CONN, ELKHART MODEL 12A COPRION PROFESSIONAL MEDIUM LARGE #2 BORE. 468 Bb CORNET WITH CUSTOM 1st AND 3rd TRIGGERS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. I have been playing horns for 62 years… Collecting and restoring vintage trumpets and cornets, producing custom finishes, and building custom horns for 51. Over the decades I amassed a vast trumpet/ cornet collection. During the past few years I have thinned out the herd and continue to do so. All my horns are gig ready… Cleaned, valves adjusted & aligned with new corks & felts when necessary. PLEASE LOOK AT THE OTHER HORNS I HAVE LISTED. For your consideration, here is an excellent example of a model 12A Coprion cornet. It is straight, without dents nor repairs of any nature (except for the addition of custom 1st and 3rd valve slide triggers). Picture #12 is of a page from Down Beat magazine dated April 1, 1940, touting the Conn Model 12 Series Coprion horns. Coprion is the copper belled version of the venerable 12B Coprion trumpet. It is a medium weight 2 lb. 9.3 oz. Free and open blowing cornet that is easy to play and fill, and has a distinctively warm, slightly dark and well centered tonality thanks to the solid copper bell. The Coprion (copper ion) electroformed, seamless bell was a technological innovation developed at the Conn laboratories in 1938. It was produced utilizing an electrolytic process whereby pure copper ions were built up on a steel mandrel until a uniform thickness was achieved. The process of building a bell in this manner took eight times longer than a brass bell, but the resulting seamless bell provides amazingly greater flexibility, richer tone quality, easier response and such perfect control that it’s impossible to over blow or crack a note. The cornet has a focused and well centered core throughout all registers, superb intonation, and laser slots. It has the ability to project enough to peel paint off the back wall of a large auditorium, but can back off for soft passages without losing tonal color thus becoming suitable for small combos, classical and legit. From the Conn Loyalist website. Notice the coprion bell. The 12A is the cornet equivalent of the 12B Coprion trumpet. On instruments with a Coprion bell it is always easy to see if the lacquer is original or not: If the lacquer is original, the Coprion will have a color varying between a deep honey color and dark red. I have learned that the third slide, without the finger ring to adjust the pitch of a low D and C#, is slightly longer than it is on modern instruments. On modern instruments the low Eb is in tune, but the low D and C# are quite sharp. On these older cornets with the longer third slide and no finger ring the Eb is a bit flat and the D and C# are slightly sharp, but not as sharp as they are on later instruments. It was thought that the slightly flat Eb and slightly sharp D and C# were within the abilities of the player to lip into tune. The bore size is #2 (0.468″); Conn called this a “medium bore. It is my experience that the bore sizes for “small”, “medium” and “large” bores are half a step higher for cornets compared to trumpets. So a trumpet “medium” would be a #1½ while a cornet medium is usually a #2. One 12A owner describes his 12A like this: All notes, either low or high, are very clear. Lower notes have a nice deep clear sound. At a medium pitch it produces a beautiful sound. You could definitely be heard if you played this baby loudly. High notes are crisp and clear. Truly a great playing instrument. I would definitely say it projects more than any of my other instruments. It can produce a lot of sound and still maintain its tonality. Definitely one of my top players. It plays so easily and produces such a great sound. It is truly a fantastic cornet. Much better than a 1950 Olds Recording Cornet that I had. It rivals my 1940 Silver plated Conn Concert Grand, which plays equally as well, but perhaps just a little less bright. Using a short shank Conn 3 mouthpiece, the horn gets a nice mellow, sweet sound in the middle register, and really projects in the upper register. A great playing horn. The 12A was produced from at least 1939 (production start date possibly 1938) to 1955. As far as I can tell at this point, all Conn cornets built before 1955 take a short shank cornet mouthpiece as opposed to the 2¾” “Bach-style long shank cornet mouthpiece. The long shank cornet mouthpieces will fit a pre-1955 Conn cornet, but won’t give the proper intonation or playing characteristics of a short shank cornet mouthpiece. What Conn said in 1939: New wide model, designed to take fullest advantage of the revolutionary Coprion bell. Here is the greatest cornet tone you ever listened to. Accuracy of intonation and ease of response will also amaze you. Comfortable hand hold, perfect balance. Patented Clickless Crysteel valves. Medium bore, Bb and A. What Conn said in 1955: This is the shortest, widest cornet in the entire Conn line… And it features the famous. COPRION bell which provides such exceptional power and ease of blowing. Amazing flexibility, most accurate scale. Sensational medium bore, large tone. Has the popular “Clickless Crysteel” bottom spring valves – another exclusive Conn feature that good cornet players appreciate because the action is so fast, so smooth. Built in Bb and A. Length 16 1/2″, bell diameter 4 5/8″. Highly polished brass, Coprion bell, clear lacquer. This cornet is in excellent condition. Mechanically, it is in wonderful condition with bottom sprung valves that are bright and shiny without staining nor pitting, and have excellent compression. Valve springs, corks and felts are new. All slides operate with silky smoothness. Cosmetically, the horn exhibits the following minor blemishes: 1. There are perhaps a dozen or so tiny pencil and pin point pings, as well as scratches/ marks scattered throughout the horn, but nothing even remotely resembling a dent; 2. Approximately 30% of the lacquer had been lost over the years causing the exposed brass and copper to tarnish. I hand polished the exposed metal while trying to retain as much of the original lacquer as possible, and then re-lacquered the cornet. It is almost impossible to match the dark gold patina of the original lacquer, so the new areas of lacquer are lighter and brighter in color than the original heavily tinted lacquer. If you don’t mind the color variation of the lacquer, the rest of the cornet (other than the aforementioned blemishes) is nearly flawless. Finish – Original lacquer (70%) and new lacquer (30%) over copper, yellow brass and nickel silver. Serial # – 364XXX. Bore Size – Conn #2. 468 medium large cornet bore. Features – Seamless, solid copper (Coprion) bell tube; custom 1st and 3rd valve slide triggers ; bottom sprung Crysteel valves; new corks, felts, and springs; complete valve alignment. Accessories – Non original thermoplastic case in near mint condition. Also included is the original short shank Conn #3 mouthpiece. I tend to be overly critical and as accurate as possible when describing my horns, so that no one receives any “surprises”. International Buyers – Please Note. I do my very best to be as accurate as humanly possible in my descriptions. Just a musician and collector. The item “1951 CONN 12A COPRION #2 BORE (. 468) PRO Bb CORNETCUSTOM TRIGGERS XLNT. COND” is in sale since Friday, June 14, 2019. This item is in the category “Musical Instruments & Gear\Brass\Cornets”. The seller is “alucard49″ and is located in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. This item can be shipped worldwide.

• Model: 12A Coprion
• Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
• Bell Material: Copper
• Finish: Lacquered
• Brand: C.G. Conn, Elkhart
• Skill Level: Professional

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