Olds Trombone Serial Numbers
Revenge season 2 episode 1. An archive of user submitted F.E. Olds instrument serial numbers.
| trombones | trumpets | ||
| 1915 | 260 | ||
| 1920 | 1260 | ||
| 1923 | 4000 | ||
| 1925 | 6000 | ||
| 1927 | 7000 | ||
| 1928 | 1 | ||
| 1929 | 101 | ||
| 1930 | 7300 | 175 | |
| 1931 | 7700 | 285 | |
| 1932 | 8000 | 500 | |
| 1933 | 8250 | 700 | |
| 1934 | 8500 | 1228 | |
| 1935 | 8750 | 2000 | |
| 1936 | 9500 | 2710 | |
| 1937 | 10250 | 3600 | |
| 1938 | 11000 | 4700 | |
| 1939 | 11750 | 6000 | |
| 1940 | 12500 | 7500 | |
| 1941 | 13250 | 8850 | |
| 1942 | 14000 | 12125 | |
| 1943 | 14250 | 14325 | |
| 1944 | 14500 | 14800 | |
| 1945 | 14750 | 15275 | |
| 1946 | 15000 | 15750 | |
| 1947 | 21000 | 17250 | |
| 1948 | 28000 | 29100 | |
| 1949 | 36000 | 52409 | |
| 1950 | 45000 | ||
| 1951 | 56000 | ||
| 1952 | 70000 | ||
| Mar. 1952 | 73000 | ||
| July 1952 | 80000 | ||
| Feb. 1953 | 90000 | ||
| Trumpet/Trombone Lists Merged into One | |||
| Jan. 1954 | 100000 | ||
| Aug. 1955 | 150000 | ||
| Nov. 1956 | 200000 | ||
| July 1958 | 250000 | ||
| Sept.1959 | 300000 | ||
| June 1960 | 350000 | ||
| March 1962 | 400000 | ||
| Feb. 1964 | 450000 | ||
| Feb. 1965 | 500000 | ||
| June 1966 | 550000 | ||
| June 1967 | 600000 | ||
| June 1968 | 650000 | ||
| June 1969 | 700000 | ||
| June 1971 | 750000 | ||
| June 1972 | 800000 | ||
| Oct. 1973 | 850000 | ||
| Nov. 1974 | 900000 | ||
| April 1976 | 950000 | ||
| Sept. 1976 | 970000 | ||
| March 1977 | 990000 | ||
| Sept. 1977 | 999999 | ||
| Jan. 1978 | A06741 | ||
| Jan. 1979 | A40550 | ||
| Jul. 1979 | A47510 | ||
Olds & Son History and Featured Instruments. Olds Trumpet and Cornet Serial Numbers. Olds Catalogs, 1925 to 1927. Early Olds Trombones. Trombone Made for Wilbur DeParis, Early 1920s. Early Olds Trumpets. Early Olds Cornet. Military Model Trumpets. Early Super Olds Trumpets. The first postwar report I have received of the purchase of a new Olds instrument is for an Olds Super trumpet serial #18,9xx purchased in 1946. That was also close to the time that the first Ambassadors came to market. The earliest Olds Ambassador serial number I have received is for trombone #24,6xx. I have also received cornet #28,1xx. Olds Serial Number List. Horn-u-Copia An Index to Olds Instruments. If you note any discrepancies, or have additional information concerning this company. 1954 Trombone and trumpet serial number lists merged; 1955 production moved from LA to Fullerton (between 149,6xx, 150,3xx). Adams Musical Instruments, Concert percussion, slagwerk, schlagzeug, are the choice of world-class soloists, orchestras, composers, and educators alike because the craftsmanship, sound quality, and technical innovations are the highest quality specifications in the world making them truly world-class instruments. It only makes perfect sense then that soloists such as Robert Van Sice, Evelyn.
- 1947 Ambassador introduced at around 27,000
- 1954 Trombone and trumpet serial number lists merged
- 1955 production moved from LA to Fullerton (between 149,6xx, 150,3xx)
- 1956 eliminated large-shank mouthpiece receiver on cornetss (189,611)
- 1958 redesigned Ambassador cornets & trumpets. Pinky ring changed to hook, bracing changed.(246,5xx and 248,8xx)
- 1964 Alliance with Norlin Music (450,000)
- 1979 July 13th, production ceased (A41000). A Superstar Trombone was reported sold as part of a closeout with SN# A47510
Sources:
Music Trader
Alan's Trumper World
Robb Stewart has put together some improved serial number dates based onmore recent discoveries. His data can be found here.
