Boston Musical Instrument Co.
Model 11 Three Star Trumpet in A-Bb-C
c.1922

I had read an article about Boston trumpets a year ago and learned about one of the last trumpets made by this once great name in instrument making; the Model 11. At the time I could only find one example of it so assumed it must be rare. I was fortunate to buy one recently that was complete with the case and all accessories.

Here it is restored and set up for high pitch Bb.

Here it is set up for low pitch C which it does pretty well with the slides all the way in.

I am told that this is the last of the trumpets to have a hand-engraved bell before they used a stamp. A far cry from the first engravings!

Here is the original mouthpiece which plays well.

I had to do some minor restoration on the case and in this photo, I am still in the process of replacing the leather strap that holds down the valves. The copper mute has been perforated on the end which is something I have seen done before on early straight mutes. This came with the center slide piece with dual threaded ends, high and low pitch slide ends, mouthpiece, lyre, mute, and a cornet mouthpiece adapter bit.

Here it is as I received it. Overall in good shape but the tuning slide had several issues. The bottom outer tube had become separated from where it goes into the valves and the old solution was to tape it on. The center tuning slide section had partially broken off and the outer tube had lost most of the threads to hold the nut. The hardest part of the restoration was to add a new end on the tuning slide to replace the broken section. There is some plating wear from use but otherwise this looks good again and plays well with a bright sound.

This has serial number 23402 and under that a 2 which indicates a medium bore as stated in the sales brochure below. Actual bore is 0.452".

Here is the original advertisement for the Model 11 Trumpet that dates to 1922 when using the 81 years experience on page four added to the start date of 1841 for founding member E. G. Wright.

The only difference with mine is the single tuning slide brace rather than dual.

Another way to date this is by using the Alexander J. Smith promotion. He was born in 1882 in Massachusetts and was still teaching at the New England Conservatory of Music in 1920. By 1930 he had moved to Los Angeles and was working as a high school music teacher; a job he held until his early death in 1942.

One odd thing about this brochure is the stamp on page one showing that it was sold by the Cundy-Bettoney Company on Bradlee Street in Boston. C-B had purchased the Boston Musical Instrument Co. c.1918 so that fact is fine but in 1922 they were located at #228 Tremont Street in Boston. The new factory at #96 Bradlee Street was not built until the late 1930s and the earliest reference I could find is from 1939. More research is in order to find out why a trumpet from 1922 would have a late 30s stamp.