Olds hand slide widths?

[UrbanaDave]

Regarding the smaller bore Olds trombones, I have noticed that my ‘69 Recording model has a wider slide width than all my others (‘36 Self Balancing w/7 inch bell, ‘46 Super w/7.5, ‘58 Studio w/7.5, ‘77 Ambassador).

The Recording slide width is about 3.5 inches when measuring from the center of each outer slide tube. All my others are closer to 3 inches.

Perhaps Olds made wider slides for the models with 8 inch bells?

Does anyone know if there are more Olds slides that were made with this wider setup within the small bore (.485/.500, .495/.510, .500) models? A recent listing of a straight .500 bore ‘68 Olds Studio with an 8 inch bells caused me to wonder about this. Could that also have a wider slide?

Anyway, I haven’t been able to find much information on this and would appreciate hearing what others may know or have found.

[JohnL]

The slides on my P-15 Custom and P-16 Custom are both the same width as the slide on my R-20.

If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that the 8" bell/.500" bore Studio that emerged in the late 1960's was built to the same dimensions as the P-15 Custom. I'm looking at the 1970 Olds trombone brochure, which has a page showing the T-15 and L-15 side-by-side; it does look like the T-15 has a wider slide than the L-15.

The 1970 Studio is advertised as being nickel plated brass; I would take that as meaning that it does not have the solid nickel silver flare of the previous version.

[UrbanaDave]

Thanks, John! Were the R-15 and R-20 slides the same width? I assume they are, but did Olds perhaps go wider for the 8.5 inch bells?

[JohnL]

Thanks, John! Were the R-15 and R-20 slides the same width? I assume they are, but did Olds perhaps go wider for the 8.5 inch bells?

The slide is the same width. If you look at an R-20, you'll see that there's an offset at the valve to give more room for the bell.

[UrbanaDave]

Thanks!