[Trombone-l] Benge 190C

[Paul Abel]

Yes, Benge did make the 190C, It was designed by Chuck Ward. There was a 
straight gooseneck, and F attachment. One would loosen 2 thumb screws, 
and pull the main tuning slide out to convert the horn. If your straight 
section is missing, you can have one made. Just use any staight 
gooseneck (ask your repair tech) like Conn, or bach or Edwards or 
whatever. You'll need to order a Benge 190F slide receiver and inside 
tuning slide tube and ferrule. You'll also need to add a gooseneck to 
bell brace, with the corrsponding socket flange assy mounted on the 
bell. The 190C has an extra brace between the gooseneck and bell, just 
like any straight tenor. The 190F doesn't have that brace. If yours is a 
190C, it should have that brace, or evidence that it's been removed. You 
should also have the coupling for the detachable F section soldered to 
the bell. Yours may be a 190C that was made into a permanantly mounted F 
section. Conn / Selmer may still have them available, your repair tech 
should be able to order one if that's the case.

It is a good horn. Back in the mid and late '80's, lots of players used 
them. Unfortunately, the Benge trombones were poorly marketed, and 
ultimately ignored by the sales and marketing people. They couldn't 
capture the Bach market, then about the same time, Edwards appeared on 
the scene. Add to that, the improvement of the 88H's, and it wasn't a 
huge commercial success. The current 165F is the same horn, except it 
uses a traditional wrap 4B F section. It is marketed as a "intermediate" 
horn. I don't think they are really that collectable....yet. I'm always 
amazed at what the latest "collectable" horns are. I recently sold a 
really nice 190F for 900.00. Top dollar, I would think.

The 190C came in a weird case. It was big and more square than the 
typical "triangular" UMI bone cases. It looks more like a valve trombone 
case. I don't recall having to disassemble the horn to put it away, 
however. There was a place in the accessory compartment which held the 
straight section when not in use.

Hope that helps,
-Paul Abel-
www.brassandwoodwindshop.net