The F attachment originated in an instrument developed by German instrument maker Christian Friedrich Sattler during the late 1830s and patented in 1839. It gained popularity at a time when the older German E and F bass trombones had fallen out of favour with orchestral players and were being replaced by a B tenor trombone with a wide bore and large bell proportions. This instrument was known as the "tenorbass" trombone (German "Tenorbassposaune")—it was a tenor trombone in B with the bore and bell dimensions of a bass trombone, and was used to play both tenor and bass trombone parts.