The model had a short life because it was unsuccessful in breaking into the British market: depending on who you believe, only 477 of these horns were ever made. You can see from the picture of my horn above that the water keys go either way, but the 1977 catalogue picture on Olds Central has a horn with water keys both underslung, so there were changes made over the model's short life. You could spec the horn with triggers (my horn, the A6ST), or without, the A6S. It came with silver plate as the standard finish. It is a heavyweight horn at 40oz., a 0.468" bore, and a 4.75" bell. It's unclear who helped design the horn, but it was designed specifically with British brass bands in mind, and marketed as such. The A6 was first produced in the mid-late 70s. Olds thought that the Ambassador name was a good fit for an instrument that would very much be the new kid on the block in the UK, and trying to win over bands and players. The British brass band market, at which the A6 was aimed, was a conservative one, with Besson (Boosey & Hawkes), having a lock on instrument sales to bands (brass bands have a tradition of supplying instruments for their players, so instrument makers sold more to bands than to individuals). What American readers may be less aware of is that the original, student line Ambassadors were nearly exclusively sold in the US, so overseas the name had no instant recognition. There was some sense in the decision, looked at from the vantage point of the rest of the World.
Which begs the question - why did Olds use the Ambassador name for what they were marketing as a top line instrument, when it was so connected to their student offering? The horn I'm writing about today may share the name, but that's about all it shares with it's student based siblings. Many readers will be aware that the Ambassador nametag was used for many years by Olds to designate the instrument at the bottom of their lineup - Olds Ambassador trumpets and (long) cornets have become legendary instruments in their own right - good quality almost indestructible instruments that can take a beginner a long way before they look for something else. Today I'm writing about an instrument that was quite possibly the last instrument designed by the factory, and was Olds' final and futile throw of the dice in an effort to remain a viable concern, through tapping into the British brass band market.
Best olds ambassador cornet series#
Latest of a series of blog posts about the various horns I own or have owned in the past - click here for other posts in the series.įor those who have read my other posts, you'll know that I've written twice before about the Olds instrument company, so you can read those posts for more information about the long and noble history of that brand, or check out the Olds Central site.
0 kommentar(er)
