I Can't Believe I Bought Another Horn.

[AwayWeGo]

I'm Chairman of the U.S.A. branch of the International Military Music Society. Our members include current and former military musicians as well as civilian band members, directors, composers and band fans. One of our Vice-Presidents is former Commandant of the U.S. Army Field Band and the other VP is currently band director at one of the service academies. Our website, for anyone interested, is www.immsusa.org

Thanks for the link.

Does membership require annual dues or just a 1-time payment ?

BTW, the Fairfax Band music director is a former executive officer & deputy commander of the United States Air Force Band, Washington DC.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Wonderful Socializing With TUG Friends Again In Orlando.

Loved this whole Thread and also loved hearing about some of your recent French Horn escapades when we met in Orlando last Monday!

That Orlando meet-up was a highlight of our week.

Seemed like the party just got going when I had to rush off to meet the Yamaha YHR-322 eBay French horn guy.

Right after that, I hit the highway to Lakeland -- got there in time for band practice. (Skipped rehearsal the following week because of being on grandfather duty at Universal Studios & Islands Of Adventure.)

Already looking forward to another Golden Corral Orlando TUG meet-up in January 2014.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

French Horn Rescue.

Technician said it will be less work (hence less expensive) to install the new bell tail on the old horn (screw ring & all) than to cut off the horn's existing fixed flare, then move the screw ring off the new bell tail onto the OK bell tail of the complete horn, which would make the separate eBay detachable bell flare usable on the screw-ring converted horn.

Either way, the complete horn with the damaged fixed bell flare comes back as a complete horn with undamaged screw bell, a desirable feature in professional-model French horns like Holton H-179. The brass instrument technician said the repaired horn will be ready when The Chief Of Staff & I get back from our January timeshare vacation in Florida.

Picked up repaired & screwbell-converted Holton H-179 from instrument repair technician yesterday -- another French Horn Rescue success story.

Dropped off eBay Yamaha YHR-322 while I was there to get minor dents & dings professionally smoothed out. (Dents & dings are too few & too minor for the YHR-322 to qualify as a French Horn Rescue instrument.)

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

 

[hvsteve1]

Thanks for the link.

Does membership require annual dues or just a 1-time payment ?

BTW, the Fairfax Band music director is a former executive officer & deputy commander of the United States Air Force Band, Washington DC.

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

Dues are $35 per year and get you six great magazines per year which pretty much eat up all the dues. Three are The Journal of American Military Bands and the others issues of Band International from the International Society and airmailed from the U.K. Membership also gets you in touch with some great band people arund the country. Thanks for the heads up on the Fairfax Band.

 

[wackymother]

Alan, a friend just showed me this link and I thought of you right away! Be sure to check out the video at the bottom, showing one of them in action.

http://twentytwowords.com/2013/02/2...ss-instruments-pictures-video/#comment-481714

 

[AwayWeGo]

Love It. Thanks.

Alan, a friend just showed me this link and I thought of you right away! Be sure to check out the video at the bottom, showing one of them in action.

http://twentytwowords.com/2013/02/2...ss-instruments-pictures-video/#comment-481714

Creative way to recycle trumpets & horns, etc.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

French Horn Build-Up.

After respectable progress in selling off some of the surplus, I once again have too many horns around here.

Instead of 1 extra Yamaha YHR-321, I now have 2 of those, both surplus (because I snagged an outstanding YHR-322 -- Yamaha's equivalent newer model -- via eBay).

My French Horn Rescue Holton H-179 (screwbell converted) is not quite ready to go on eBay. Horn is ready, but the generic carrying case, which is being modified to fit the Holton, is not completely ready.

As if those weren't enough, I now have another French Horn Rescue candidate, an Elkhart Conn 8D in rough condition. The Chief Of Staff bought it for me last weekend at Pecan Park Flea Market while the old man was eyeballing classic cars on Amelia Island, near Jacksonville FL.

