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Newly acquired 1952 King 2B Silversonic!

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 11:29 pm
by true2bsu
I'm so excited! I just pulled off what I think is a great trade with my local community college. A few weeks ago going through an instrument closet I found an old tattered case with a very tarnished and forgotten King 2B Silversonic. I offered to trade my two battle-axe student trombones, an Olds Ambassador and a Yamaha YSL-354 along with $400 for the horn. They accepted my offer! Did I do ok?
I've now spent a couple of hours deep cleaning it and it plays great! The slide is at least an 8/10 with some Trombotine. I thought you might enjoy a few pictures of a brought-back-to-life 72 year old classic. I'm looking forward to putting it to work in Jazz Band tomorrow afternoon. :D

Re: Newly acquired 1952 King 2B Silversonic!

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 5:47 am
by harrisonreed
That slide stocking looks pretty rough. Rest of the horn looks pretty sweet. FWIW, you might consider getting the inners replaced.

Re: Newly acquired 1952 King 2B Silversonic!

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 9:05 am
by true2bsu
harrisonreed wrote: Thu Apr 18, 2024 5:47 am That slide stocking looks pretty rough. Rest of the horn looks pretty sweet. FWIW, you might consider getting the inners replaced.
That's not a bad suggestion. I'll work it over with some SlideDr "Great Slide" and see if that makes it fast enough that it doesn't bother me first. If that doesn't get it there I'll likely follow your recommendation. Would you recommend just replacing the one that's worn through or do they need to be done as a set? Is this something to trust to a local repair shop or should I send it away to a specialist? Thanks for your advice!

Re: Newly acquired 1952 King 2B Silversonic!

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 9:12 am
by bitbckt
That looks like Conn wear to me - plating loss on the stocking. I’d replace both tubes and not bother attempting any sort of treatment.

You might have a “slide guy” that other trombonists in the area trust; slide work isn’t something I would leave to J. Random Tech.

Re: Newly acquired 1952 King 2B Silversonic!

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 9:25 am
by harrisonreed
Yeah what he said ⬆️

Probably will mean you will lose the old leadpipe

Re: Newly acquired 1952 King 2B Silversonic!

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 9:59 am
by rudytbone
You did well!

Re: Newly acquired 1952 King 2B Silversonic!

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 10:44 am
by atopper333
That’s an awesome pickup!

I think they are right about that slide. I have an older King slide with the same wear. As it is a much less desirable horn, and I’m a little tight on cash, I did my best to smooth over the area in question and it made it quite playable in the mean time.

That is quite the beautiful bell! Something about those old Kings, they are works of art and play and sound so well…

Re: Newly acquired 1952 King 2B Silversonic!

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 12:55 pm
by true2bsu
atopper333 wrote: Thu Apr 18, 2024 10:44 am That’s an awesome pickup!
That is quite the beautiful bell! Something about those old Kings, they are works of art and play and sound so well…
rudytbone wrote: Thu Apr 18, 2024 9:59 am You did well!
Thanks guys!!

Re: Newly acquired 1952 King 2B Silversonic!

Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2024 1:47 pm
by Bach5G
Congrats! Enjoy!

Re: Newly acquired 1952 King 2B Silversonic!

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2024 3:32 pm
by RobL
Great find, and glad it's rescued from school storage and will be played!

I will be selling a King inner slide with press-fit leadpipe on behalf of a local arts school. I don't yet know the model or condition, but will let you know if it's a 2-B and good.

Re: Newly acquired 1952 King 2B Silversonic!

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2024 11:27 pm
by true2bsu
I'll keep watch for your notice. Thanks!

Re: Newly acquired 1952 King 2B Silversonic!

Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2024 5:02 am
by ryebrye
[media][/media]The 2b silversonic is such a great instrument.

The wear on that part of the stocking isn't sticking up at all so it rubs, is it? That'd be my only concern is if there's some mineralization or something stuck to the raw part that's raised up that starts to scratch the outer slide then I'd avoid playing it until it got fixed.

As far as your trade goes, I think you made a fair trade if your instruments were in good condition... but I'd rather be on your side of the trade. You can put some money into it over time to get the stocking fixed and it'll hold it's value well.

If you ever want a good deal on an ambassador or ysl-354 there are tons of them out there you can watch for and if you were patient you could probably get them for not much money.

Re: Newly acquired 1952 King 2B Silversonic!

Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2024 11:39 am
by Estraven
A somewhat ignorant question: why do I see what looks like plating wear on the cork barrels and slide braces? On the non-SS 2Bs that I’ve owned (both of them ;) ) those were solid nickel silver parts.

That said, this was a killer deal for the OP.