Below are my original guesses as to beginning-of-year serial numbers for pre-1952 Olds horns. You can read my reasoning for the pre-1946 numbers, or the 1946-1952 numbers . In arriving at these numbers I have attempted to reconcile the Robb Stewart data with the firsthand reports. I welcome any evidence that can help me improve on these guesses:
Note: According to longtime Olds employee Don Agard, the trumpet and trombone serial number lists were not combined until 1953.This conflicts with the Robb Stewart article, which was also based on interviews with former employees.Since this began as a study of trumpet serial numbers, most of the data collected has been from trumpet owners, sothe impact of this discrepancy is probably minimal on the actual trumpet serial number charts. Howeverif Mr. Agard's account is correct, trombone serial numbers lagged behind trumpets until they were merged in1953. According to Agard, the last 1953 trumpets being in the 68,000 range while trombones in the 48,000 range.This does not agree with the published serial number records, which indicate that they reached 90,000 inFebruary 1953 and 100,000 in October 1953. I don't know how to reconcile these accounts so I'll just presentthem as data collected. At worst, they create some uncertainty for manufacture date of trumpets/cornetsin the 70,000-100,000 range (but the uncertainty is at most a year or two). For trombones, the uncertaintyfor horns prior to 100,000 would be substantially greater. Note that discovery of a trombone with aserial number between 48,000 and 100,000 would disprove the Agard account. I don't have evidence thatsuch a trombone exists but I haven't really looked hard for it since my focus has been on trumpets and cornets.
UPDATE: I now have a report of an Olds Recording trombone s/n 56,668.That suggests that trombone serial numbers went higher than previouslythoughtbefore the merger of trombones and trumpet into a single serial numbersequence.
Jan 2004: an Olds Super trombone was seen on ebay with a serial number of 54,571..even including a nice closeupof the serial number. This doesn't completely disprove the Agard account but at least it means trombones wentat least to 54,571 before the merger Agard describes. We would need to see trombones in the 6x,xxx / 7x,xxx /8x,xxx / 9x,xxx ranges in order to dispute Agard's account with much confidence.
Aug 2006: Revising the early trombone dates due to discovery of #4016 with original paperwork showing a manufacture date of 1923!
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Olds Ambassador Trombone Serial Number Lookup
| All Brasses | ||
| 1933 | 8250 | s/n lists merged in late 1932 at around 7000 |
| 1934 | 8500 | |
| 1935 | 8750 | |
| 1936 | 9500 | |
| 1937 | 10250 | |
| 1938 | 11000 | |
| 1939 | 11750 | |
| 1940 | 12500 | |
| 1941 | 13250 | production curtailed after US entered WWII 12/7/1941 |
| 1942 | 14000 | S/n 14005 made in May 1942, from original warranty card |
| 1943 | ||
| 1944 | ||
| 1945 | ||
| 1946 | 15000 | |
| 1947 | 21000 | |
| 1948 | 28000 | Ambassador introduced at around 27,000 |
| 1949 | 36000 | |
| 1950 | 45000 | |
| 1951 | 56000 | |
| 1952 | 70000 | |
Olds Ambassador Trombone Serial Numbers
| Miscellaneous milestones | ||
| 1948 | Late 1948, serial number 35xxx Olds Studio, earliest example I've seen | |
| 1948 | around 28000 (perhaps a bit earlier, for the fall 1947 school year) | introduced Ambassador trumpets and cornets |
| 1950 | between 45,8xx and 49,6xx | replaced Super Recording with Recording model |
| 1952 | somewhere around 70,000 | introduced Mendez model |
| fall 1955 | between 149,6xx and 150,3xx | moved production from LA to Fullerton |
| September 1956 | s/n 189,611 | elimination of the large-shank mouthpiece receiver on cornets |
| Spring 1958 | between 246,5xx and 248,8xx | redesigned Ambassador cornets & trumpets. Pinky ring changed to pinky hook. Also bracing changed. |
| 1964 | around 450,000 | Alliance with Norlin Music (F.A.Reynolds horns) |
| 1971 | around 720,000 | Zig Kanstul leaves Olds to take over Benge plant |
| 1979 | July 13th, approx. serial # A41000, production ceased | |
| 1979 | 1979,Nov. 7th all production equipment and parts were auctioned.At the auction Allied Supply purchased a 10 yr. supply of all parts (except bugles). Selmer/ Bach purchased tooling for all marching brass (not bugles) and large horns (i.e. baritones, tubas etc.). The trade names of Olds and Reynolds were sold to P.J. Laplaca Assoc, Ltd. | |