Antoine Courtois Prestige Orchestra 500R Bass

[SamEdwTbone]

I found a Antoine Courtois Prestige Orchestra 500R Bass for a decent price (2700) but I can't find too much info on it. Does anyone have info on it?

[stewbones43]

I have an Antoine Courtois trombone catalogue from around the year 2000 ( rough guess as there is no indication of publishing date) It has a Prestige Orchestral Bass Trombone Model 500B and a Model 500BR (yellow brass bell and gold brass bell) They are both handmade, independent double trigger basses, tuned to Bb/F/Gb/D and have standard rotors. The bore is 0.562 in and the bell is 10.511 in diameter. The bell is fixed/ non-detachable but the leadpipe is a screw-in removeable type. The instrument originally came with a green, soft sided case. The instruments were made in Amboise, in the Loire Valley in France.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Stewbones43

[tbonesullivan]

There was some previous discussion of the 500R in this thread. There seem to have been a lot of variations in the 500 series.

https://www.trombonechat.com/viewtopic.php?p=202697

[Mamaposaune]

I have a Courtois Opera Prestige 500, double rotors Bb/F/Gb/D that I bought new about 20 years ago. I love it! I did replace the bell with a gold-brass Shires 9 1/2" because the 10 1/2" was just too much bell for me.
I love the sound; the slide is a lightweight brass with no oversleeves and is fast and smooth; never had any issues with the rotors. It is well balanced and the rotor levers are in a comfortable place, a good fit for my left hand. (Although I lost the Gb paddle and had to have a new one made).
And the original case was made by Bam.