Distin Eb Cornet
By the 1890s Eb cornets were losing favor as the soprano
voice in US bands and were no longer considered a solo or
leader's instrument. Previously, American bands
arrangements required two (or more to ease the burden) of
them for the soprano part. More and more bands were
following the lead of Patrick Gilmore's Band and then the
great Sousa Band that were utilizing clarinets, flutes and
even piccolos for those parts. All the US makers
continued to offer high quality Eb cornets to this shrinking
market and existing instruments from this era are
somewhat rare.
Judging by the serial number, this cornet was made in the
first few months of production in the new Distin factory in
Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 1891. This was the
fulfillment of plans to build a large modern factory that
Henry Distin made in the 1870s in London. Judging by the
number of brass instruments of all sizes from this factory
extant, it was a very productive shop, probably producing
almost 2000 instruments a year. In the US, only Conn
was producing larger numbers. Distin had been offering
European imports for the last several years in Philadelphia
but seems to have discontinued this practice after the
move. Selling less expensive imports was a very profitable
business for many other US businesses, so I can only
guess that this decision was made with the idea that the
lower quality products would erode the prestige of the
better instruments that he was producing himself. He
continued offering the same wide range of models that
were built in Philadelphia including this which he called
"No. 1 Eb Soprano for Leaders" and stated that he
invented the model in 1862. This example was somewhat
of a deluxe version, with engraving on all the larger parts,
burnished silver plating and gold plated trim and was priced
at $70. Distin's cornets were priced about $5 more than the
highly regarded Boston cornets and $10 more than the best
selling Conn instruments. In spite of the quantity of
engraving it is of an even lower skill level than that on my
New York Distin cornet. It is very well preserved in all
respects and is an excellent player. It retains its original
mouthpipe shank, bit and Gold plated Levy model
mouthpiece. The overall length with mouthpiece removed
is 12 1/2", the bell rim diameter is 4 3/4" and the bore
measures .445".
voice in US bands and were no longer considered a solo or
leader's instrument. Previously, American bands
arrangements required two (or more to ease the burden) of
them for the soprano part. More and more bands were
following the lead of Patrick Gilmore's Band and then the
great Sousa Band that were utilizing clarinets, flutes and
even piccolos for those parts. All the US makers
continued to offer high quality Eb cornets to this shrinking
market and existing instruments from this era are
somewhat rare.
Judging by the serial number, this cornet was made in the
first few months of production in the new Distin factory in
Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 1891. This was the
fulfillment of plans to build a large modern factory that
Henry Distin made in the 1870s in London. Judging by the
number of brass instruments of all sizes from this factory
extant, it was a very productive shop, probably producing
almost 2000 instruments a year. In the US, only Conn
was producing larger numbers. Distin had been offering
European imports for the last several years in Philadelphia
but seems to have discontinued this practice after the
move. Selling less expensive imports was a very profitable
business for many other US businesses, so I can only
guess that this decision was made with the idea that the
lower quality products would erode the prestige of the
better instruments that he was producing himself. He
continued offering the same wide range of models that
were built in Philadelphia including this which he called
"No. 1 Eb Soprano for Leaders" and stated that he
invented the model in 1862. This example was somewhat
of a deluxe version, with engraving on all the larger parts,
burnished silver plating and gold plated trim and was priced
at $70. Distin's cornets were priced about $5 more than the
highly regarded Boston cornets and $10 more than the best
selling Conn instruments. In spite of the quantity of
engraving it is of an even lower skill level than that on my
New York Distin cornet. It is very well preserved in all
respects and is an excellent player. It retains its original
mouthpipe shank, bit and Gold plated Levy model
mouthpiece. The overall length with mouthpiece removed
is 12 1/2", the bell rim diameter is 4 3/4" and the bore
measures .445".
Click on images for larger views.