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I Can't Believe I Bought Another Horn.

Craig's List Came Through Again.

AwayWeGo said:
At the moment, only 1 horn is surplus -- surplus as in unneeded & unloved & actually up for sale. As in, I'd like to get it out of here.
Click to expand...
Surplus horn is gone.

Somebody came over for it the day before Christmas Eve & tried it & liked it & bought it & took it away.

It is out of here.

Now the only surplus horn is either the Yamaha YHR-321 or the Holton H-650 -- have not yet decided which.

I'm planning on having the Yamaha with me in Orlando next week & the following week, in case I get a chance to sit in again with the Lakeland Concert Band as I've done several times before when we've spent January weeks in that part of Florida.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
Oops -- I Did It Again.

AwayWeGo said:
Now the only surplus horn is either the Yamaha YHR-321 or the Holton H-650 -- have not yet decided which.
Click to expand...
Turns out the Yamaha YHR-321 is a keeper -- nicest playing Bb single horn I've tried. I took it with me to Florida last January & I played it when I sat in at rehearsal with the Lakeland Band.

The Holton H-650 is now in the hands of a satisfied new owner, via eBay.

Meanwhile, a semi-wrecked eBay Yamaha (not sure which model) is en route to me via UPS. I need another horn like a frog needs a hair net, but the price was right ($13 below my eSnipe maximum), so I am OK with it. What happens after the Yamaha gets here depends on whether it's fixable, the success of the repairs, & how it plays after that. Stay tuned.

Click here for some How It's Made video showing the construction of a new horn.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
Semi-Wrecked eBay Yamaha Horn Is Now At The Repair Shop.

AwayWeGo said:
Meanwhile, a semi-wrecked eBay Yamaha (not sure which model) is en route to me via UPS.
Click to expand...
UPS delivered it yesterday afternoon.

This morning I handed it over to a professional brass instrument technician, who said he will do his best on it.

The horn appears to be a former school instrument. That would account for its hard use & resulting semi-battered condition -- but not for the additional fact that some of its tubing has been (crudely) unsoldered & left unconnected. Sheesh.

It is Yamaha model YHR-561, from the company's 1990-92 product line-up.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
French Horn Rescue.

AwayWeGo said:
This morning I handed it over to a professional brass instrument technician, who said he will do his best on it.

The horn appears to be a former school instrument. That would account for its hard use & resulting semi-battered condition -- but not for the additional fact that some of its tubing has been (crudely) unsoldered & left unconnected. Sheesh.

It is Yamaha model YHR-561, from the company's 1990-92 product line-up.
Click to expand...
I picked up the repaired Yamaha YHR-561 yesterday & played the horn at band practice last night. It played fine, but its looks are humble, to say the least.

As if that weren't enough, this morning the devil made me offer $100 on a newish but badly damaged horn (crumpled bell flare) that the eBay seller was offering for $190 "buy it now" OBO. The seller accepted my offer so fast it was amazing.

I have an idea of the make & model of this latest rescue candidate, but I won't be sure till it's delivered -- the seller did not specify & the photos are not conclusive. If it's what I'm expecting, it's a good deal even in damaged condition. If not -- well, sometimes I bite the bear & sometimes the bear bites me.

None of this would be practical if I didn't know somebody local who does competent professional brass instrument repairs at reasonable rates.

Meanwhile, I have an eSnipe bid all set up & ready to go on yet another Yamaha YHR-561. It's for such a low amount that I expect somebody else will bid higher before eSnipe gets a chance to (try to) send in my bid.

We'll see, eh ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
Alan - you are as bad about bidding on horns on ebay as some of us are about bidding on timeshares. Thank goodness the horns don't have on-going maintenance fees --- or do they?

elaine
 
Truer Words Were Never Typed.

glypnirsgirl said:
Alan - you are as bad about bidding on horns on ebay as some of us are about bidding on timeshares. Thank goodness the horns don't have on-going maintenance fees --- or do they?
Click to expand...
Minimal maintenance is required on horns -- just keep'm clean, oil the valves, grease the slides, etc.

