1964 (serial # 248xx) MT. VERNON BACH STRADIVARIUS Trumpet. ML bore. Original special order gold lacquer is 95% with honest wear spotting where you would expect it around the valves and deep inside the bell from mute use, but very nice overall. At first sight I thought this was a factory gold plate (everything is gold, no nickel parts), but the 90-year-old previous owner (a West coast pro player I won't name) told me it was a special order lacquer from Mt. Vernon, as was the lightweight bell (as evidenced by the star stamp under the Mt. Vernon stamp on the bell). He told me the 1st slide trigger was also a Bach shop job but I have no way to prove it. This gentleman knew what this instrument was; he'd ordered it from "Vincent" in '63 and it was his baby. The love and respect he had for the horn must have rubbed off on me and I'm going to deeply regret selling this, but I just can't bear to have this sitting around unplayed. I've always maintained a healthy scepticism of the NY and Mt Vernon mythos, but um, this is quite possibly the finest trumpet ever made...OK I said it.

The case is the original Mt. Vernon Bach case it came in, badges inside and out, and in excellent shape with 2 keys. According to the previous owner it came from the factory with the green felt sock on the bell. All slides pull with a perfect pop. No signs of any repairs. Leadpipe shows no signs of rot. The only negatives to report are a 3/4" ding on the edge of the bell that will be an easy fix and one shallow 1/8" ding on the bell near the valves. The valves and the plating are very good (all matched serial numbers of course) and the action is fantastic although the 1st valve sometimes needs to warm up for a minute which tells me some adjustment there would be a good idea. It also needs a good chem-cleaning. These negatives are pretty minor when we're talking about a horn of this quality.

I'm not a vintage Bach expert but please let me know if you need more info or pics and I will respond. Because of outragous commission fees I will only be accepting Money Orders or Cashier's checks on this item. I have 100% feedback, take pride in having happy buyers and I plan to keep it that way. I will only ship items this valuable internationally with trackable services like Fedex or UPS. Insurance on domestic shipping is extra.