The Elkhart 8D is now in the hands of a professional brass instrument repair technician for fixa-fixa-fixa (mostly dent work, including smoothing out some serious creases at the bell throat, which already has 2 small patches).

The 8D carrying case is also rough. I'm going to rehab that myself.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

The Surplus Grows.

I once again have too many horns around here.

Could not pass up today a Craig's List Conn 6D clone by Lorenzo Sansone, New York.

I always thought Sansone horns were "stencil" instruments, made by other manufacturers (e.g., Conn, Orsi, etc.) but marked & engraved Lorenzo Sansone, New York.

The linked article says Sansone's later horns were made in his own shop in New York City. That's believable, judging by the example I brought home today. It's extremely well made, differing not at all in basic design from Conn 6D (which it closely resembles), but with slight differences in a number of subtle, high-quality ways that are hard to describe but readily apparent to French horn & brass instrument buffs.

Upscale Conn 6D is a good capsule description of this latest acquisition, which is in extremely well preserved original condition (not overhauled or rebuilt).

Who'd a-thunk ?

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Fixa-Fixa & More Fixa.

I now have another French Horn Rescue candidate, an Elkhart Conn 8D in rough condition. The Chief Of Staff bought it for me last weekend at Pecan Park Flea Market while the old man was eyeballing classic cars on Amelia Island, near Jacksonville FL.

The Elkhart 8D is now in the hands of a professional brass instrument repair technician for fixa-fixa-fixa (mostly dent work, including smoothing out some serious creases at the bell throat, which already has 2 small patches).

The 8D carrying case is also rough. I'm going to rehab that myself.

Flea market Conn 8D is back from repairs & playable. It's the horn I used at brass quintet rehearsal last week, & that I'll use again today in rehearsal with a different brass quintet.

Carrying case still needs work. I fastened some loose hinges & bought a new latch, but have not yet installed that to replace the missing OEM latch. Plus, it needs a new handle. I think I have a replacement on hand, though I'm not exactly sure where.

I'm leaning toward flipping the horn once I complete repairs to the carrying case, but I have not decided for sure nor taken any pictures. No rush.

Meanwhile, my Craig's List Conn 6D clone by Lorenzo Sansone (New York) is now in the hands of the brass instrument repair technician.

With that, I'm all caught up. No more horns waiting in the wings -- but that could change. Who knows ?

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Horn Case Repair Delayed Indefinitely.

Carrying case still needs work. I fastened some loose hinges & bought a new latch, but have not yet installed that to replace the missing OEM latch. Plus, it needs a new handle. I think I have a replacement on hand, though I'm not exactly sure where.

Did not find replacement handle for carrying case but remembered I have an extra horn-shaped carrying case ready to go down in the basement.

Fortunately the "rescue" Elkhart Conn 8D fits OK in the extra case, so I'm using that case for the "rescue" 8D instead of completing rehab on the Conn case.

If another horn case is needed some time in the future (which is not out of the question), then maybe that will be an appropriate time to finish work on the Conn horn case.

Waste not, want not.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Lorenzo Sansone 6D Clone Now Believed To Be Made By York Band Instruments.

I always thought Sansone horns were "stencil" instruments, made by other manufacturers (e.g., Conn, Orsi, etc.) but marked & engraved Lorenzo Sansone, New York.

The linked article says Sansone's later horns were made in his own shop in New York City. That's believable, judging by the example I brought home today. It's extremely well made, differing not at all in basic design from Conn 6D (which it closely resembles), but with slight differences in a number of subtle, high-quality ways that are hard to describe but readily apparent to French horn & brass instrument buffs.

The Devil made me buy another non-Conn clone of Conn 6D -- an eBay special needing fixa-fixa-fixa, but a nice looking instrument with potential. It's currently in the hands of a professional brass instrument repair technician for dent repairs & unsticking stuck slides & getting stuck rotary valves unstuck & restrung & working freely. The brand name engraved on the outside of the bell throat is Hallmark.

