Posted by Chuck(G) on July 21, 2003 at 09:37:56:
In Reply to: good deal? posted by Marc on July 19, 2003 at 09:50:03:
According to the Musictrader web site, the horn was made in March, 1979:
"In March of 1974 an alpha-numeric system was established where the first character (letter) of a serial number indicated the decade; "G" for the 1970's, "H" for the 1980's, etc. The second character, also a letter, indicates the month of the year; "A" for January, "B" for February, "C" for March, etc. The third character (a number) indicates the number of year within the decade (indicated earlier by the first letter). The fourth character (number) indicates the specific type of instrument: "1" = Cornet, "2" = Trumpet, "3" = Alto Horn, "4" = French Horn, "5" = Mellophone, "6" = Valve Trombone, "7" = Slide Trombone, "8" = Baritone Horn & Euphonium, "9" = Tuba, and "10" = Sousaphone. The remaining four numbers of the serial number indicate the production number of the instrument on a monthly basis.
Production was shifted back to Elkhart in the 1980's (around 1986, according to Dr. Bank's web site), so it looks like this instrument probably is an Abilene-made one. Tread carefully--the "Mexi-Conns" do not have a good reputation.