BLOW YOUR SELMER TRUMPET

My dad, a collecting musician of sorts, lucked upon a vintage 1960's Selmer K-Modified Trumpet. 

He first saw it in the rear corner of a pawn shop window. When he went inside to inquire about the price, it became clear the pawn shop owner had absolutely no idea what a rare treasure he had in his possession.

Back in the 60's when it was originally made, the US and France did not have a friendly commerce relationship. The US imposed a tariff on imports from France to try and price them out of the US market. With the tariff in place, it would have been insanely difficult for French companies to make a profit on anything shipped into the US. 

So to get around that, The Selmer Company shipped the horn only partially assembled ((sneaky)) to allow the horn to officially be "made in the USA" and avoid paying the tariff.

 Here's where the K-Modified part comes in. "K"was a renowned horn craftsmen. The Selmer Company hired him to assemble the final pieces of their famously lightweight horn. 

He did it gladly... under one small condition. The Selmer Company had to agree to name the horn after him.

So name it they did.