TromboneChat

I recently purchased a 88HCL with a 9" bell, Eastlake, red brass. Is this a stock bell from Conn?

Steve

Does it say K on it? That is an option, though I haven't seen any personally on a CL section.

That would be a “K” bell, which is actually a King 5B bell. The “K” stood for Allen Kofsky, former Cleveland Orchestra 2nd Trombone, who originally played 5B’s in Cleveland and had Conn-Selmer mount one on an 88h for him.

yes i believe it was available as a stock bell from conn at one point. The 88HKCL is a thing.

i also recall actually seeing a few 88h 9" bells on reverb last year (https://reverb.com/item/83022308-conn-8 ... -red-brass), the story behind those apparently was that those were made for the Cleveland Symphony in the 90s.

not sure if those were the same as the K bells or were the inspiration for them.

NotSkilledHere wrote: Sun Apr 19, 2026 12:31 pm yes i believe it was available as a stock bell from conn at one point. The 88HKCL is a thing.

i also recall actually seeing a few 88h 9" bells on reverb last year (https://reverb.com/item/83022308-conn-8 ... -red-brass), the story behind those apparently was that those were made for the Cleveland Symphony in the 90s.

not sure if those were the same as the K bells or were the inspiration for them.

I bought that particular bell thinking it was a K bell…

The bell was marked with a number 9 on the stem and was an 8 1/2 inch bell. It played more like a Gen 2 88 bell to me, definitely not like my 88h Elkhart or my 8HT bell, but most definitely Conn sounding. The metal gauge felt heavier then those two. Wished I would have weighted it when I had it…