Title: Trumpet

Maker: C. G. Conn

Model: Connqueror 40B (with Vocabell)

Date: 1932

Geography: Elkhart, Indiana, United States

Material: Brass

Serial Number: 287368

Accession Number: GL-036_A1-36

Provenance: Unknown

Description

Key: B-flat

Pitch: TBD

Finish: Brass

Lacquer: Yes

Engraving: Engraved bell with “C. G. CONN LTD. / ELKHART / IND. U.S.A.” No decorative engraving.

Mouthpiece: No

Accessories: No

Case: No

Notes:

This trumpet has a sleek Art Deco style. It has fluted valve casings and a sleeve over the lead pipe to make it more streamlined (the tube inside is tapered).
Mother-of-pearl valve caps
“Hidden” water keys
Stamped “40B” on underside of lead pipe.
This trumpet has a “Vocabell,” which is the Conn innovation of a bell with no rim. The Conn 1934 instrument catalog (page 10) describes the Connqueror Trumpet with Vocabell 40B as follows: “The most popular trumpet on the market. Used by such first chair stars as Lebert Lombardo (Guy Lombardo), Jack Cavan (Charlie Agnew), Lamar Wright (Cab Calloway), Charlie Williams (Duke Ellington), David Glickstein (Broadway Shows) and Eddie Camden (Don Bestor). The Vocabell rim is a single, integral piece of metal which allows it to vibrate freely. Conventional bells have a rigid wire in the rim which tends to muffle the tone and dampen out the delicate harmonics that are so essential to clear tone and rich coloring. Delicate instruments of Columbia Broadcasting Studio in New York show the Vocabell has from 12 to 15 decibels greater volume, is smoother and more even in scale, and is clearer and purer in tone than trumpets with the conventional type bells. This test was conducted under the supervision of Nathaniel Shilkret, for many years supervisor of Victor Recording laboratories, and was made without Conn's knowledge. The findings are, therefore, unbiased and incontrovertible. Beautifully styled in modern manner, the first band instrument ever consciously styled throughout. Medium bore, Bb and A, Clickless Crysteel valves.”