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I Can't Believe I Bought Another Horn.

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Out Of The Shop, Then Back In Again.

1 more horn in the shop (Yamaha YHR-567)
I picked up the newly repaired Craig's List Yamaha YHR-567 Sunday, after morning work-out at the gym. It played great -- on the F side of the double horn. Unfortunately the B-flat side was messed up in a puzzling way that I could not understand & that's hard to explain to the non-French horn crowd out there.

Basically, the notes that should have "been there" were not there -- could not be made to sound -- & the valve-fingering combinations that should have worked for the intended notes did not work. I flat-out could not figure why. All the visible parts of the horn were in the right places -- no misplaced tubing or slides or levers, etc.

I described the situation to my non-horn playing son, a smart man who is interested in all things musical & plays clarinet & saxophone skillfully. He asked me to get out the horn so he could look at it. I did -- also demonstrating the problem. He looked carefully all round the various turns and bends of the air circuitry & had me try blowing with certain valves down (others up) & with certain valve-slides removed (to see whether air came out the open slide tube or went all the way through to the bell fiare, producing a nice tone).

He concluded that 2 of the valve rotors were switched -- that the 1st valve rotor was installed where the 3rd valve rotor ought to go & vice versa. I can't quite get my mind around it, but I can't see anything wrong with that diagnosis -- plus I can't come up with any other explanation, so I that's what I told the brass instrument repair technician when I told him about the problem.

He said he'll get to the bottom of the trouble & get it all squared away by Thursday. That's when I'll be substituting on horn in a brass quintet in which he plays tuba. Their regular horn player is away for 2-3 months & I agreed to fill in on horn till he gets back. It will great fun playing in a brass group with the man who has rescued & repaired so many horns for me, & when he brings the squared away Yamaha YHR-567 with him on Thursday, that's the horn I'll play at the rehearsal.

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

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Switched Rotors Put Right -- Getzen "Signature" Clone Of Conn 6D Also Fixed.

[My son] concluded that 2 of the valve rotors were switched -- that the 1st valve rotor was installed where the 3rd valve rotor ought to go & vice versa. I can't quite get my mind around it, but I can't see anything wrong with that diagnosis -- plus I can't come up with any other explanation, so I that's what I told the brass instrument repair technician when I told him about the problem.
The brass instrument repair technician said yes, those 2 valve rotors got switched inadvertently. He unswitched'm & brought the all-fixed Yamaha YHR-567 with him to brass quintet rehearsal last week, along with my outstanding Getzen Signature clone of Conn 6D that needed only minor dentwork, which was also complete.

I asked whether my non-horn-playing son deserves credit for figuring out what the trouble was with the Yamaha YHR-567. "Indeed he does," the instrument repair technician said.

The Yamaha played fine. I used it all through quintet rehearsal. All the notes were there, & they all sounded good. Plus, the horn looks beautiful in all respects.

I thought about switching to the Getzen midway through quintet practice, but never got round to it.

When rehearsal was over, I went home with 3 horns -- Yamaha YHR-567, Getzen Signature 6D clone, & Lanstro pro-converted Conn 6D that I took to rehearsal just in case the others were not ready. (Even though I was pretty sure they'd both be good to go.)

In addition to his own tuba, the brass repair technician took home with him my last (for now) remaining unfixed French horn -- a "rescue" Amati-Denak AHR-345 that plays OK but looks bad because of tarnish & dents. With the dents smoothed out, it will look lots better. Then maybe I can use brass polish on some of the tarnished places, I don't know.

Meanwhile, The Devil made me buy a thrift shop Olds Ambassador (student model) trombone, which looks pretty good & needs only minor dentwork plus replacement of a water-key cork. That should flip OK on Craig's List after those minor problems are resolved.

I'm sure it's just coincidence that last night The Chief Of Staff & I watched all but the 1st hour of The Music Man on public TV.

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

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[triennial - points]
Unsolicited E-Mail From Satisfied "Rescue" French Horn Buyer.

