Gold plated 1920s King Consevatory symhpony Trombone.

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ttf_demaxx1
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Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:00 pm

Gold plated 1920s King Consevatory symhpony Trombone.

Post by ttf_demaxx1 »

Guys I have mixed two things I love antiques and trombones. I made a recent purchase of a old 1920s HN White King Conservatory Symphony trombone. Thinking is was just a silver plated, I started cleaning the horn when I found that the horn is gold plated. In a worn area where your hands go I can see the brass the horn is made of, plated with silver then gold plate on top. I read on a sax web page that regular gold plating will not stick to raw brass. So they are silver plated first.

Do any of you know any more about the gold plated HN white King trombones? I have already read the H.N. White website. It shows that they could be ordered with gold plate and that is pretty much there is all on the subject. I was hoping to find out how rare the horn is.
ttf_BGuttman
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Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:15 pm

Gold plated 1920s King Consevatory symhpony Trombone.

Post by ttf_BGuttman »

It's rare but not valuable.  The gold plate was quite expensive for the day and you had to be pretty well-heeled to afford it.

Typical plating requires a barrier between the gold and the brass.  Silver is good because it is similar in hardness to the other two metals.  In Printed Circuits we used a barrier layer of nickel on gold connectors.

Often a silver plated bell will have a "gold wash" inside the bell.  This is a VERY thin layer of gold done by replacement -- you wipe the inside of the bell with a solution of gold chloride; the gold replaces some silver and changes the color.  The gold wash is so thin that you can easily polish it off trying to clean the instrument.

I mentioned to BillO in another thread that old trombones don't seem to command "antique level" prices.  A good playing instrument can be played, but don't expect to get rich from thinking it's like a Stradivarius volin.
ttf_demaxx1
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:00 pm

Gold plated 1920s King Consevatory symhpony Trombone.

Post by ttf_demaxx1 »

I was hoping maybe I could find a collector that would want to restore it. It is a neat piece of history. Yeah I am not expecting a mint for it, but I do think it should be worth maybe $350.00 to someone, It is a great conversation piece.


Quote from: BGuttman on Yesterday at 07:10 AMIt's rare but not valuable.  The gold plate was quite expensive for the day and you had to be pretty well-heeled to afford it.

Typical plating requires a barrier between the gold and the brass.  Silver is good because it is similar in hardness to the other two metals.  In Printed Circuits we used a barrier layer of nickel on gold connectors.

Often a silver plated bell will have a "gold wash" inside the bell.  This is a VERY thin layer of gold done by replacement -- you wipe the inside of the bell with a solution of gold chloride; the gold replaces some silver and changes the color.  The gold wash is so thin that you can easily polish it off trying to clean the instrument.

I mentioned to BillO in another thread that old trombones don't seem to command "antique level" prices.  A good playing instrument can be played, but don't expect to get rich from thinking it's like a Stradivarius volin.

ttf_demaxx1
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:00 pm

Gold plated 1920s King Consevatory symhpony Trombone.

Post by ttf_demaxx1 »

I was hoping maybe I could find a collector that would want to restore it. It is a neat piece of history. Yeah I am not expecting a mint for it, but I do think it should be worth maybe $350.00 to someone, It is a great conversation piece.


Quote from: BGuttman on Yesterday at 07:10 AMIt's rare but not valuable.  The gold plate was quite expensive for the day and you had to be pretty well-heeled to afford it.

Typical plating requires a barrier between the gold and the brass.  Silver is good because it is similar in hardness to the other two metals.  In Printed Circuits we used a barrier layer of nickel on gold connectors.

Often a silver plated bell will have a "gold wash" inside the bell.  This is a VERY thin layer of gold done by replacement -- you wipe the inside of the bell with a solution of gold chloride; the gold replaces some silver and changes the color.  The gold wash is so thin that you can easily polish it off trying to clean the instrument.

I mentioned to BillO in another thread that old trombones don't seem to command "antique level" prices.  A good playing instrument can be played, but don't expect to get rich from thinking it's like a Stradivarius volin.

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