While I was puzzling over my non-Conn 6D clone marked Lorenzo Sansone NYC, I reached out to the proprietor of an outstanding horn collector web site. The collector in turn put me in touch with a retired professional hornist who not only knows lots about Lorenzo Sansone horns, but who actually studied horn playing under the instruction of Maestro Sansone in New York. The former Sansone student never heard of anything resembling Conn 6D made by Sansone or made elsewhere & marked Sansone. Not only that, nothing resembling Conn 6D is shown in Sansone's 1955 catalog, according to the PDF facsimile catalog that's viewable on the collector's web site. The Sansone expert suggested the possibility that the 6D clone marked Sansone was a 1-off prototype.

When I received the eBay Hallmark horn, I noticed that its weight & construction details were lots more like the Lorenzo Sansone 6D clone than like any 6D made by C.G. Conn. I mentioned that by E-Mail message to the horn collector & to the Sansone expert. In response, the collector told me that Hallmark is a name found on some instruments made by York Band Instruments Co. of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

I have concluded, therefore, that if the Hallmark clone of Conn 6D was made by York, then so was the Conn 6D clone marked Lorenzo Sansone New York.

Meanwhile, I successfully flipped (eBay) another French Horn Rescue instrument, a Holton Farkas H-179 that had a badly dented bell tail and bell flare (1 piece) when I got it. It was exactly what I had in mind last year when I bought a brand-new 2-piece (scewbell) Holton Farkas bell tail & used Holton Farkas bell fiare in good condition, figuring those items would be useful before too long. A professional brass instrument repair technician removed the damaged bell tail & flare & installed the eBay replacement parts. (To offset part of the cost of the 2-piece bell tail & flare & generic flat carrying case, I sold the repairable damaged original 1-piece bell tail & flare on eBay. Waste not, want not.)

The Chief Of Staff modified a generic flat horn case to fit the screwbell-converted H-179, which got bids right away on eBay & sold for a reasonable price 1st time out.

Next up will be a very nice Yamaha YHR-321 B-flat single horn & a French Horn Rescue Conn (Elkhart) 8D that The Chief Of Staff snagged for me at a Florida flea market.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Horn Flipper Out Of The Closet.

I now have another French Horn Rescue candidate, an Elkhart Conn 8D in rough condition. The Chief Of Staff bought it for me last weekend at Pecan Park Flea Market while the old man was eyeballing classic cars on Amelia Island, near Jacksonville FL.

The Elkhart 8D is now in the hands of a professional brass instrument repair technician for fixa-fixa-fixa (mostly dent work, including smoothing out some serious creases at the bell throat, which already has 2 small patches).

Horn fixer did a nice job on the Jacksonville flea market Elkhart Conn 8D -- smoothed out all dents, removed the patches covering 2 small cracks, & repaired the cracks using silver solder. (Don't try that at home.)

Horn plays great, sounds wonderful, looks OK.

It has generated nine -- 9 -- bids (so far) on eBay. The auction runs through tomorrow night (Sunday).

Meanwhile, my outstanding Yamaha YHR-321 has been on eBay several times -- no bids -- & it's on again, also with no bids. I'm pricing it on the high side because of its outstanding condition. Trouble is, other people's average- or poor-condition Yamaha YHR-321s show up on eBay for less often enough to quell interest in mine. So it goes.

When -- if -- the Yamaha YHR-321 sells, I have another 1 just like it that's almost as outstanding which will also go on eBay.

Waiting in the wings for eBay action are two -- 2 -- non-Conn clones of Conn 6D, one near pristine & the other in OK condition.

Is this a great country or what ?

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Horn Flip Update.

Florida flea market French Horn Rescue C.G. Conn (Elkhart) 8D is out of here -- en route to eBay purchaser via USPS.