York clone of Conn 6D is flipped -- out of here as of earlier this week.

A former university ensemble player (15 years ago) wants to get back into horn playing & join a nearby local community orchestra. The horn he chose will be ideal for that purpose.
The E-Mail "in" box yesterday contained a nice note from a guy who bought 1 of my non-Conn clones of Conn 6D last summer. He typed . . .

I just wanted to tell you that I keep getting compliments on how cool my horn is from the other players that have super sleek expensive horns themselves :) I joined the [local community] Symphony Orchestra and was asked a week later to join the [local] University Community Band, so I've been busy! The chops are getting back in shape pretty quickly. Thanks again, hope all is well with you.

It's always satisfying to know that people get enjoyment out of playing horns they get from me. I remember feeling semi-flabbergasted several years ago when a man called up about a horn I sold him a few months earlier. I just assumed he would have a complaint of some kind. Instead, he said he was calling to thank me for fixing him up with such a rewarding instrument to play. He added that he was getting more enjoyment from playing in the band than he ever had before, all because of having that horn to play instead of the 1 he had been playing previously.

In my version of horn flipping & French Horn Rescue, I like it best when the person who sells me a fixer-upper is happy, when my horn repair technician gets another job out of it, when I make a little something flipping the finished product, & when the person who buys the horn from me gets a nice instrument at a favorable prince. Win-win-win-win.

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

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Alan,
I enjoy reading your continuing saga of French horn redemptions. I started playing a French horn in 6th grade ... thru HS graduation. Let me say, I was NOT a master of that horn even at the lowest level ... but "HS Band" was listed activity on my college applications.

I am impressed by your unique hobby - one not hobbled by years, location or talent BUT a hobby bringing a class and variety of people to your door who go forth in all walks of life to provide hours of enjoyment to many others.

Thanks for saving and restoring the French Horns that find their way to you. I just love reading your latest projects and successes. It brightens my day every time.
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Nice Of You To Say.

I enjoy reading your continuing saga of French horn redemptions. I started playing a French horn in 6th grade ... thru HS graduation. Let me say, I was NOT a master of that horn even at the lowest level ... but "HS Band" was listed activity on my college applications.

I am impressed by your unique hobby - one not hobbled by years, location or talent BUT a hobby bringing a class and variety of people to your door who go forth in all walks of life to provide hours of enjoyment to many others.

Thanks for saving and restoring the French Horns that find their way to you. I just love reading your latest projects and successes. It brightens my day every time.
I am plenty far away from mastery of the horn. The high water mark of my progress on the instrument was after a lesson with a respected French horn teacher in the early 1980s. After 1 grueling lesson, he held up a thumb & forefinger about 1 inch apart & said, "Alan, you're about that far from being a good horn player." I was elated.

As to flipping horns, that has taken on a life of its own which is fun in a different way. I was musing about that this morning on the way home from buying an outstanding Craig's List Conn 6D -- the real deal, not a clone or look-alike. I decided that the inspiration for changing from player & collector to player & flipper is a combination of exposure to Pawn Stars on TV plus familiarity with eBay & Craig's List on the internet -- that plus having access to a reliable & affordable professional horn fixer who lives not far from here. Without him, my horn flipping days would be over & done.

Current inventory of flip-ready horns consists of 1 outstanding Yamaha YHR-567, plus 2 humbler double horns in good playing condition that sound good but look so-so (i.e., no major dents but poor finish, remaining lacquer darkened, etc.). All of those are on Craig's List & 1 is also on eBay. (I'd rather sell via Craig's List than eBay -- saves fees & eliminates the bother of packing & shipping.)

Currently my horn fixer is working on an Olds Ambassador trombone, bought at a ridiculous price at a Delaware thrift shop to tide me over when I ran out of fixer-upper French horns. Since then, I've added today's Craig's List Conn 6D & 1 eBay 6D look-alike that's currently in transit.

So the saga continues.

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

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
First There Were eBay & Craig's List. Now There's Also FaceBook.

