Beneath is a general history of Conn
guitars and below that is a current listing of any
auctions of Conn guitars on ebay that are not finalized.
When you click on any of the auction links you will find
the ebay site opens in a new window. So you can continue
to browse this page of Conn guitars on ebay while you look
for more detail on the Conn guitars on eBay's site.
C.G. Conn Ltd., sometimes called Conn Instruments or
commonly just Conn, was a US manufacturer of musical
instruments, especially of brass instruments. The company was
founded by Charles Gerard Conn, an entrepreneur who patented
several instrument improvements including a rubber rimmed
mouthpiece for the cornet in 1875. A large variety of
merchandise was sold under the 'Wonder' label, which included
Conn-made woodwind, brass and percussion instruments, violins,
mandolins and portable reed organs. This business also
distributed American-made and imported guitars, banjos and
zithers.
In 1905, Conn had the world's largest musical instrument
factory producing a full line of wind instruments, strings,
percussion, a portable organ and gramophone bells. In 1915 all
of Colonel Conn's holdings were bought by a group of investors
led by Carl Dimond Greenleaf . Greenleaf incorporated his new
holdings under the name C.G. Conn Ltd. and retained the Conn
trademark on his musical instruments. Carl Greenleaf retired in
1949 but was succeeded by his son Lee Greenleaf. During
his tenure Conn bought the Scherl & Roth Company (1964), a
manufacturer of stringed instruments.
In 1969 C.G. Conn Ltd. was sold to the Crowell-Collier
MacMillan Company. Under their ownership the company's prestige
declined. By 1971, high costs, competition and union labor
pressures forced the company into drastic measures. In that
year the Conn Guitar Division manufacture was moved to Japan by
Yamaha.
In 1980 the company was sold to Daniel Henkin. In 1986, the
Swedish conglomerate Skâne Gripen bought Conn and created
a new parent corporation, United Musical Instruments or
UMI. In 2000, UMI was purchased by Steinway Musical
Instruments, and in January 2003 the UMI assets were merged
with the Selmer Company to create Conn-Selmer, a subsidiary of
Steinway Musical Instruments.
Following is a current listing of conn guitars on
ebay