Lorenzo Sansone clone of Conn 6D is likewise out of here -- en route via FedEx Ground.

Yamaha YHR-321 remains unsold -- despite the fact that Wichita Band Instruments (Kansas) has 1 just like it on eBay for twice my opening bid amount even though it's in no better condition than mine. No bids (so far) on my YHR-321. No bids (so far) on theirs. Go figure.

Other than the YHR-321, all the flippable horns around here have been flipped except 1, which is still in the hands of the local horn fixer for dentwork & unsticking the valves & slides. No rush.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Another Horn Ready To Go. (Is This A Great Country Or What?)

Other than the YHR-321, all the flippable horns around here have been flipped except 1, which is still in the hands of the local horn fixer for dentwork & unsticking the valves & slides. No rush.

While we were away for the weekend visiting Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, with our California son & daughter-in-law & 2 granddaughters, the horn fixer called to say that remaining horn he was working on for me is all squared away & good to go & ready for pick-up.

I have an uncanny talent for being away when he calls to tell me a horn is ready -- have previously been in Florida & other vacation spots when he called to let me know other horns were all fixed.

Plan now is to arrange to go get the fixed horn (& pay repair bill) once we see the kids & grandkids off at the airport after a nice East Coast visit.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Good Playing Horn.

Plan now is to arrange to go get the fixed horn (& pay repair bill) once we see the kids & grandkids off at the airport after a nice East Coast visit.

After coming back from the airport yesterday, I had breakfast, went over to Planet Fitness & moved iron, came back, showered down, got dressed, & called up the horn fixer saying I'd like to come over to pay my bill ($80) & pick up the horn.

He said OK.

Drove over, got horn, tanked up Toyota Prius V on the way home, came back with the horn, swapped out its shabby looking & ill-fitting carrying case for a slightly better case I had down in the basement, photographed the horn for eBay, & put it aside till today.

This afternoon, I got out the horn & played some familiar exercises & musical excerpts on it. Good sound. Good response. Nice instrument -- so much so that I think I'll play it at brass quintet rehearsal later this afternoon.

Is this a great country or what ?

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Plastic Trumpet.

-- hotlinked --​

Click here for the particulars.

Non-toy plastic trumpets are here.

-- hotlinked --​

Click here for full details.

What will they think of next ?

( I'm not holding my breath while waiting for plastic French horns. )

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

The Horns, They Keep On A-Flipping.

Florida flea market French Horn Rescue C.G. Conn (Elkhart) 8D is out of here -- en route to eBay purchaser via USPS.

Lorenzo Sansone clone of Conn 6D is likewise out of here -- en route via FedEx Ground.

Yamaha YHR-321 remains unsold -- despite the fact that Wichita Band Instruments (Kansas) has 1 just like it on eBay for twice my opening bid amount even though it's in no better condition than mine. No bids (so far) on my YHR-321. No bids (so far) on theirs. Go figure.

Other than the YHR-321, all the flippable horns around here have been flipped except 1, which is still in the hands of the local horn fixer for dentwork & unsticking the valves & slides. No rush.

Work on that horn was completed & the horn was successfully flipped. Case closed.

Meanwhile, I restocked -- got another high quality but badly battered Elkhart Conn 8D (Craig's List) & a nice Selmer USA double horn that needs a little work (not much). I also snagged a near-prisitne Holton-Farkas clone that needs no repair work whatever.

The latest Craig's List French Horn Rescue 8D is on the repair technician's bench right now. The Selmer USA double will go in next for repairs. The Holton-Farkas clone is good to go as-is right now.

All my ready-to-go double horns have flipped just fine -- who'd a-thunk ?

But my outstanding Yamaha YHR-321 B-flat single horns have proved so far to be flip-resistant.

So it goes.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Addicted To Flipping Horns.

[The Holton-Farkas clone is good to go as-is right now.

Holton-Farkas clone is flipped. Out of here. Gone.

