Ernst Modl brass instruments

Under construction

Modl used the model names that we know from F.X. Hüller & Co: Professional, Champion and World, with the extensions Super, 'De Luxe', De Luxe Color and an incidental Standard, Ideal.... The serial numbers I found so far (some 160, including stencils) reach from 2 till 8125, with an outlier at 12750.

The typical Emo trumpet can be recognized by it's spherical waterkeys, the baluster style bracing and the sloping valve caps and "Selmer' style arched valve stem buttons. The Word models have these 'Olds' style valve casings and bottoms.

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  'Emo' waterkey

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  'Emo' valve caps and buttons

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  'Emo' baluster bracing

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  'Emo' valve casings

But on a closer look there is more variation, partly because for the early instruments standard parts were used.

Ernst Modl started in 1951 with the production of signal horns. The production of rotary valves was added and he picked up the production of bugles, trumpets (piston valves and a few with (top action) rotary valves). Also a few cornets, several slide trombones and a valve trombone are known and then euphoniums are mentioned (but I haven't seen any pictures of them).

Emo Trumpets

Emo Professional

The first few Professional trumpets have the octagonal valve caps and bottoms that are also found on Keilwerth and Wohlrab trumpets. After that they have round caps and bottoms. Then the typical baluster braces also pop up. The waterkey is a traditional one, and stays the same over the years. After finding it's form in the early years the Professional model hasn't changed.

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Emo Professional, octagonal valve caps, traditional braces, valve numbers 1,2,3

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Emo Professional, octagonal valve caps, serial number 4(?), valve numbers 1,2,3, traditional braces

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Emo Professional serial number 2, round valve caps

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Emo Professional Bb and C, serial number not known, spin with typical baluster

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Emo Professional Bb and C, serial number 46

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Emo Professional, serial number 4933, baluster and traditional brace

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Emo Professional serial number 8103

Emo Champion

The Emo Champion trumpets all have normal waterkeys, no 'Emo' keys. Between 454 and 747 they get underslung waterkeys, then again normal waterkeys. Somewhere between 2506 and 2676 the valve buttons change from 'Emo' style to 'normal'. The bracings vary but the brace in the main tuning slide mostly is 'Emo'. Most of them have a forwarded position of the valve block ('balanced').

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Emo Champion, serial number 18

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Emo Champion, serial number 32, different engraving on bell

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Emo Champion, serial number 509, underslung waterkey, braces in different styles, hexagonal valve buttons

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Emo Champion, serial number 2676, different engraving on bell, underslung waterkey

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Emo Champion, serial number 5681, underslung waterkey

Emo Champion Super

The Emo Champion Super all have the typical 'Emo' waterkeys and valve buttons. There's a little variation in the finger hoooks.

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Emo Champion Super, serial number 632, different finger hook, 'Emo' waterkeys and valve buttons

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Emo Champion Super, serial number 8125, 'Emo' waterkeys and valve buttons

Emo World

The Emo World trumpets have a pretty constant shape, with all the known Emo features, including the 'Olds' style valve casings. Most of them have a forwarded position of the valve block ('balanced').

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Emo World, serial number 563, balanced

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Emo World, serial number 1933

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Emo World, serial number 7688

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Emo World, serial number 12750, Bauerfeind valve block. The only Emo with a 5-digit serial number.

Emo World de Luxe

Emo World de Luxe have all the typical Emo features. From a certain point they also have a patented third valve slide hook. This patent from Modl dates from July 18th 1956.

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Emo World de Luxe, serial number 1433

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Emo World de Luxe, serial number 3865, and the third valve slide hook

There's also a multicolored World de Luxe, the World de Luxe Color. So far only in low serial numbers (81-576).

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Emo World de Luxe color, serial number 81

Emo Standard

A rare bird. An Emo Standard, with also F.X.Hüller engraved on the bell. Sold in an auction in Stockholm in 2019. It's the only Emo Standard and also the F.X.Hüller & Co name is seldom used, although it's also found on the trumpet Louis Armstrong got with serial number 2503 but that one got a special inscription with Armstrongs name on it as well.

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Emo Standard, F.X.Hüller & Co, serial number 492

Other Emo brass instruments

Trombones

So far I've found several Emo trombones, only the Champion model. The slide trombones seem to have no serial number, apart from one with an 18 on the mouthpiece reciever.

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Emo Champion trombone. No serial number.

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Emo Champion valve trombone. Serial number 172

Cornet

There are some Emo cornets around but not many. So far World is the only model I found.

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Emo World cornet

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Emo cornet

Flugelhorn

There is one flugelhorn model Champion known. A low serial number so maybe Modl stopped pretty soon producing them.

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Emo Champion flugelhorn, serial number 179

And another one, no model name known but with baluster type braces.

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Emo flugelhorn, source Horn-u-copia.net9

Rotary valve trumpet

I found one example of an Emo rotary valve trumpet.

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Emo rotary valve trumpet, no serial number

Top action rotary valve trumpet

Modl also made a few top action rotary valve trumpets in various pitches, Eb, Bb and C.

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  Emo World, Eb trumpet, coll. Phil Holcomb, Florida

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  Emo World Rotary, Bb trumpet, coll.: Gerard Westerhof

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  'Emo', C trumpet, coll.: University of Ottawa School of Music.

More about these at the Top action rotary valve trumpets page of Brasspedia.

Signal horns

Signalhorns come in different sizes, used by cyclists, fire brigade, train people, hunting and as a foghorn. Other than trumpets they have a harmonica like reed that makes the sound.

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Emo small signal horn, 10,15 cm long and sounds like a harmonica, source Ebay.com 2017

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Emo signal horn, 28,5 cm long and sounds like a harmonica, source Ebay.de 2019

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Emo signal horn, 45 cm long, used at the Reichsbahn, source Ebay.de 2019

Bugles

There are a few Emo bugles, all with one valve, presumably from Bb to Eb. As they all seem to have hexagonal valve caps, I guess they are from the early years.

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Emo signal horn, dating before 1965

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Emo bugle converted to a lamp....

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Emo bugl , source Horn-u-copia.net