FaceBook has expanded well beyond its origins as an internet social network. Now it features not only commercial advertising, but also special-interest "groups" covering everything from highbrow art to the art of speed (motorcycles, hot rods, race cars, etc.). There's even a French Horn Trader group. Who'd a-thunk ?

Last month somebody on the Horn Trader group put out an entry saying, Hey, anybody got a fixer-upper Yamaha YHR-667? (or words to that effect).

As it happened, mine was in the shop. I said so in the comments.

After a week or so, the same guy asked the same question. By then mine was back from the shop & on Craig's List. In the comments, I reported that & gave a link to the Craig's List.

Next -- BOOM ! -- the guy said he'd take the horn at my price less shipping. I asked how much shipping would cost. The guy said, Hey, aren't you near Washington DC? (or words to that effect). I said yes, so he said let's meet next day near the Lincoln Memorial, because he was planning to be in the area anyway (from some other part of the country). He revised his offer downward by $50, which he said was less than I would have paid in shipping costs if I had shipped him the horn instead. OK by me, I said.

We met. He checked out the horn, discovered it was exactly as described, & whipped out his smartphone, which he used to send the money to my PayPal account. I whipped out my smartphone & used that to see that, sure enough, the French horn money had just landed in my PayPal account.

He did not want the mouthpiece or the carrying case, so I still have those. His plan is to strip off the horn's clear lacquer finish, take the horn all apart, administer a process he calls mastering to all the components of the instrument, convert the horn's fixed bell flare to a detachable screw-on style, & house the finished product in a high-end custom carrying case. Yamaha YHR-667 is highly in demand, & the guy who bought mine to fix up already has a customer for it once it's mastered & customized.

Even though the Craig's List horn trader group is mostly for high-end instruments, I used it to put out word about my humbler double horn flippers anyway. Can't hurt -- & maybe somebody out there is looking for a good quality French horn that's more affordable than those pricey top-line instruments. Or maybe somebody will submit an entry that says Hey, anybody out there got a Yamaha YHR-567 or an Amati-Denak double horn or a Selmer USA double? (or words to that effect). You never know.

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

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[triennial - points]
French Horn Build-Up.

For a while I was flipping horns just as quick as the brass instrument technician was fixing'm. Then all summer, my 3 outstanding Conn 6D clones (made by companies other than Conn) sat gathering dust because nobody was interested.

Just as The Chief Of Staff predicted, as soon as school started in September -- BOOM ! -- the moms & dads out there snapped up all 3 horns for junior & sis to play in school band.

By then I snagged some more French horn rescue candidates, plus 2 other horns that needed only minor dent work. In a flash, half of those likewise went to new homes -- so fast that The Chief Of Staff suggested maybe I'm pricing horns too low on eBay & Craig's List. So I started raising my asking prices.

Since then, I have acquired 2 more French horn "rescue" candidates, both C.G. Conn 6D double horns. One needs minor dent repair plus cleaning. The other is missing its leadpipe (the horn's farthest upstream piece of tubing, whose diameter tapers down to the opening where mouthpiece goes).

Fortunately, just yesterday somebody on eBay was offering C.G. Conn leadpipes for 4D & 6D horns, so I snagged 1 of those at a ridiculous price. All my horn repair expert will need in addition to that pipe is a few small connecting braces & supports that he'll be able to cannibalize off what's left of a Carl Fischer single horn that I left with him after he transplanted its bell assembly (bell flare + bell tail, 1 piece) onto another horn for me a few years back.

When the 2 Conn 6Ds come back from repairs (in a few weeks), the French horn inventory ready to flip will rise to 5, unless I'm able to flip some of the current build-up before that. We'll see.

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

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[triennial - points]
Old Dog. Bizarre New Trick.

After snagging an outstanding custom 2-piece French horn mouthpiece for a ridiculous eBay price, I photographed the screw rim (not my size) & offered it for sale on eBay. (No bids yet. So it goes.)