Now the Devil has me eyeballing a Craig's List Conn 6D. Maybe tomorrow. I'm taking the rest of today off.

( Remember the Olden Days when it was possible to flip timeshares ? )

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

 

[Passepartout]

( Remember the Olden Days when it was possible to flip timeshares ? )

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

Or to flip houses. You can't get nearly as scalded on a horn! Sounds like a nice retirement hobby, not to mention that is appears to be pretty much full employment for your horn technician.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Sounds like a nice retirement hobby, not to mention that is appears to be pretty much full employment for your horn technician.

I'm pretty sure I am the horn repair guy's steadiest customer, although when I went over there once recently, a guy was there dropping off two -- 2 -- tubas for major serious work.

As it happens, however, the Holton-Farkas clone was immaculate & in near-pristine condition when I got it. Didn't need any work at all. Flipped it totally as-was, a rarity in my horn flipping experience.

I like it best when the person I buy from is satisfied & when my horn fixer gets paid for a good job & the person I sell to gets a good deal on a nice horn & I make a little something on the transaction -- win-win-win-win.

I got taken to the cleaners on a couple of horns I resold -- a humbling experience that enhances the positive feeling from a successful flip.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Fixing & Flipping.

I restocked -- got another high quality but badly battered Elkhart Conn 8D (Craig's List) & a nice Selmer USA double horn that needs a little work (not much).

Formerly battered Elkhart Conn 8D is back from repairs. Plays great. Sounds great. Looks OK. Could be a keeper -- but more likely to be flipped. (How many keepers is it practical to keep?)

The Selmer USA double horn is now in the hands of the repair technician. It's a flipper for sure when I get it back all fixed.

Is this a great country or what ?

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Toothpaste & Horn Playing.

At a routine dentist appointment, the hygienist said I should use baking soda toothpaste because it fights stains. So I bought some & started using it.

After using that stuff consistently, I started having trouble playing horn -- felt like I was blowing through duck lips covered in alligator skin. Plus, I had chapping & cracking.

I toughed it out through 2 Legacy Brass rehearsals & 1 Cathedral Brass rehearsal without catching on that the baking soda toothpaste & the lip discomfort might be related.

When that idea occurred to me, I quit using baking soda toothpaste & went back to just regular Crest. That brought no immediate improvement, but after 2-3 weeks the swelling & cracking improved -- no more duck lips, no more alligator skin. Lots better now.

Who'd a-thunk ?

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

 

[Passepartout]

Interesting. I wondered about using Biotene to increase the moisture in the mouth. DW is the resident hornist here, not me, but find that at night my head fills with ..... stuff... and I end up mouth breathing and it becomes as dry as the Sahairy Desert. The aforementioned Biotene is said to increase mouth moisture better than water, but at just a bit under $20 for not very much, I was going to let someone else try it and report back before I made the outlay.

I always liked the way I perceived that the baking soda toothpaste cleaned and left my teeth feeling, and never noticed any chapping, but my musical talent is pretty much limited to tuning the radio and singing in the shower.

So it goes.

Jim

 

[Mamianka]

Non-toy plastic trumpets are here.

-- hotlinked --​

Click here for full details.

What will they think of next ?

( I'm not holding my breath while waiting for plastic French horns. )

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

I bought a plastic flute - D foot and C foot, straight and recurved head (for short arms or bad necks) for $150. Weighs nothing - plays OK. I know a few flutists who do the beach-wedding gig thing, and do not want sand blowing into a ten-grand flute - so these are fine. And - yes, the pads are waterproof. The literature even says that it is a good idea to WASH your flute every so often!!!! This had been the *cross to the vampire* for us flutists forever - but times change - we had better do so, too.

P

 

[AwayWeGo]

Where To Click ?

I bought a plastic flute - D foot and C foot, straight and recurved head (for short arms or bad necks) for $150.

Cool.

What's the web site for plastic flutes ?

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