Other brands

Over the years, Conn owned many other instrument manufacturing companies, and in turn, brands. In the post-Elkhart years, Conn acquired several companies like W. T. Armstrong (in 1981) and King Musical Instruments (1983). With the King acquisition came the Benge brand, and when Daniel Henkin sold Conn to Skäne Gripen Co. of Sweden, Conn brass production was transferred from Abilene, Texas to Eastlake, Ohio, where Benge production had been since 1983. Previously, Benges were made in California before the 1983 move. The Eastlake Conn factory produced Conn, King, and Benge products, hence the CKB moniker for mouthpieces. Benge production apparently halted in 2005. Existing stock remained until the Benge brand was removed from the Conn-Selmer website in 2012. Holton production was transferred to Eastlake starting in 2008 and finalizing in 2011, with 3 Holton trumpet models being manufactured.

Another interesting brand was Musica. Founded as Musica Trada in 1947 in Steyr, Austria, the early case badges proclaimed that they were made in Austria. This was not the case later on. Since Austria had signed the Austrian State Treaty in 1955, they were a neutral country with no formal alignment during the Cold War. This meant that trading with Eastern Bloc countries was not as difficult or straining as NATO countries trying to trade with Eastern Bloc states. By the 1950s or 60s, Musica products were mostly made by Amati in Czechoslovakia, and were merely stamped with "MUSICA / STEYR - AUSTRIA" on the bell, sometimes with a logo [the case for saxophones]. Unlike some Amati stencils, these horns did not state their place of manufacture, possibly to make exporting the horns easier. Western NATO countries would have likely shirked at importing Musica products if they said Czechoslovakia, although after 1990 this wasn't as much of a big deal. By the 1980s, though, Musica wasn't in good shape. In 1990, United Musical Instruments bought out Musica and apparently established "production" beyond assembly/finishing at the Austrian office, which apparently added up to hiring Czech craftsmen who were still dealing with Czech components. Musica instruments in the early 1990s merely had "Made in Czech Republic" stamped on them in inconspicuous places, and by the mid-1990s Musica was completely a stencil brand - what little "production" at the Austrian office was clearly only stencilling now. Apparently, Hr. Meyr had recently been hired, and attempted to modernize production and model lineups, but the Czech craftsmen were uncooperative. Meyr left to start Haagston, and the Austrian Musica office either closed or switched exclusively to stenciling. The remnants of the office were purchased either by Votruba or Schagerl, as UMI moved out.

http://www.trompetenforum.de/TF/viewtopic.php?p=118626

Musica products from the 1990s onward were made in a variety of places:

Tubas - made by B&S [Germany] and Cerveny [Czechia]

Model 96T-1 red lacquer pocket trumpets - appear to be made by KHS-Jupiter [Taiwan] with some anecdotal resemblance to Cerveny-made pocket trumpets [Czechia]

Straight soprano saxophones - made by B&S [Germany]

Curved soprano saxophones - unknown manufacturers [Taiwan]

Model MA72 alto & tenor saxophones - KHS-Jupiter/Selmer's supplier/other unknown manufacturers [Taiwan]

The Styriaton brand was occasionally used in the early 1990s-UMI era.

Musica was a stage for Conn International bass brass in the early 1990s, before the venture fell over and Musica was re-purposed as a stencil brand again.

See: http://www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/nov2002/messages/112690.html

http://www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/apr2002/messages/92802.html

http://www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/feb2002/messages/84822.html

http://www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/jan2003/messages/118691.html

http://www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/jan2002/messages/80991.html

http://www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/nov2002/messages/112679.html

What few Musica products were being offered in the late 1990s were changed into or superseded Conn International products in the early 2000s. This time, the pocket trumpets [model 97T clear lacquer and 97T-8 in black lacquer] were Cerveny products [before Cerveny high brass production moved to Amati's Kraslice factory] and the soprano saxophones apparently KHS-Jupiter or other Taiwanese. The Conn International bass brass remained Cerveny-Czech made, with some models utilizing B&S German components. Student B-flat trumpets were added, and these appear to be Taiwanese Hoxon Gakki stencils. The series was gone by 2007 at the latest.

Therefore, the Musica-Steyr timeline looks something like:

1947 - Musica Trada established

1950s - Musica, Steyr-Austria brand is established

[Musica horns are either assembled from Czech Amati parts or stencilled horns complete from Amati]

1990 - UMI-Conn purchases Musica

Early 1990s - Musica begins labeling German VMI-B&S instruments [soprano saxophones and tubas] along with assembling Czech parts and importing complete Czech horns

Late 1990s - Musica is refashioned into UMI-Conn's budget brand, importing Taiwanese instruments as the European imports slow down

Early 2000s - Musica office/assembly plant is closed/sold off, and the Musica instruments are supplanted by Conn International counterparts, or just discontinued completely

2007 - Conn International is discontinued, and the Hoxon student trumpets appear as Conn 27B, King 301, and later Bach TR600

UNDER CONSTRUCTION