When they get dented, the metal can be smoothed out again -- and getting that work done can be thought of as maintenance fees, I suppose. (Preventing dents is much to be preferred, however -- & prevention costs nothing. Just be careful with your instruments. They are semi-fragile even though they are made of metal. Don't leave'm lying around on chairs during halftime break, etc., at rehearsals. Put'm away securely in their hard cases any time you don't have'm out for playing. Use hard-shell carrying cases. Don't pack'm in soft-side "gig bags," which should be thought of as "dent bags.")

If French horn valves get eroded from corrosion (i.e, corroded & eroded), they can soon get so leaky that the horn no longer plays right -- poor intonation, poorly "slotted" notes, etc. Chuck Ward says that 9 out of 10 horn players who think they need new leadpipes on their horns actually need valve jobs (i.e., replating the rotors to replace metal that eroded away from corrosion, remachining for exact fit with the valve bearings & cylinders, etc.).

French horn valve jobs do not come cheap -- $125 or more per valve, so you're talking a minimum of $500 just for the valve work, which I suppose could be regarded as a special assessment, I don't know.

Meanwhile, after I picked up the repaired eBay Yamaha YHR-561, the devil made me offer $100 (+ $30 shipping) for a new eBay horn that was pretty much wrecked -- i.e., serious crumpling of the bell flare. From the configuration of the horn & the style & the emblem on the case (which was also damaged), I guessed that the horn might be a quality instrument that's worth el fixo.

I won't know whether I guessed right or wrong till the instrument gets delivered next week.

Sometimes I bite the bear. Sometimes the bear bites me. We'll see, eh?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
You Squeeze Your Squeeze-Bulb & I'll Squeeze Mine.

Ridewithme38 said:
I can't believe these things cost so much to maintain! I mean, can't you just pick them up at any bicycle shop?

horn.jpg
Click to expand...
Back in the era of crank-start automobiles & Stanley Steamers, etc., car horns were mostly of the (valveless) squeeze-bulb variety -- like that bike horn only lots bigger.

Now & then, a big & semi-elaborate antique auto horn (minus rubber bulb) will show up on eBay in a musical instrument category.

Without its squeeze bulb, it was not recognized by the seller as a car horn. Assuming it had to be some kind of musical horn, the seller offered it in with all the various kinds of eBay musical horns -- an easy mistake for anybody unfamiliar with musical instruments & old cars both.

As it happens, squeeze-bulb car horns are called for in a famous musical composition by George Gershwin titled An American In Paris.

The thing is, the horn players in the band don't get to honk the auto horns. The honor of squeezing the squeeze-bulbs is reserved for the drummers back in the percussion section. (Go figure.)

BTW -- arranger of the linked U-Tube concert band version of that number is Jerry Brubaker, former (retired) chief arranger of the U.S. Navy Band, Washington DC, & current co-principal horn player in the City Of Fairfax Band. As it happens, Jerry recently had a valve job done on his horn by none other than Chuck Ward. (Jerry says his professional-model horn now plays better than when it was new.) Small world, eh?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
More French Horn Rescue.

AwayWeGo said:
As if that weren't enough, this morning the devil made me offer $100 on a newish but badly damaged horn (crumpled bell flare) that the eBay seller was offering for $190 "buy it now" OBO. The seller accepted my offer so fast it was amazing.

I have an idea of the make & model of this latest rescue candidate, but I won't be sure till it's delivered -- the seller did not specify & the photos are not conclusive. If it's what I'm expecting, it's a good deal even in damaged condition. If not -- well, sometimes I bite the bear & sometimes the bear bites me.

None of this would be practical if I didn't know somebody local who does competent professional brass instrument repairs at reasonable rates.

Meanwhile, I have an eSnipe bid all set up & ready to go on yet another Yamaha YHR-561. It's for such a low amount that I expect somebody else will bid higher before eSnipe gets a chance to (try to) send in my bid.
Click to expand...
Unknown damaged horn was delivered this afternoon. Till I opened up the box & stripped off the bubble wrap so I could see it with my own eyeballs, I didn't know if I was getting a diamond in the rough or a piece of junk not worth fixing.

