1946-1961: The Roth Years

The corporate sale to Scherl & Roth brought visible change to the Reynolds catalog. The Ohio Band division was shut down and the Regent instrument line discontinued. By 1953, the only visible evidence of the Regent name in the Reynolds catalog was the Regent Silver Clarinet, which was probably retained to compete against H.N. White's SilverTone clarinet model.

Roth trumpets, cornets and trombones previously manufactured by Ohio Band were rebranded with the F.A. Reynolds name and became the student line of the consolidated business. Baritone and French horn models were added to the Roth lineup in the 1950s.

Design details on numerous instruments were tweaked, including valve caps for piston-valve brass, trombone counterweights and trim detailing. See the respective instrument pages for details on these changes.

1947: Under Scherl & Roth ownership, the F.A. Reynolds Co. expanded their instrument lineup with the budget-priced Emperor trumpet, cornet and tenor trombone models in an effort to reach the high-volume student and community band markets.

1949: Following on the Emperor line introduction, the F.A. Reynolds Co. introduced the Contempora name in May 1949 as the new premium model line, designed and produced in collaboration with musicians from the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. Most existing F.A. Reynolds instruments were simply rebranded as Contempora models, especially the background and low brass; however, the F.A. Reynolds trumpets, cornets and tenor trombones were renamed the Professional model line and the new Contempora designs for these instruments featured larger bore sizes and bronze-alloy bells with nickel-silver tone rings. The Contempora line was the top brand in the Reynolds catalog for the next 30 years.

~1952: The F.A. Reynolds Co. began conducting business under the "Roth-Reynolds" name, most likely signifying Heinrich Roth's deepening involvement with the band instrument business as partner Max Scherl neared retirement (see 1955). All Reynolds instruments are now engraved "Made by Roth-Reynolds" instead of "Made by F.A. Reynolds".

1954: Roth-Reynolds General Manager and Abilene-native James E. Caldwell opened a band instrument repair operation in Abilene, Texas under the name of Caldwell Products. It is unclear what the full scope of this operation was, but seems apparent that it was never as successful as planned due to the lack of experienced brass craftsmen. Now owned by Brooks May Music Group, Caldwell Products was associated with the Reynolds plant in Abilene operated from 1964-1970.

1955: Max Scherl retired, leaving Heinrich Roth as the President and owner of Scherl & Roth, the F.A. Reynolds Company (doing business as "Roth-Reynolds") and the Ernst Heinrich Roth Company.

1955/56: Reynolds introduces the Contempora "Leonard Smith" signature model trumpet and cornet. Leonard B. Smith was one of the great band directors of the 20th century (notably the "Belle Isle" band in Detroit and Blossom Festival Concert Band during summer music festivals in Cleveland), direct inheritor of the John Philip Sousa tradition and a legendary cornet player. It is likely that the Leonard Smith models were a response to the Olds Mendez models that F.E. Olds (led by Foster Reynolds) and virtuoso artist Rafael Mendez had collaborated on for release in 1952.

1956: In the mid-1950s, Roth-Reynolds approached James Chambers (New York Philharmonic, 1946-1969) with a similiar idea for collaboration as what Max Pottag had provided Reynolds a decade earlier (see Reynolds Double Horn, Pottag Model). As a Conn 8D player, Chambers was familiar with the Kruspe-Horner layout of the Reynolds Pottag horn, but wanted to incorporate some of the playing characteristics and physical constructions that he was used to from his Conn horn.

After two years of design and development, Chambers endorsed the Reynolds Double Horn, Chambers Model in 1958. However, he only played the Reynolds horn for three seasons before a contract dispute in 1961 prompted Chambers to return to his original Conn 8D horn, ending the short-lived collaboration.

1957: Reynolds introduces the inexpensive Hi-Fi cornet model as a large-bore alternative to the smaller brass-bell Professional model. Trumpet and tenor trombone models would follow in 1959. Known serial numbers of Hi-Fi instruments range from ~46000-62000, with production ending in 1961.

The "Hi-Fi" horns shared design features with Reynolds' premium models, e.g. the cornet had the underslung wrap design, and could be considered a "basic Pro" horn vs the "advanced student" Emperor models that were approximately the same price. However, there were differences too: the cornet has a brass leadpipe and one-piece brass valve casings where the Professional model used more durable nickel silver.

1958: In additon to the Chambers Double Horn (see above), the Contempora "Stereophonic" double-valve bass trombone was added to the catalog. Designed in collaboration with Kauko Kahila (BSO) and Allen Ostrander (NYPO), the Contempora was the first commercially produced bass trombone with two rotor valves permanently attached to the horn, providing players with a fast and simple way of lowering the pitch of the trombone to E and enable playing passages such as the low B glissando in Bartok’s “Concerto for Orchestra”.

1959: Perhaps as a result of their work designing and building the Chambers French horn, Reynolds introduced the solid nickel silver Argenta trumpets, cornets and tenor trombone. Based on the large-bore Contempora designs, the Argenta models were, and still are, some of very few band instruments made completely of solid nickel silver.

The sterling silver Professional trumpet and cornet models are rebranded as "Sterling" horns, while the DIATONIC Contempora trumpet and cornet are rebranded as "Renascence" models. The sterling silver Professional trombone and DIATONIC Contempora baritone are not changed.