those B&H Imperials, almost 50 years ago!