Slide trumpet, B-flat
Maker
Getzen Company
Date1950 ca.
Place MadeElkhorn, Wisconsin, United States, North America
ModelDeluxe
Serial No.none
SignedStamped on bell: Getzen / DELUXE / ELKHORN / WIS.MarkingsStamped on slide lock and slide sleeve: PAT. PEND.
DescriptionBrass, nickel-brass slides; no tuning slide.
This slide trumpet deviates from the normal trombone design by having a much narrower slide, which is less obvious when being played. This instrument was advertised as Getzen B♭ Slide Trumpet in catalogs of the 1950s, and praised as being ideal for children to learn the fundamentals of brass playing. Described as “ruggedly built of brass, polished and lacquered,” it was also played by famous trumpeters such as Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bobby Hackett. Since the slide was unfamiliar to most cornet and trumpet players, the slide positions are marked with raised notches on the outer slide.
DimensionsHeight: 453 mm
Tube length: 1310 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum): 10.4 mm, 9.6 mm
Slide bore diameter: 11.6 mm (0.457 inches)
Bell diameter: 120 mm
Published ReferencesKlaus, Sabine Katharina. Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 2: Ways to Expand the Harmonic Series (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2013), pp. 44, 51, 250.
Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Object number06978
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