The "First & Last of Everything" List

(updated 12/2/24)

Needless to say, this isn't a definitive "First Of/Last Of " list. It's limited to the horns that have
come to light since December 2005, with the additions of the trumpets listed on Jim Donaldson's
site (with his permission). This list is constantly changing, of course, but it tries to cover all the
possibilities. If I've left out a possible category please let me know.

Chicago Benge Models
The first medium-large bore Bb: #500
The first medium bore Bb: #631
The first medium-large bore cornet: #897
The first large bore Bb: #1501
The first large bore cornet: #1581
The first cornet with a shepherd's crook: #2507
The first medium-large bore C: #2429*
The first C with a French bell: #2460*
The first D: #2470
The first Eb: #2573
The first D/Eb: #2575**
The last Chicago Benge: #3350
The last large bore Chicago Benge: #1700

* C trumpet #2285 appears to be a cut-down Bb with a French bell.
** #2565 did not originally have an Eb slide; one was made for it in the 1960s.

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Burbank Benge Models
The first medium-large bore Bb: #3352
The first medium bore Bb: #3527
The first medium-large bore C: #3609
The first medium-large bore D/Eb: #3708
The first medium-large-plus bore Bb: #3885
The first medium-large-plus bore C: #4810
The first large bore Bb: #1705
The last large bore Bb in the old numerical sequence: #1861
The first large bore in the 3xxx sequence: #4402
The first medium-large bore cornet: #4118
The first large bore cornet: #7799
The first cornet with a shepherd's crook: #5584
The first pocket trumpet: #6246

As above, the following is not a definitive list. For example, none of the large bore Burbanks
were actually stamped with a 6; that started with the Los Angeles Benges. The first edition of the
Benge brochure (from the mid-1960s) didn't even list the L bores as a 6X! The list was as follows:
M, 2X, 2XP, 3X, 3XP, 4X, 5X, L. By the second edition (1971) the M bore was listed as a 1X
and the L as a 6X, but before 1970 or so it seemed enough just to stamp an M or an L on the horn.
The only horns stamped 1X were C trumpets. The only Bb M stamped on a ferrule on a Burbank Benge is #5252. The same goes for the 3X model, as, technically, the first 3X would have been a
Chicago medium-large bore trumpet with the smaller bell. The 3 was not stamped on Burbanks
until well into the process; an unnumbered horn was assumed to be a 3X. On a Burbank Benge,
the place to look is the ferrule that joins the bell to the 1st valve casing; it's at the very bottom of
the instrument.
The original stamps included an X (2X, 3X, 5X), but eventually they stopped stamping the letter
and just went with the number (2, 3, 5). The earliest trumpet stamped in that manner (to date) is
#4596, and the latest horn stamped (so far) with an X is #5163, a 5X. They stopped using the X
sometime in the #5100s. The last 3X so far is #5113; the first 3 I have is #5117.
The large bore (6X) horns were not stamped as such until the Los Angeles years. The only MLP 5X to surface (#4115) must have been a special order or a prototype, as this combination was never advertised. The same with #4810, #4850 and #5739, which were MLP 1Cs.

Bb Trumpets
Stamped and Unstamped Instruments (Burbanks)
The first 1X: #3527
The first 2X: #3830
The first 2X+: #4855
The first 3X: #3352
The first 3X+: #3935
The first 4X: #5157
The first 5X: #3735
The first 6X: #1705

Ferrule-stamped Instruments (Burbanks)
The first 1X: #4796 (a C trumpet!) - no Bb's that I know of
The first 2X: #4603
The first 2X+: #4855
The first 3X: #4596
The first 3X+: #5190
The first 4X: none that I know of
The first 5X: #4694
The first 5X+: #4115
The first 6X: none that I know of

The first 1: #5252
The first 2: #5368
The first 3: #5117
The first 4: #5157
The first 5: #4822
The first 6: none that I know of

All medium bore Bb trumpets are essentially 1Xs, and all large bores are essentially 6Xs, but none were stamped that way until after the move from Burbank. Any Burbank stamped with a 1X is a C trumpet.

