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tom pennell Regular Member
Joined: 28 Mar 2016 Posts: 67 Location: Melbourne Australia
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Posted: Fri May 14, 2021 8:15 pm Post subject: trumpet Identification |
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Hoping someone can help. I recently purchased a trumpet that for all intents and purposes is a Paris Selmer Invicta, but of course it is not. Visually it is identical to the genuine article, pinky ring, single balance post on the tuning slide, trombone style water keys, third valve slide trigger, lacquer/nickel trim etc. The bell is engraved Invicta with no other attribution other than Made in West Germany. The "type face" on Invicta and the scroll work beneath is identical to that on a Selmer London horn I had earlier. That one had, in fine print, Foreign, on the bell. The closest match I have (just) found is the Huttl Commodore Line 800 trumpet, but that has twin balance tubes, conventional water keys and no trigger. Perhaps the Invicta was a special line, or perhaps it has no connection to Huttl at all!! In any event I would appreciate any thoughts and comments that members may have. Regards Tom |
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Mike Prestage Heavyweight Member
Joined: 09 Oct 2012 Posts: 722 Location: Hereford, UK
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Posted: Fri May 14, 2021 11:57 pm Post subject: |
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I'm pretty sure the Selmer Paris factory never made trumpets labelled Invicta. This was a name used on horns sold by the Selmer London operation, which sourced products from many manufacturers. I think the Invicta name was used more as a free-standing 'brand' rather than a Selmer model name, with the horns being stamped with something along the lines of 'Invicta distributed by Selmer London'.
It's odd that yours doesn't have any reference to Selmer at all. I'd be very surprised if it turned out that Invicta was a real manufacturing company who just had some of their horns distributed by Selmer. However, Invicta could have been an in-house alternate brand name of one of the known manufacturers (Huttl?). Or they could have been a middle-man operation that also did some direct distribution.
As to who ultimately made your horn, Huttl seems highly likely - they certainly did make stencil horns in what was then West Germany so it would be a good guess even without the strong resemblance to a definite Huttl product.
Mike |
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tom pennell Regular Member
Joined: 28 Mar 2016 Posts: 67 Location: Melbourne Australia
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Posted: Sat May 15, 2021 4:51 pm Post subject: |
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Mike, thanks for your thoughts. To be a little more specific, the engraving on the bell shows the name Invicta, sitting above what I take to be a harp enclosing a stylised "S" and below that some ornate scroll work, but as mentioned previously no reference to Selmer London.
Given what I paid for the horn and it's overall condition, who made it probably does not matter greatly. It's just an itch that needs to be scratched!
Tom |
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tom pennell Regular Member
Joined: 28 Mar 2016 Posts: 67 Location: Melbourne Australia
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Posted: Sat May 15, 2021 8:20 pm Post subject: |
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A quick post-script to my earlier ramblings. A search of "the net" using Selmer Invicta, produced a number of images of my horn. The difference being they all carried the Distributed by Selmer London text. Clearly they were part of the S.L inventory at some point. So, does the absence of Selmer London on mine mean it was meant for some other domestic market, Germany perhaps? Perhaps for an export market. One ad I found mentioned the U.S market and references a S/N of 30xxx. My serial number is 33xxx. As to the maker, I'll settle for Huttl unless someone can prove otherwise, but who knows. Tom |
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Mike Prestage Heavyweight Member
Joined: 09 Oct 2012 Posts: 722 Location: Hereford, UK
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2021 2:00 am Post subject: |
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You're welcome. That 'S'/harp marking sounds familiar. I can't place where I've seen it but given the context I reckon it was probably a Selmer London logo.
Mike |
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