Trumpet, B-flat, high pitch / low pitch, A
Maker
John Lockhart
Date1911 ca.
Place MadeNew York, New York, United States, North America
ModelTone-correction
Serial No.27934
SignedEngraved on bell: John / Lockhart / New York / N. Y.MarkingsEngraved on tone-correction device: PAT. SEPT. 28, 1909.
Stamped on tone-correction device caps: 21
Stamped on second valve casing, spring stems and water key: 27934
Stamped on valve casings, spring stems and larger guide lug, respectively: 1, 2, 3
DescriptionSilver-plated brass, satin-finsh, burnished bell engraving, mother-of-pearl finger buttons, single loop in reversed S-shaped configuration, tone-correction device with internal U-shaped tuning slide operated by horizontal push rod, main tuning slide at narrow front bow with removable double slide for high or low pitch and quick-change to A push rod (lost), three Périnet valves (1, ½, 1½), top-sprung, spring inside hollow stem, alignment by two unequal lugs on spring anchor plate, single water key at main tuning slide, windway 3-2-1.
John Lockhart (1864-1926), who was a cornetist in his younger years, teaching at the Butte Conservatory of Music in Monatana in 1899, received three patents for a tone-correction device: German Patent no. 219,628 on July 6, 1909; US Patent no. 935,626 on September 28, 1909; and British Patent no. 15,224, also in 1909. The tone-correction device consists of a large cylinder with a tuning slide inside, and is placed horizontally between leadpipe and main tuning slide. The tone-correction tuning slide is operated by a push rod and automatically returned by compression springs. The device changes the entire tube length and lowers the pitch up to a semitone; it can also be used for glissando and portamento effects by pushing the rod gradually. Interestingly, the patents mention only the possibility to correct intonation not that of creating glissando effects which would have been desirable for jazz. In the patents, John Lockhart is listed as resident of Portland, Oregon, where he was active as an insurance broker and housing developer. His location in New York City is only documented by this and one other surviving trumpet. No evidence has come to light that he actually made instruments, and stylistic details suggest that this trumpet was made by J. W. York & Sons in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
DimensionsHeight: 446 mm
Tube length: 1349 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, tuning slide, valve slides): 11.4 mm, 9.9 mm, 11.1 mm, 11.1 mm (0.436 inches)
Bell diameter: 127 mm (5 inches)
ProvenancePurchased from Steve Dillon, Woodbridge, New Jersey, 1993.
Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Object number07088
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