C Trumpets
Stamped and Unstamped Instruments (Burbanks)
The first 1C: #4796
The first 1C+: #4810
The first 2C: #4781
The first 2C+: #4870
The first 3C: As far as I can tell, the renaming of the 2C+ to the 3C occurred during the transition
from Burbank to Los Angeles. The 1971 catalog (from Olive St. in Los Angeles), lists a 1C, 2C
and 3C, with the 3C being an MLP. I have not yet found a MLP Burbank C trumpet stamped with a 3;
I've also never found a Los Angeles MLP C trumpet stamped with a 2. However, I would not be
surprised to find some transitional horns that did not fit this pattern.

Stamped Instruments (Burbanks)
The first 1C: #4796
The first 1C+: #4810 (stamped with a 1X)
The first 2C: #5722
The first 2C+: #5196

The Street Address
The last Burbank bell with a street address: #8281
The first Burbank bell without a street address: #8279
The last Burbank bell without a street address: #8380

Then they put the address back on the bell...
The next Burbank bells with a street address: #8390 & #8391
Then they took it off for #8396.

Some have estimated the amount of Burbanks with no street address to be @400 horns;
I don't see it. Donald Benge put the number at 50-60 horns; my guess is @100 instruments.
They're much rarer than was previously thought! Things seemed to get a bit inconsistent during the
transition, as #8391 has the street address but #8396 does not. On top of that, #8384 is an LA Benge.

The last Burbank bell: #8396

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Los Angeles Benge Models
The first Los Angeles Benge: #8384
The first Claude Gordon model: #9048
The first LA D: #8655
The first LA D/Eb: #9518
The first cornet: #8851
The first large bore cornet: #10776
The first 6X stamped with a 6 on the ferrule: #9043
The first flugelhorn: #17708
The first piccolo trumpet: #24127 (there is also a piccolo with a serial number of #01958)
The first pocket trumpet: #8890
The first Claude Gordon pocket trumpet: #12176
The first 7T (Triumphal (herald) trumpet): #9470

The first 1X: #9733
The first 2X: #8514
The first 2X+: #9184
The first 3X: #8408
The first 3X+: #8417
The first 4X: #11047
The first 5X: #8406
The first 6X: #8384
The first 7X: #39842

The first 1C: #11695
The first 2C: #20856
The first 3C: #10138
(The LA 3C is the same as the Burbank 2X+.)

The first FL-1 flugel: #18429
The first FL-3 flugel: #19497
The first FL-5 flugel: #17708
The only FL-6 flugel: #37130

Was #37130 a special order, or did they simply stamp the wrong number on the bell? We may never know.

The first 3X piccolo trumpet: #25601
The first 5X piccolo trumpet: #24127

The first 3Z cornet: #10728
The first 6Z cornet: #16915
The first 8Z cornet: #29497

The 3Z was a long-model (no shepherd's crook) medium-large bore cornet.
The 6Z was a long-model (no shepherd's crook) large bore cornet.
The 8Z was a shepherd's crook model large bore cornet.

I'd especially like to narrow down the point at which the bells, instead of the ferrules, were first
stamped with numbers. Again, this is only a list of the horns that have come to light; please contact
me if you have an instrument that would make this list more accurate. It seems that there was not a
clear point at which the change took place (although it was in the high 18,000s into the 19,000s), and it had more to do with the models then the number sequence, as specialty horns were clearly made in batches. The Claude Gordon instruments continued to have CG stamped on the ferrule long after the other models were stamped on the bell. The latest horn with CG stamped on the ferrule is #20024.

The latest horns with a number (and/or letters) stamped on the ferrule, and the latest horns
stamped on both ferrule & bell)

Bb trumpet:
1X: 
2X:   #18720 (ferrule)
2X+: #18058 (ferrule); #19840 (bell & ferrule)
3X:   #18781 (ferrule); #19414 (bell & ferrule)
3X+: #18956 (ferrule); #18988 (bell & ferrule) 
4X:   #18xxx (ferrule)
5X:   #19374 (ferrule); #20174 (bell & ferrule)
6X:   #19074 (ferrule)
CG:  #20024 (ferrule)

C trumpet:
1C:   #11880 (ferrule)
2C:   #10856 (bell & ferrule)
3C:   #16735 (ferrule)

Flugelhorn:
FL-1: #18429 (ferrule)
FL-3: #17605 (ferrule)
FL-5: #19219 (ferrule); #21095 (bell & ferrule)

Cornet: #24022, a 3Z, is the latest stamped on both the bell and the ferrule
Herald Trumpet: #24507, has O7 stamped on the ferrule.