Turns out its not newish at all -- just a C.G. Conn double horn marked Elkhart, Indiana. from Conn's heyday before they moved their horn works 1st to Abilene TX & later to Eastlake OH. Serial number is in the "N" series, which is researchable via internet to determine year of manufacture.

The Elkhart & "N" designations lead me to believe it's a Conn 28D, the yellow brass equivalent of Conn's famous nickel-silver 8D, a highly regarded professional-level horn. (Current production yellow brass 8Ds, made by Conn-Selmer in Eastlake OH, are designated 8DY rather than 28D. So it goes.)

Meanwhile, I got outsniped not only on that other Yamaha YHR-561, but also on some other candidates for French Horn Rescue that surfaced after my offer on the wrecked mystery horn (that turned out to be Conn 28D) was accepted. No matter. Win some. Lose some. I buy plenty enough eBay horns as it is.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
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AwayWeGo said:

RED_pbone.jpg

-- hotlinked --​

Click here for the particulars.

Who'd a-thunk ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
Click to expand...

What will they think of next!!!

I can't imagine the sound that plastic trombone would make - seems impossible to me that it would be very melodious.

elaine
 
The Sound Of The Plastic Trombone.

glypnirsgirl said:
I can't imagine the sound that plastic trombone would make - seems impossible to me that it would be very melodious.
Click to expand...
Click here for U-Tube video of somebody playing a (purple) plastic trombone.

Click here for U-Tube video of a guy playing a (partly) wooden trombone.

Click here for U-Tube video showing construction of a wooden French horn.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
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Interesting - I did not care for the sound of the plastic one, but the wooden had a nice rich tone to me.

elaine
 
The Devil Made Me Buy A Piece Of A Horn -- On Spec.

An eBay seller was offering a new, never installed bell tail, with screw ring already installed on it, for a Holton Farkas Model screwbell horn.

Even though I need 1 of those like a frog needs a hairnet, I noticed it was stuck at the $100 opening bid with just a few minutes to go in the on-line auction.

I assumed the savvy bidders were keeping their powder dry till the very last seconds, most likely via eSnipe or 1 of its competitors.

So with 25 seconds left, I put in a bid for $111.11, fully expecting other people's automated snipes to run it up to $300 or so when the dust settled after a last-second bidding frenzy -- except that there wasn't any frenzy & no dust. I ended up buying the thing for $102.50, which is exactly 1 bid increment over the opening bid amount.

There were 2 bidders -- the guy who bid that opening amount of $100 & me.

Who'd a-thunk ?

If I needed something like that, it would cost me major money. Not needing it, it's only costing me minor money. Plus, it'll be here any time the devil makes me buy a semi-ruined horn that only needs a new bell tail.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
Hey Alan,
DD is unlikely to ever play her tenor saxophones again; what's a good way to sell them? Both are Yamahas. One is a basic somewhat-beat-up student model but with good sound, and the other a very well-cared-for older intermediate one that was her instructor's till he upgraded.
 
eBay All The Way. Also Craig's List.

pjrose said:
DD is unlikely to ever play her tenor saxophones again; what's a good way to sell them? Both are Yamahas. One is a basic somewhat-beat-up student model but with good sound, and the other a very well-cared-for older intermediate one that was her instructor's till he upgraded.
Click to expand...
Photograph'm & put'm on eBay.

Try Craig's List 1st -- free, no fees & no commissions. Plus, no shipping -- Craig's List buyers show up, pay cash, & pick up the items.

If there are no Craig's List takers after a reasonable period, then go with eBay. Check their listing of completed items to see what comparable items are going for & set your price accordingly. Shipping tenor saxophones will be a hassle, but so what? That's why we have UPS & FedEx Ground.

Somebody in the next county over has a Yamaha YTS-23 on Craig's List right now. Click here for that -- while you can (the link might not last long).

