Note: This horn is part of a private collection in France. It is NOT part of the collection of Dick Martz. The photographs below are provided by and used by permission of the owner.
This is a model O-49 single B♭ based on the instrument designed in 1914 by Lorenzo Sansone. It has an additional valve (thumb) for stopped notes and an a fifth valve (pinky) that is an F extension to provide open low notes missing from B-flat harmonic series. The F.E. Olds price sheet dated January 11, 1960 describes the horn as follows:The Olds price sheet for January 1967 lists the O-49 without any further description for $985, however by 1978 this model is no longer listed. It should be noted that the horn shown below appears to have a brass bell section and not the nickel-silver bell described in Olds price sheet. The bell is stamped "FE Olds & Son, Fullerton, Calif."; Olds closed the Fullerton plant in 1979. The owner has not found a serial number.5-Valve B♭ French Horn
Built in response to the persistent demands of
Hollywoods finest studio and recording players
(like John Graas) this single B♭ horn has a mut-
ing valve plus a rotary change to an extra section
of F tubing. The result is the accuracy found in a
B♭ horn, the intonation expected from the finest
double horn and the technical facility afforded by
the use of cross fingering into the F range. Nickel-
silver bell clear back to the rotors - functional yet
durable design.
vac-a-bond case $575.00