I'm keeping the mouthpiece base, which is an exact copy of what I've been using for about 20 years. Can always use a back-up.

So I called the custom shop that made the mouthpiece to order a new rim of the size I like. The proprietor must have been feeling lonesome, because he wanted to chat -- about horns, about summer horn camp, about horn players, about horn playing, & I don't know what-all. The 5 minute phone call went about 22 minutes. No problem -- I'm just an old retired guy with nothing to do & nowhere to go & I enjoyed talking French horn with a recognized expert.

During the conversation, I mentioned that 1 of my custom mouthpiece cups has scaly stuff stuck inside that I have been unable to clean out, so maybe I need to have the mouthpiece cup professionally replated (silver). "Do you have a mouthpiece brush?" the guy said.

"Sure," I said. "Didn't do any good."

"OK," the guy said. "Here's what you do. Get some Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner -- got go use Lysol, not some other brand. Soak the mouthpiece in that for 30 minutes. Then clean the inside with your mouthpiece brush & rinse thoroughly in plain water."

"Won't that hurt the silver plating?" I said.

"No -- it'll be fine," he said. "The founder's son discovered that Lysol Toilet Bowl cleaner is about 4% some acid that takes care of scale. Works great on mouthpieces. Try it & see."

When I was at the supermarket yesterday, I bought a 2-pack of Lysol Toilet Bowl cleaner (on sale). Came home & poured some into a narrow plastic cup, dropped in the scaly mouthpiece, set the timer for 30 minutes. When the timer beeped, I took the mouthpiece out of the deep-blue cleaning product, brushed it out, rinsed it well, looked inside, & saw that the cup was shiny clean & bright all the way to the narrow throat of the mouthpiece. The silver finish was OK -- gleaming like new inside & out. Who'd a-thunk ?

That bizarre cleaning procedure worked so well that I tried it on 2 more horn mouthpieces.

After that, I used the cleaning product to clean the toilet bowl.

Waste not, want not.

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

Passepartout

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Handy tip, that. We have had some flower vases that get hard-water and who knows what gunk in 'em. I just fill with hot tap water to about where the gunky insides are covered than drop a few denture cleaning tablets in and leave 'em overnight. Usually a bottle brush swirls them nice and clean. Sometimes it takes a second dose. I don't think I'd use the solution for it's intended purpose though after cleaning vases.

Jim
 

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ROYAL HOLIDAY CLUB RHC (POINTS)
Handy tip, that. We have had some flower vases that get hard-water and who knows what gunk in 'em. I just fill with hot tap water to about where the gunky insides are covered than drop a few denture cleaning tablets in and leave 'em overnight. Usually a bottle brush swirls them nice and clean. Sometimes it takes a second dose. I don't think I'd use the solution for it's intended purpose though after cleaning vases.

Jim

Jim, Thanks for the laugh.

Alan, great story - I'm glad his solution worked on your mouthpieces.

Best regards,

Richard
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Waste Not, Want Not.

After snagging an outstanding custom 2-piece French horn mouthpiece for a ridiculous eBay price, I photographed the screw rim (not my size) & offered it for sale on eBay. (No bids yet. So it goes.)
After a week, people started bidding. The winning bid for the rim alone was roughly double the amount that I paid for the rim + base together. The winning bidder paid instantly via PayPal. I sent the rim via USPS today. (I'm keeping the base, & in fact just now ordered a new rim in my preferred size.)

Earlier, I noticed that a beat-up old mouthpiece which came with a Craig's List horn that I bought recently was marked with the name of a famous Chicago horn maker whose products are highly regarded. I cleaned up the mouthpiece, photographed it, & put that on eBay. After a few days, it started getting bids. When time ran out, bidders had run the price of the mouthpiece up to approximately 1/3 of the amount that I paid for the Craig's List horn + carrying case + mouthpiece.

