Conn "French Horn Alto" (1917)

This unusual instrument is what appears to be a New Wonder model "French Horn" Alto—later officially designated as the Model 6E—manufactured by C.G. Conn in 1917. While it shares a striking visual resemblance to Conn’s New Invention model Mellophone (Model 4E), this particular design features a slightly larger bell and body profile.

When C.G. Conn first introduced this innovative hybrid in 1911, their marketing catalog proudly boasted:
"A splendid substitute to the French Horn in band as to quality of tone. This instrument should be adopted by every concert band and orchestra that does not use French Horns. It has an excellent intonation, a real French Horn quality of tone, and is louder and more resonant than any other French Horn Model Alto on the market."

While the earlier 1914 editions of this model were pitched in E♭ and sold with an additional crook and slide to convert the instrument to the key of C, by 1917 Conn had streamlined production to manufacture the horn strictly in E♭, without any extra slides or crooks.

In practice, this instrument is a wonderfully stubborn anomaly. It fits neither a standard Alto Horn mouthpiece nor a traditional French Horn mouthpiece. While a regular cornet mouthpiece physically fits the receiver best, it makes the lower register incredibly difficult to control. Testing reveals it is truly neither a pure French Horn nor a standard Alto, but rather a unique Mellophone variant. Utilizing a dedicated Mellophone mouthpiece finally unlocked a rich, pleasing low and middle register, though the high register above the staff remains an acoustic challenge. Because the horn plays in modern low-pitch E♭, it stands as a true Model 6E—though exactly where the player is supposed to comfortably rest their left hand remains an ongoing experiment!