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I did briefly own an Olds S24G bass trombone. Had I had the time and play money to get a set of modern rotors and paddles/linkages put on, and the wraps redone, I might have kept it. Stock, those horrible valve levers put my hand in significant pain after 30 seconds of playing. I've never played a less ergonomic trombone...and I've played a lot of very unergonomic trombones. The rotors were alright, but how tiny they are was definitely noticeable in the valve register. All of those negatives were a real shame, because the instrument made a fabulous sound. Beefier and warmer than my 72H, but still with plenty of pop and color.

I'm not mad that I sold it as my modified 72H was better, but it would have been cool to see what that horn could become with a modern makeover.

To me, Olds was tops as far as build quality, but not as far as understanding some of the newer types of instruments during their day, including larger American bass trombones vs. those made earlier in the 20th century.
They were responsible for inventing what have become the standard marching brass instruments.
They were the first to introduce a production Geyer wrap double horn... but these things came out in the years that they were probably already in some financial trouble, sadly.

There were plenty of Olds instruments east of the Rockies, but I'm not sure that they really connected with the market east of the Rockies.

I really think their student trumpets were much closer to the modern concept of trumpets than were the small-bore Bundys and Kings of the 1960s.

tubas/baritones??
Seems to me that by 1950 or so every American manufacturer was seriously scaling back.

post 1950s-1960s Reynolds: parenthetical

Every horn I sold still has sound reasoning for selling in my mind - facilitate something else, didn't work for the way I was playing at the time, etc. Nothing I've sold was musically irreplaceable.

The only one I wish I had back was my 1985 Cerveny Piggy - not for the horn itself, but, because it was a gift from my parents upon graduating high school. The horn played okay, sounded good, but it would be more for sentimental reasons. My first Getzen (serial #21) was a pretty good horn but I've since bought a younger sibling that is working out very, very well (it's my "easy button" horn).

I have been recently missing my old Holton 345 that I'd played for so many years. I miss it's incredible earth-shaking voice and the way she could fill up our performance hall. I'm enjoying what I have, for certain, and I'm glad she's in the stable of Daniel in Germany, and I'm glad I don't have to heft her around anymore, but man - I miss that voice.
Tim

I truly believe that if I sold any of my "principal" instruments and replaced any of them - individually - with a similar-yet-different one, I would end up working harder to accomplish less.

MN_TimTuba wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2024 7:17 pm I have been recently missing my old Holton 345 that I'd played for so many years. I miss it's incredible earth-shaking voice and the way she could fill up our performance hall. I'm enjoying what I have, for certain, and I'm glad she's in the stable of Daniel in Germany, and I'm glad I don't have to heft her around anymore, but man - I miss that voice.

That's funny: Daniel got your Holton, and I got his Symphonie (or one of them, anyway).

jtm wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2024 9:01 pm

MN_TimTuba wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2024 7:17 pm I have been recently missing my old Holton 345 that I'd played for so many years. I miss it's incredible earth-shaking voice and the way she could fill up our performance hall. I'm enjoying what I have, for certain, and I'm glad she's in the stable of Daniel in Germany, and I'm glad I don't have to heft her around anymore, but man - I miss that voice.

That's funny: Daniel got your Holton, and I got his Symphonie (or one of them, anyway).

Die Deutschen mögen den großen, starken Holton, aber nicht die verweichlichte, kleine Symphonie.

Only one comes to mind, my Mirafone 188. The first horn that I ever bought. Other than the famous tight low end, I loved the sound, the way it played so easily in most respects (heck I think I could've learned to make the low range work).

My MRP is a magnificent horn and I wouldn't trade it for the 188... but good grief, for some of the small ensemble stuff I do, it would be awesome to have when the MRP is too much.