The first bell with a number: #18988

Other than the earliest horns, Claude Gordon models, in general, have neither a bell number
nor a ferrule stamp. The latest CG with a ferrule stamp (so far) is #20024. Only three CGs
with a 6 stamped on the bell have come to light: #19587, #42736 & #42746. The latter two
appear to be from the last batch of LA Claude Gordons.

The first bell with a 1: #21071 (Bb trumpet); #28465 (flugelhorn)
The first bell with a 2: #19833 (Bb trumpet); #20856 (C trumpet)
The first bell with a 3: #18988 (Bb trumpet); #23779 (cornet); #24052 (flugelhorn); #24140 (piccolo)
The first bell with a 4: #25034 (Bb trumpet)
The first bell with a 5: #19531 (flugelhorn); #20174 (Bb trumpet); #24127 (piccolo)
The first bell with a 6: #19587 (Bb trumpet); #19675 (cornet)
The first bell with a 7: #41425 (Bb trumpet)
The first bell with a 8: #29497 (cornet)

The first medium bore C: none that I know of
The first large bore C: none that I know of

The only six-digit LA Benges (so far): #213592 & #956591
These horns, a 3X and a 7X (large-plus bore) have LA bells and BENGE stamped on the bottom of
the 2nd valve casings, as opposed to "USA," which is stamped on the Eastlake horns.
#960091 (a 3) and #960105 (a 3X+) have LA bells but USA stamped on the 2nd valves.
#960229 (a 5X) has USA on both the bell and the 2nd valve casing. More examples of differing
models will be needed in order to get a handle on this transition.

The latest bells stamped 'Los Angeles' (with BENGE stamped on the 2nd valve casing)
Categories
Bb: #43348 (and #956591)
C: #37017
Cornet: #42006
Flugel: #42153
Piccolo: #42384
Pocket: #43253
Herald: #39593

Sub-categories
Bb
1X: #37718
2X: #41983
2X+: #40472
3X: #43348 (and #213592)
3X+: #43206
4X: #43237
5X: #43138
6X: #42150
7X: #42950 (and #956591)
CG: #42746

C
1C: * no ML C trumpets with the "French" bell, made in LA, have yet to surface
2C: #37017
3C: #35779

Cornet
3Z: #42006
6Z: #40409
8Z: #40967

Flugelhorn
FL-1: #38158
FL-3: #42331
FL-5: #42153

Piccolo
3X Piccolo: #25601
5X Piccolo: #42384

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Serial Numbers Stamped on the Valves
Throughout the Chicago and Burbank years it was regular practice to stamp the serial number on
each valve. This continued into the Los Angeles years. However, at some point the company ceased
that practice. We're trying to answer the question, "When?"

The latest LA Benge with the serial number stamped on the valves: #17877
The earliest LA Benge without the serial munger stamped on the valves: #20001

This work is just getting started; please email me if you have an instrument in between these
serial numbers. Thanks!

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Transition Horns
The was some overlap of numbers between bells stamped "Los Angeles, California"
and those stamped "USA." That makes sense, as the specialty horns (anything but a Bb)
were made in batches, but not fully assembled until an order was placed. For this transition I choose
to go with the stamping on the 2nd valve casing. If it's stamped BENGE the casing was made in
California. If USA, then Ohio. I label these instruments "transition horns." I include them in the LA Benge
spreadsheet, noting that they were likely fully assembled in Eastlake, OH. All of these horns have USA stamped on the bell and BENGE stamped on the 2nd valve casing.

The first bells stamped 'USA':
#41505 (FL-3)
#41520 (FL-5)
#42204 (piccolo)
#42633 (CG)
#42974 (3X+)
#43083 (8Z)
#43128 (3X)
#43366 (D/Eb)

I have not yet found a five-digit Benge USA Bb trumpet. The earliest that I've run across is #106047,
said to have been originally purchased in December 1985. I welcome further input.

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