User Manual
Vincent Bach combined his
unique talents as both a musician
and an engineer to create brass
instruments of unequaled tonal
quality – instruments which
today remain the sound choice
of artists worldwide.
Born Vincent Schrotenbach in Vienna in
1890, he initially received training on the
violin, then switched to the trumpet when he
heard its majestic sound. Although Vincent
also displayed a strong aptitude for science
and graduated from the Maschinenbauschule
with an engineering degree, he gave up
a promising engineering career to pursue
his rst love and an uncertain future as a
musician. The risk paid off. Performing under
the stage name of Vincent Bach, he established
musical success as he toured throughout Europe.
World War I forced Vincent’s move to New York City
where he arrived with only $5.00 in his pocket. A letter to
the famous conductor Karl Muck got Vincent an audition
and a resulting position with the Boston Symphony. By
the following season, Vincent was rst trumpet in the
Metropolitan Opera House opera and ballet orchestras,
performing in the American premiere of Stravinsky’s
Petroushka and Firebird. While on tour in Pittsburgh,
Vincent was convinced by a repairman that he could
improve the mouthpiece on Vincent’s trumpet. After the
man ruined the mouthpiece, Vincent had great difculty
nding a suitable replacement.
This was the beginning of Vincent’s realization of the very
real need for high-quality mouthpieces. His discovery was
further substantiated when, during the World War, Vincent
served as sergeant and bandmaster of the 306th Army
Field Artillery Band at Camp Union, Long Island. As head
of the bugle school, Vincent found both mouthpieces and
instruments to be of inferior quality. While on furloughs,
Vincent went to New York City where he remodeled old
mouthpieces and made new ones in a back room of
the Selmer Music Store. In 1918, while performing
part-time at the Rivoli Theater, Bach invested
$300 for a foot-operated lathe and an ofce
at 11 East 14th Street to begin the business
of producing mouthpieces. The business
grew rapidly and, in 1924, the rst Bach
trumpets were manufactured. Musicians
frequently referred to a Bach trumpet as a
real ‘Stradivarius’ of a trumpet, thus inspiring
the brand name Bach Stradivarius. Bach
trombones followed in 1928.
At the age of 71 in 1961, Bach decided to
sell his company. Although he received twelve
other offers, including some that were higher,
Vincent chose to sell to The Selmer Company. His
close relationship with Selmer over the years convinced
Vincent that this was the company that would preserve
the Bach tradition of excellence and expand upon the
foundations he built. All tooling and machinery was
moved from Mount Vernon, New York, to Selmer’s
operations in Elkhart, Indiana, with Vincent assisting
in the training. True to Vincent’s vision, Conn-Selmer,
Inc. painstakingly follows Bach’s original designs and
blueprints to manufacture Bach Stradivarius instruments,
the sound choice of professionals.