[Trombone-l] Duo Gravis -- what model???

[Elliott Moxley]

Back in the late '60s I bought a King 1480 "Symphony Tenor (Bass)
Trombone", quotes are from the catalog that I finally found it in at the
time.  My high school had one, and I wanted to have one of my own for
college.  The instrument had a .536 bore, a size I've never seen since, 
and used a large shank mouthpiece.  The bell throat was such that it had a
pretty decent bass 'bone sound, especially with a 1 1/2 G.   At the time
the 1490 was the other King bass, and was known as the Duo Gravis.  As far
as I know, neither the 1480 or 1490 had a "B" number at the time, although
the 1490 apparently later became the 6B.  I've seen a mention of the 5B,
but IIRC that was a 4B with a larger bell. 

Was the 1480 a design that eventually got tweaked, bore and bell taper,
into becoming the 4B?  It seems that the 1480 dropped out of sight when the
4B came along.
You still see the 1480 on eBay from time to time.  I love the descriptions,
like "King valve trombone with two tips", tips meaning mouthpieces, of
course-


> The Duo Gravis refers to the 6B.  The 7B and 8B were different animals 
> with in-line valves that came along later.
>
> Eric Swanson
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