Unfortunately, the winning mouthpiece bidder is in South America & has not paid yet. eBay offers an international shipping option for smallish items up to $350 or so in value -- seller sends the item to an address in Kentucky & eBay takes it from there -- but I did not check that option when I put the mouthpiece on eBay. Unlikely it's possible to sign up for that retroactively. Not sure how this will work out.

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

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
New (To Me) Internet Resource For Buying & Selling Brass Instruments.

Brass Exchange Dot Com.

Click here.

Full Disclosure: I listed 3 French horns + 1 trumpet & 1 trombone on their Trading Post section yesterday.

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

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Craig's List Miscellany.

Somebody in Kansas City MO has a Craig's List French horn ad running that's illustrated by a picture snaked off my Washington DC Craig's List French horn ad.

I'm going to let it slide.

Why ?

Because last month I sold an Ian Desmond bobble-head figure via Craig's List using photos I snaked off somebody else's Craig's List ad.

What goes round comes round.

Meanwhile, somebody over in Maryland advertised a beautiful non-working no-name French horn on Craig's List yesterday & today at a price low enough that I should be able to flip it after repairs. So I called'm up & arranged to go over & get the horn. Just now got home with it.

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

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Zombie Frankenstein French Horn Rescue Instrument.

Fortunately, just yesterday somebody on eBay was offering C.G. Conn leadpipes for 4D & 6D horns, so I snagged 1 of those at a ridiculous price. All my horn repair expert will need in addition to that pipe is a few small connecting braces & supports that he'll be able to cannibalize off what's left of a Carl Fischer single horn that I left with him after he transplanted its bell assembly (bell flare + bell tail, 1 piece) onto another horn for me a few years back.
The horn that was missing its leadpipe came back from repairs today with its new leadpipe installed & all its dents smoothed out & any other issues resolved. It is not only good to go, it is already on Craig's List.

In describing it to the Craig's List crowd, my inclination was to type that it's a zombie Frankenstein French Horn Rescue instrument, brought back to life & rebuilt with various brand-name parts & no-name parts. The Chief Of Staff advised against that, reasoning that despite the appeal of that kind of language to oddball folks like me, that description is apt to repel more potential Craig's List customers than it could ever attract.

I did not get where I am today by ignoring The Chief Of Staff's advice, so I wrote up a description of the horn in more conventional terms -- e.g., instrument was upgraded with replacement bell flare & bell tail, plus new Conn leadpipe (mouthpipe).

The horn does look & play great, so we'll see how long it takes to find it a new home.

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

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Educating Would-Be Horn Buyers On eBay & Craig's List.

In the world of French horns, the standard professional models & advanced student horns ("double horns") are built in 2 keys -- F & B-flat. All the sound comes out through just 1 large bell flare, & the air all goes in through 1 mouthpiece. In between are 2 complete sets of partly parallel airways. The player selects 1 or the other by using a thumb-operated 4th valve to pitch the horn in F or in Bb, whichever is needed to play the music best. Each of 1-2-3 valves is made with parallel dual airways, 1 for Bb & another for F. There are 2 sets of side by side valve slides -- the air detours that temporarily lengthen the horn when a valve lever is down. There are 2 main tuning slides, Bb & F. With all that extra hardware, a double horn is lots heavier than a single horn.
I have recently (i.e., starting today) begun adding a version of that description of double horns to my eBay & Craig's List French horn offerings. Can't hurt. Might help.

Up till now I had just assumed the internet French horn shoppers out there already knew about double horns & single horns & B-flat horns & F horns & all that. Now I have decided maybe they aren't all that well informed on the subject. Could be that they mainly just harbor the (correct) idea that double horns cost more than singles without necessarily knowing why -- just that their children's horn teachers are talking about moving the kids up to double horns because of the good progress they've made learning to play their beginner single horns.

Now & then an eBay seller will describe as double horn some instrument that's clearly a 3-valve single horn, usually in F (sometimes B-flat). Those sellers aren't necessarily trying to pull the wool over anybody's eyes. They just don't know anything much about French horns other than that the good ones on eBay all seem to be labeled doubles, so they label theirs that way, too.