Bulletin boards at church & school band rooms & community halls, etc., are also good places to advertise.

Be realistic about pricing & before long those tenor saxes will find new homes.

Good luck.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
Thanks. One or both also has a Selmer mouthpiece...that should add something I hope.
 
AwayWeGo, do you sell French Horns?

I have a student that has been playing for 5 years. She is currently playing a cheap Chinese French Horn that is falling apart and desperately needs a new one at a professional level. She has just entered 9th grade and will need it to last through college.

She wants one with a detachable bell. She has shown interest in those colored ones (they are metal, but colored), but I don't know if those are a hunk o'crap. I'm looking to purchase a new one and don't know of if you have any you think would be a good fit that you could part with.

:cheer: :cheer: :cheer:
 
Sorry -- No Screwbell Horns In Current Inventory.

bunny_foofoo9 said:
I have a student that has been playing for 5 years. She is currently playing a cheap Chinese French Horn that is falling apart and desperately needs a new one at a professional level. She has just entered 9th grade and will need it to last through college.

She wants one with a detachable bell. She has shown interest in those colored ones (they are metal, but colored), but I don't know if those are a hunk o'crap. I'm looking to purchase a new one and don't know of if you have any you think would be a good fit that you could part with.
Click to expand...
Don't know if we should be having this semi-commercial dialog out in the open -- but feel free to send me E-Mail via the TUG connection & I'll tell you what I've got. (No screwbell horns available at the moment, however.)

Meanwhile, if she's been able to get 5 years out of a cheap Chinese horn, then more power to her. Some of those are so terrible that the music teachers refer to them as Instrument Shaped Objects, rather than real musical instruments. Their reputation, generally, is of being hard to play & virtually impossible to repair.

That said, there is no reason Chinese manufacturing quality control can't improve, & I expect that over time it will improve. I have heard of a few specialized instrument makers in China -- small custom shops, not assembly line operations -- that turn out decent instruments at competitive prices. Unfortunately, those are clarinets & not French horns. So it goes.

In any case, send me PM or E-Mail via TUG & I will get back to you.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 
Oops -- I Keep On Doing It.

AwayWeGo said:
Oops -- I Did It Again.
Click to expand...
Won the eBay bidding today for another horn, despite the serious oversupply of horns around here already. My winning bid was higher than the only other bid by 5¢ -- one nickel.

I did not bother sniping this time. I went ahead & bid my maximum right out in the open a few hours after the auction started, not much caring whether I won or lost & expecting that my bid would not stand up.

The losing bid went in with 6 seconds to go, no doubt via eSnipe or 1 of the competing internet automatic snipe services.

The horn itself is pretty much a shot in the dark -- Kalison (Italian made), model KAB 10 "Allegri." I've never played 1, nor even seen 1 up close. I've noticed their advertisements over the years in The Horn Call (quarterly journal of the International Horn Society). Kalison, I believe, is better known for making tubas -- not that there's anything wrong with those.

8.jpg

-- hotlinked --​

Sometimes I bite the bear & sometimes the bear bites me. Not sure yet how this 1 is going to turn out. We'll see, eh ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
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Doofus eBay French Horn.

AwayWeGo said:
The horn itself is pretty much a shot in the dark -- Kalison (Italian made), model KAB 10 "Allegri." I've never played 1, nor even seen 1 up close. I've noticed their advertisements over the years in The Horn Call (quarterly journal of the International Horn Society). Kalison, I believe, is better known for making tubas -- not that there's anything wrong with those.

8.jpg

-- hotlinked --​

Sometimes I bite the bear & sometimes the bear bites me. Not sure yet how this 1 is going to turn out. We'll see, eh ?
Click to expand...
While The Chief Of Staff & I were in Florida on timeshare vacation earlier this month, the horn was being toned up & cleaned & made ready to play by a professional brass instrument technician back home who has fixed lots & lots of instruments for me. I picked up the horn all squared away & good to go a day or so after we got back.

