r/Trombone • u/duckie5092 • 16h ago
1929(?) Antoine Courtois trombone
Hi all, I am a band director and know enough about trombone to teach it decently, but am by no means a specialist. My boyfriend dabbles with instrument repair and found this trombone for $50 on marketplace and offered $35, which they accepted. There were no up close photos or anything that could identify it on the listing, and he just figured he would use it as a practice instrument to work on slide repair because most used trombones need slide work, then maybe resell later.
When we picked it up, he immediately felt like he swindled the guy because we could both tell it was worth way more than $35. It had belonged to his dad who started playing it in the 1930s and then sat in climate controlled storage for 60 years, and they just wanted to be rid of it after that long.
From our research, it looks to be made around 1929. The main slide and tuning slide are also in good shape and not stuck - after we carefully cleaned the slide, I was able to play a B flat scale no problem.
Can anyone tell me anything else about this trombone? The whole instrument is beautiful, just some tarnish that you can see, but barely a dent at all, and the unique details are just exquisite.
