[Trombone-l] I need some help - Conn bass

[Cliff Crawford]

Hello Listers,

I was recently gifted with an old bass trombone in a ratty case.  More dents than not, slide was stuck, hadn't been played in years. It turns out that it is an Elkhart 62h - 1968 - S/N L94749.  I spent three hours cleaning and scrubbing...the slide turned out to be in remarkably good shape - no wear on the slide tubes.  I suspect that it was an old school horn.  It's ugly, but seems to function well, and the sound is wonderful. Even though it's ergonomically challenged, the horn is more flexible than my 50b, and has a warmer, more round sound.  It was just like finding an old classic motorcycle or car in a garage somewhere.

I have some questions please:

The rotors seem to be tight and not leaking, however I'm a little surprised that the pedals don't bark - it seems like embouchure placement is much more critical in the pedal notes than on my Bach.  Is that a function of the horn and something I need to work on, or is there possibly a leak or something?  Triggered lower register isn't bad, a little more woofy than my Bach (open wrap).  It's the pedals that don't seem to pop correctly. The upper register is fine. I'm playing around with a 1 1/2 G and a 1 1/4 G. 

The horn came with a 1 1/2 G Bach...fits snug in the receiver.  I suspect that the Bach tapered mp's have been shoved into it for so long that they now fit.  Should I find a Remington mp?  The Remington tapered mp from my 8h fits into this receiver fine and is snug, but the Bachs are also snug. Where and what kind of Remington mp(s) should I get if needed? Will the Remington mp's fit make a difference with the pedal problem?

The adjustment screw assembly for the slide (for tuning) is missing.  Does anyone have one laying around that I could purchase?  Anything available after market?

The slide is very close to the bell on this horn - approximately one inch.  Is that typical for this horn or is there something bent?

I am inclined to leave it stock - any comments - open wrap conversion - rotors - etc?  Who would you recommend I send it to to get dents removed, slide tuned, etc?

Is there an at-home way of testing for leakage in the rotors?

Any recommendations for a new case - anyone have a good used one?  Or buy a new soft case?

Thank you in advance for your help with my new baby.  

Cliff C. - Oregon