[Smokey613]

This Super 20 Silversonic just sold on eBay. Seller states it is an Eastlake serial #379867. It appears to have the double socket neck. This is the earliest numbered Eastlake I have seen so far and also the double socket neck that the "experts" say was a Cleveland model only attribute.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/200662451002?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

 

[milandro]

it could of course be a horn made of different parts put together thus combining a silver bell from a later model to an older one or a double socket which replaced a faulty single one . I think it is highly unlikely that it is original.

I cannot find it but I think that some time ago we discussed the fact that a damaged silversonic would be sold exactly to do a Frankenhorn.

 

[Smokey613]

I guess it could actually be factory made from left over pieces/parts right after they moved to Eastlake. From what I gather, the factories were not as "rigid" in their processes as most seem to be today. I found it interesting regardless of it's origin.

 

[milandro]

very unlikely.......... by the time horns were marked Eastlake the double socket had been discontinued for too many years

 

[Smokey613]

Yes, the "frankenhorn" seems to be the most likely explanation. Maybe it was these guys....

http://www.frankenhorn.com/

 

[Smokey613]

The seller added this on the auction:

On Oct-13-11 at 17:56:20 PDT, seller added the following information:

Some new information about this horn. A prospective bidder pointed out that the horn has a Cleveland style neck and a Cleveland serial number but the bell says East Lake. I have had the horn since new and it has never had major repairs or modifications. We can only speculate that the horn body and neck came from the Cleveland factory, and that the final assembly and bell attachment was completed later at the East Lake factory. That makes this horn a very rare piece. Please feel free to contact me with questions and I will tell you what I know.

 

[milandro]

what shall I say.......every time someone has claimed to have a " freak" horn in his possession things always proved to have a more likely explanation than some workers for no reason making a frankenhorn........short of calling the seller a liar I can only imagine that someone took advantage of him when he bought it " new" which must have happened in the '70 . The likelihood that at King they kept a Cleveland body already with a serial number stamped but without a silver bell which they added years later (they could have put any other bell at any other time in between) comes in the realm of science fiction especially because the silversonics were produced even after that period and it was not so that they were short of parts or something like that.

We will probably never know

 

[Smokey613]

My Silversonic was purchased new in 1968 and it is just a "normal" Eastlake Silversonic. It IS "special" to me as I have a lot of memories associated with it and making new ones everyday!

 

[empressdiver]

I had written to him several days ago outlining the dates of his horn and the move to East Lake, and suggested that the bell had possibly been swapped out at the repair shop.

He replied: "We can speculate what happened but here is what I am
certain of. I got the horn brand new around 1968, and have owned it since,
and it did not have a bell change as long as I have had it. Whatever was
done to the horn was done at the factory before it ever hit the retail
market.
I suspect that for whatever reason the horn construction was
started in Cleveland and finished at East Lake. All I know for sure is that
it is a cool horn with an interesting story. And there probably isn't
another like it.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge."

 

[milandro]

and keep a body 8 years laying around?............I am not buying it ..........wait a minute, yes, indeed .........I didn't buy it! :bluewink:

 

[Dr G]

The seller had the horn since it was new and yet it is in a Selmer Tripack case...

Maybe the store it came from mixed up the parts. Yeah, that's it.

 

[milandro]

not so long ago someone discussed over here a super 20 silversonic eastlake which was sold on ebay rather damaged but with a salvageable bell. At that time we discussed the possibility to use it to fit a damaged horn and the discrepancy between number and bell saying eastlake came up

Lo and behold and a few months after a horn like this comes up for sale......... a coincidence, parallel evolution perhaps?

 

[Dr G]

Super Franken20

It's aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!

 

[empressdiver]

The seller relisted this horn - ends in 3 days.