Olds fluted tubes

[dxhall]

My 1949 Olds Recording has some visible wear on the stockings. These horns have Olds’s “fluted” inner tubes, which are no longer available.

I have a chance to buy another Recording which is cosmetically challenged, but has good inner tubes.

Would it make economic sense to buy the other horn, and have a tech swap the inner tubes? I really like the ‘49 horn and would like to improve it.

[Amconk]

I guess it would depend on what you can pay for the donor horn, and whether you feel that it’s worth it. It’s common for people to buy a “parts vehicle” when restoring another. I guess the same could go for trombones. But I’d hesitate to tear apart a good working horn to fix another. Could you just swap bell sections?

[Bonearzt]

Depending on the physical condition of your tubes, you "might" be able to get them replated.

IF they are warped or too badly corroded, this will not be an option.

Eric

[Doug Elliott]

I would like to know more about the replating option. I always thought that it couldn't be replated because the old chrome has to be stripped first and that was a big problem, but I remember posting that (maybe that was the old forum) and one of the repair techs (maybe you?) said it was certainly possible. What's the process? Is it always successful? Is the time and cost prohibitive?

[hornbuilder]

Stripping and re plating is certainly do-able. It depends on how badly pitted the tube is, since plating doesn't actually "fill" pits, as to how successful it may be.

I know where the Olds tooling is, so making new flutes tubes is also possible.
M

[Posaunus]

I know where the Olds tooling is, so making new flutes tubes is also possible.
M

Matthew,

You might have a gold mine there. There a quite a few closet Olds owners out there with duo-octagonal slides in need of replacement tubes. Unfortunately, because of their dual-bore design, there are four sizes to account for:
• 0.485"/0.500" (Olds Super)
• 0.495"/0.510" (Olds Recording)

Please let us all know if you ever want to venture down that path. If you do, lots of Olds trombones may come out of their closets!

[mrdeacon]

Another question to OP is how bad are the tubes? Is it just one or two small patches or large splotches?

You'd be surprised how good the action can be on a worn set of inners is with trombotine and good slide alignment.

[Doug Elliott]

It's quite rare to see a Recording that doesn't have wear on the stockings. I think mine was less than 10 years old when I got it and it already had that wear on one stocking. I'm pretty sure the other tube is fine.

[Jnoxon]

I think Robb Stewart has new old stock fluted slide tubes. Get ahold of him and see what he has.

[BGuttman]

Do Olds fluted tubes have soldered on stockings? If so the repair might be to just replace the stockings.

My Olds predates fluted inners so I don't know.

[Posaunus]

Do Olds fluted tubes have soldered on stockings? If so the repair might be to just replace the stockings.

My Olds predates fluted inners so I don't know.

No soldered stockings – they are part of the extrusion. The tubes in my 1968 Recording (a closet queen from Greenbean) look like they just came from the factory. No sign of wear yet in this perfectly aligned slide.

[JohnL]

Would it make economic sense to buy the other horn, and have a tech swap the inner tubes? I really like the ‘49 horn and would like to improve it.

How's the action on the current slide? No need to go buying another slide if the one you have works well, even if it does have some chrome wear.

If your current slide isn't as good as you wish it could be, maybe it just needs some work. Take out the dents, true up the tubes, make sure everything is properly aligned, and clean out a few decades of mineral buildup (I call it horn tartar) and you'd be surprised how good a slide with a few wear spots can be.

That said, if you have a line on another Recording at a really good price that's mechanically sound but cosmetically challenged, jump on it. I'm in the market for a straight Recording bell for a project; maybe you can sell the bell on to me

[Elow]

That said, if you have a line on another Recording at a really good price that's mechanically sound but cosmetically challenged, jump on it. I'm in the market for a straight Recording bell for a project; maybe you can sell the bell on to me

I think i saw a recording bell only on ebay, i dont think it was pretty though

[Arrowhead]

If you really want to, you could get it re-plated. I had it done at Anderson in Chicago. Took out all the brown spots and cleaned it up.

[mrdeacon]

If you really want to, you could get it re-plated. I had it done at Anderson in Chicago. Took out all the brown spots and cleaned it up.

Do you have before and after pictures?

[Arrowhead]

I don't think I have pictures, but it was a noticeable difference as soon as I got it back and looked at it. Well worth it. I've had it done on about 3 horns now.

[Arrowhead]

Would it make economic sense to buy the other horn, and have a tech swap the inner tubes? I really like the ‘49 horn and would like to improve it.

I would never swap out the inner tubes, unless they are damaged beyond repair. If you have them swapped out, more than likely it won't sound the same, and fluted tubes that fit those exact dimensions are very hard to re-create. You could always just have the tubes re-plated.