CG Conn Model 80H SPEC New York Symphony "Simone Mantia"
Simone Mantia was the famous euphonium soloist with the Sousa Band and later on would be the principal trombonist for Toscanini at The Metropolitan Opera. This special Conn trombone was built by Jake Burkle, the legendary trombone designer at Conn for 50 years, for Mr Mantia in 1940, so he could use a larger bore trombone on the German operas. The 80H is a rare trombone, apparently originally designed for the Met section and in production in the catalog during the 1920s and even then only a handful were built. The fact that this one comes so late and was built for such a prominent player, certainly makes it unique. I also love that, as a one off, in 1940 Conn built this trombone in the old flat wrap style of the 1920s. I surmise that there was a lot of special mojo put into this instrument, knowing it was going to one of the most important players of the century. It has a medium .525" bore slide, 8" bell and takes a small shank mouthpiece. It was gold-plated post factory, but I imagine it is red brass underneath. The bell is incredibly thin and responsive and this trombone sounds much larger than its specs. The instrument passed to Alan Ostrander after Mantia's death and went to Robert Biddlecomb and was used throughout his career. After spending time in Steve Dillon's collection, it was purchased by Kevin Delargy, who was his great nephew. I thank Jeff Gittleson for facilitating this special horn to now reside in the museum at The Brass Ark
Simone Mantia was the famous euphonium soloist with the Sousa Band and later on would be the principal trombonist for Toscanini at The Metropolitan Opera. This special Conn trombone was built by Jake Burkle, the legendary trombone designer at Conn for 50 years, for Mr Mantia in 1940, so he could use a larger bore trombone on the German operas. The 80H is a rare trombone, apparently originally designed for the Met section and in production in the catalog during the 1920s and even then only a handful were built. The fact that this one comes so late and was built for such a prominent player, certainly makes it unique. I also love that, as a one off, in 1940 Conn built this trombone in the old flat wrap style of the 1920s. I surmise that there was a lot of special mojo put into this instrument, knowing it was going to one of the most important players of the century. It has a medium .525" bore slide, 8" bell and takes a small shank mouthpiece. It was gold-plated post factory, but I imagine it is red brass underneath. The bell is incredibly thin and responsive and this trombone sounds much larger than its specs. The instrument passed to Alan Ostrander after Mantia's death and went to Robert Biddlecomb and was used throughout his career. After spending time in Steve Dillon's collection, it was purchased by Kevin Delargy, who was his great nephew. I thank Jeff Gittleson for facilitating this special horn to now reside in the museum at The Brass Ark
