Bach "Chicago" C Trumpet Honors 50th Anniversary

In April of 1955, Vincent Bach completed and delivered six C trumpets to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Four were selected by individual members of the trumpet section and purchased by the Orchestra. The remaining two were sold to a music store for individual customers.

Now, almost 50 years later, these trumpets are still revered, still in use, and still the property of the Chicago Symphony. Each instrument is assigned to a specific section member.

Today, however, other trumpet players are in for a treat, as Conn-Selmer has introduced the "new" Bach Stradivarius "Chicago C" trumpet, an instrument closely based on these original designs. The model (specifically model C180SL229CC) features a #229 bell and a #25 leadpipe, but this instrument design is faithful to the original blueprints in many other details, as well.

Extensive research on Vincent Bach's 1947 to 1956 design period was conducted by Tedd Waggoner, director of marketing for Bach, and Roy Hempley, author of "Bachology." "Vincent was constantly experimenting and trying new designs," said Waggoner. "He apparently made constant advances to his designs for Bb and C trumpets up to 1947. Design and production processes seemed to stay fairly consistent from that time until 1956 when another phase of changes was adopted. The famous 'Chicago C's' come from this 1947 through 1956-design era."

Waggoner continued, "The more information we turned up on the design and features of these horns, the more interested we became. We have tracked down 5 of the original 6 horns and one other one made just a few weeks later, we have the original shop cards listing specific information (including customer names), and we have the original design specifications in Vincent's archives. The 50th anniversary of these instruments certainly is an appropriate time to make these instrument available again."

The new instrument is available through all authorized Bach dealers.