Courtois 410GM?

[biggiesmalls]

Anyone familiar with this model? Courtois 410GM (Gilles Milliere model).

[timbone]

I can tell you a little about it. First, this is the only Courtois I have seen that has an artists name on it (Gilles Millere), and not even Michel Becquet has a horn with his name on it, although his horn has always been the AC420MBOST. The "MB" is not for Michel, but the M denotes a sterling silver lead pipe, the B for valve (barilet), O for open wrap, and ST for the sterling bell. Now back to our story. The GM designation must however point to Gilles Milliere; in the Courtois nomenclature gold or rose brass is designated with an R (see Jorgen's horn below). Gilles was the professor at the Paris Conservatoire for many years and the leader of the Paris Trombone quartet. I have seen instances where the quartet played matched instruments, and that tradition is still held onto today. The AC 410 above is an unusual instrument that features a slightly larger bell than 8.5 (can't remember) and is quite heavy by today's standards. The ones I have played are capable of a compact sound of huge volume. The slide is marked MHW (I believe) which stands for medium heavy weight, which it is. I probably have the slide weight in grams somewhere. This is the slide Jorgen van Rijen used for many years with his AC420BR closed wrap bell. I loved hearing Jorgen play and noticed after a recital players would gravitate towards his closed wrap looking for the mystique in it! I am a big fan of what is called the "plaque resonator" which is on the tuning slide. It probably fell out of favor due to todays players concern for weight, but the focus and sound are wonderful. They did this on the AC500BH bass trombones also. Sure it made for a heavier double trigger bass but the plaque helped balance the weight kind of like a crane boom....... Focus and fat pedal f's. I've always enjoyed the fact that the French with their long tradition of trombone were not squeamish about having weight on a trombone. Those earlier bells were on the thick side as well. The bell section was usually heavier than the slide in comparison- a different concept than I was used to, me adopting to the heavier slide/lighter bell combination. All in all this is a unique trombone but not as unusual as the Evolution series bell over bell trombones which are rarer. Courtois has had an amazing history in the trombone world and have done many things dating back to the late 1700's. I once heard Inda Bonet play the AC410 in the big room at ITF once and he played so loud but with so much sound the whole room got quiet. Then I learned he too studied at the Paris Conservatoire. This is unique among trombones, so enjoy it for what it is!

[biggiesmalls]

Thanks for the in-depth description!

I don't own the horn, but I spotted it for sale online and couldn't find much information about it, so thanks for satisfying my curiosity!

Just in case anyone is interested, here's the listing: https://reverb.com/item/38832303-courto ... ition-rare

[Miketbn95]

Anyone familiar with this model? Courtois 410GM (Gilles Milliere model).

Did you sell this to Dillons ?

[biggiesmalls]

No, I never even acquired it; I just saw it on Reverb and it piqued my curiosity.

The image was just a screenshot from the Reverb ad.