Vincent Bach B-Flat Trumpet: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This trumpet was made by Vincent Bach Corporation in Elkhardt, Indiana in 1965. It is a B-flat trumpet, serial number 31291, made of brass and nickel silver, and has three piston valves with mother-of-pearl finger buttons. This trumpet is engraved:

Stradivarius Model 37 Vincent Bach Corporation Elkhardt, Ind. U.S.A.

Vincent Bach (1890-1976), born Vincent Schrotenbach, was an Austrian musician and brass instrument maker. In 1914, Bach emigrated to the United States, where he performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera and continued to play through 1926.

With an investment of $300, Bach started making mouthpieces in 1918, and by 1924 expanded his business making trumpets, cornets, and later trombones. In 1961, Bach sold his firm to the Selmer Company, which acquired his tooling and machinery and continued making his instruments with his original designs and blueprints.

Materials, dates and provenance

• maker: Vincent Bach Corporation
• Object Name: trumpet
• Physical Description: brass (overall material)
• Physical Description: nickel silver (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 19 in x 4 3/4 in x 6 in; 48.26 cm x 12.065 cm x 15.24 cm
• Measurements: case: 6 1/8 in x 21 1/4 in x 13 in; 15.5575 cm x 53.975 cm x 33.02 cm
• Measurements: trumpet: 5 in x 6 7/8 in x 19 1/4 in; 12.7 cm x 17.4625 cm x 48.895 cm
• Measurements: mouthpiece: 2 7/16 in x 1 in; 6.19125 cm x 2.54 cm
• place made: United States: Indiana, Elkhart
• ID Number: MI.66.143
• catalog number: 66.143
• Credit Line: Gift of H. & A. Selmer, Inc.
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.