Roth Band Instruments

"Specifically designed to give the beginning student the maximum opportunity to succeed. Actually many professional players use Roth, verifying it to be an instrument with accurate intonation, excellent design and construction, and most important, extremely easy to play. The warm, full tone of a Roth and the ease of blowing make it ideal for the youngster. Inexpensive to own and incomparable in quality." (1959 catalog)

As early as 1940, and possibly a year or two earlier, the Ohio Band Instrument Co. division of F.A. Reynolds was producing a "Roth Band Instruments" line of trumpet, cornet and tenor trombone. It is assumed, but not yet confirmed, that these were produced in association with Scherl & Roth; Max Scherl and Heinrich Roth had moved their recently acquired stringed instrument company (formerly Simson & Frey) from New York to Cleveland in 1938 and there almost certainly would have been some level of professional introduction and acquaintance with Foster Reynolds. A 1940 Ohio Band print advertisement features a youthful Charlie Shavers in a variety of contemporary settings that would appeal to younger musicians.

The Roth "Tone Tempered" models were introduced around the same time that Reynolds launched the Emperor model line (1947). Both models featured brass construction with a nickel-silver bell flare. The Roth variant appears to have been discontinued in the early 1950s.

Originally trumpets, cornets and trombones were available; baritone and French horn models were added in the 1950s. The Roth model line was positioned as Roth-Reynolds' student line of horns in the 1950s; professional value and ease of playing were emphasized as the key characteristics of Roth instruments.

Roth-Reynolds "Roth" instruments were actively produced until 1961 when the company was sold and became a subsidiary of Richards Music. The Medalist models were introduced by Richards-Reynolds and replaced the Roth line in the catalog. There are a few examples of RMC-branded Roth instruments (see Engraving Styles below); however, it is unknown whether there was actually a production overlap given that similar serial number horns are not marked RMC.

Model Engraving Styles

The photos and notes below describe the different engraving styles that were used on the "Roth" line of instruments from 1936 to the early 1960s.