The technician remarked about how well the horn is made & designed, which I took as a good sign. But that made it all the more baffling when I took it out & gave it a try, because I couldn't get the horn to play -- couldn't get it to play right, that is.

After several minutes of failed attempts, I figured it out.

The trouble is not a defect, but a quirk of this particular make & model of double horn.

Most single horns are built in the key of F. Some singles are built in the key of B-flat. Each kind has its advantages & its limitations. So about 125 years ago, some crafty instrument makers figured out how to combine all the pluses & minuses of an F horn & a B-flat horn in 1 instrument by building a "double" horn -- press the 4th valve down & it plays in B-flat or leave the 4th valve up & it plays in F. The thumb-operated 4th valve makes it quick & convenient to switch smoothly while playing, the same as the regular 1-2-3 valves.

Double horns are the preferred standard for virtually all professional hornists & advanced students & experienced community ensemble horn players. You start learning on a single horn in grade school & you move up to a double horn in high school (if you stick with it & practice & start to get good).

A double horn that plays in F with the thumb valve up & in B-flat with the thumb valve down, it is said to "stand" in F. Standing in F is the conventional & customary arrangement that is completely assumed & taken for granted among horn players, even though a few models of high-end double horns are equipped with reversible thumb-valve mechanisms that can be set to stand in either F or in B-flat, whichever the player prefers. Most double horns, though, are not reversible. They simply stand in F, just as practically 100% of horn players would expect.

As it happens, however, my otherwise outstanding eBay Kalison model KAB 10 "Allegri" double horn not only stands in B-flat, but it's thumb valve is not reversible. The horn stands in B-flat, period. Playing it means counteracting 55+ years of habitually playing with the thumb lever up for F & down for B-flat. I am too old for even giving that a try, so I am now the new owner of a high-end horn that is semi-unplayable unless it turns out that the instrument technician can come up with a modification that will get the 4th valve to operate permanently in reverse.

So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
Talking about horns, I went to the Gotterdammerung at the Met. last night. Lots of horns of all types playing for six hours.
 
Oops -- I Keep On Doing It Faster.

AwayWeGo said:
Oops -- I Keep On Doing It.
Click to expand...
It's beyond addiction. Now it is an uncontrollable reflex.

Today on eBay I spied an outstanding Mirafone double horn with both a "buy it now" price and a "make offer" option.

Mirafone French horns don't show up on eBay all that often, mainly because Mirafone (now spelled Miraphone) is mainly makes tubas & no longer makes French horns. I have lost eBay auctions for Mirafone double horns maybe 3-4 times since I caught the eBay French horn bug.

So this morning The Devil made me offer about $300 less than the "buy it now" amount.

The seller accepted the offer so quick that it was amazing.

So I bought it -- paid right away via PayPal, so the horn should be showing up on a delivery truck near here before long.

Lately I'm paying more for French horns than I am for timeshares.

So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
I love your thread -- and makes me glad that I'm not the only one that buys things that I already have in abundance (like timeshares).

Good luck with the next one!

Best,

Greg
 
Plastic Trombone In Person & Up Close.

AwayWeGo said:
RED_pbone.jpg

-- hotlinked --​

Click here for the particulars.
Click to expand...
A member of the Lakeland Concert Band had 1 of those at their big concert on January 22, 2012.

He was showing it off & demonstrating it backstage as people were assembling for the performance. He played it well & it sounded good.

During the concert, though, he played his regular instrument, a conventional trombone made of traditional yellow brass -- except in 1 number. For that, a novelty piece by Mayhew Lake titled The Roosters Lay Eggs In Kansas, he whipped out his green & black all-plastic trombone.

(The Roosters Lay Eggs In Kansas is subtitled "John Philip Sousa's Favorite Encore.")

Full Disclosure: I played 2 rehearsals plus the Jan. 22 concert with the Lakeland Band. We were timeshare vacationing in Kissimmee FL Jan. 7-21. Before we left, I arranged with the band president to sit in, as I have done before maybe a half-dozen times since we started January vacationing in Florida several years ago.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
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