New York Bach Stradivarius Cornet - 1958

This is a 1958 New York Bach Stradivarius Cornet, serial number 18474, with some history behind it.

About 20 years ago, this cornet came into my shop after a grandmother found it at a yard sale. It had clearly spent most of its life in a case and was in unusually clean, and original condition for a New York Bach. She wanted to give it to her 5th grade grandson for band. I tried to steer her toward something more appropriate for a beginner but she was set on it. We cleaned it up and sent it out the door.

As I expected, she returned the following summer with the cornet. The leadpipe had been torn from its braces and bent in half. It was a simple stuck mouthpiece that had gone wrong, What had been a closet horn in near original condition took a hard turn in a single school year.

From there, we went through a long process with Conn-Selmer to get it right. They still had the original mandrel, and we had anew leadpipe drawn and bent to original Bach specifications. It took about a year to get the correct part. Once it arrived, we cut it to length, installed it properly and reinstalled the original reciever and water key. The new pipe was then lacquered to match. It looked beautiful once again!

The cornet went back to the same student and was played much more carefully throughout highschool. Years later, after they moved on from playing, the grandmother sold it back to us. We've gone through it again here at the shop, it has been fully serviced, cleaned, and brought back into solid playing condition.

Condition: The original lacquer on the rest of the instrument is in good condition and shows that, prior to the last 20 years, this cornet likely saw very little use. Since then, there is some minor lacquer wear, light scratching, and general signs of light use, but nothing out of line. Valves and slides are in great condition, it is ready to play.

Specs: Medium Bore, original finish with factory spec replacement leadpipe, Original receiver and water key retained and reinstalled.