To savvy & semi-savvy horn folks, the visible differences between single & double horns are obvious at a glance. For 1 thing, double horns have 4 valves. Singles have 3. (Yes, some single horns have 4 valves & some doubles have 5 -- but those fortunately are the rarities.)

Will be interesting to see whether adding a description of double horns to the ads will affect the responses -- also, to see whether other sellers will copy it & start using something similar with their offerings.

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

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[triennial - points]
Semi-Quick Results.

I have recently (i.e., starting today) begun adding a version of that description of double horns to my eBay & Craig's List French horn offerings. Can't hurt. Might help.
Since adding that brief explanation of double horns to my eBay & Craig's List offerings, I have received 2 phone inquiries & 1 internet query about my double horns. One of the calls turned into a horn flip.

The other 2 inquiries -- 1 phone + 1 E-Mail -- were from out-of-towners. Not sure how they found my Craig's List horns -- One Craig's or some such, I suppose.

Remains to be seen whether anything will come of those.

Meanwhile, I'm set to pick up a newly repaired horn after rehearsal tonight, a beautiful but cheap no-name Chinese knock-off of Conn 8D that was not playable when I got it (stuck valves). Will be interesting to find out how it plays after repairs.

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

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[triennial - points]
No-Name Chinese French Horn Now On Craig's List.

Meanwhile, I'm set to pick up a newly repaired horn after rehearsal tonight, a beautiful but cheap no-name Chinese knock-off of Conn 8D that was not playable when I got it (stuck valves). Will be interesting to find out how it plays after repairs.
The horn plays OK -- not as well as my keepers, but definitely all right. Good sound quality. Decent horn. Good value for money.

I took pictures this morning & put the horn on Craig's List for sale.

The Chief Of Staff thinks it will get snapped up pronto because it's so beautiful & priced so low.

Hope she's right.

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

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[triennial - points]
Sent Message To Kansas City Horn Photo Rustler.

Somebody in Kansas City MO has a Craig's List French horn ad running that's illustrated by a picture snaked off my Washington DC Craig's List French horn ad.

I'm going to let it slide.
I'm not trying to make trouble for the person who used my Craig's List French horn photo for his Craig's List French horn ad, but today the devil did make me send an E-Mail message to the Kansas City guy, as follows . . .

The Selmer USA French horn shown in your Craig’s List ad is the horn I sold earlier this month — not another horn just like mine, but my actual Selmer horn that I sold. You copied my photograph of my Selmer USA double horn & used that picture in your Craig’s List ad instead of using a picture of your own horn that you’re offering for sale.

Maybe nothing is wrong with using a picture showing an item that’s similar to what you’re selling, but there are problems in doing that. For 1 thing, the horn I sold (shown in your ad) has USA silver dimes on the 1-2-3 valve levers — that’s not unique, but it is unusual. Does your Selmer USA double horn have dimes on the valve levers?

If I were using somebody else’s picture in a Craig’s List ad, at a minimum I would spell out that it’s a picture of a similar item rather than a photograph of the actual item that’s for sale.

I have not (yet) informed Craig’s List of the photo borrowing, but that’s still an option. I think you should take pictures of your horn that’s for sale & use those in your Craig’s List ad. If you keep using the picture of my horn that I sold, you should mention in your ad that it’s not the actual horn you’re selling but 1 somebody else sold that looks like yours.


Will be interested to see whether (a) I get an E-Mail response, or (b) the guy puts a different picture in the Kansas City Craig's List French horn ad.

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

ronandjoan

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Somebody in Kansas City MO has a Craig's List French horn ad running that's illustrated by a picture snaked off my Washington DC Craig's List French horn ad.

I'm going to let it slide.

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

Very interesting sagas about your horn flipping and the photo situation, wonder if the guy will write back.

My photos from the Townhouses at St Augustine beach and Tennis Resort (TAS) have been copied for years in eBay and other ads... Always surprised to see them pop up
 

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[triennial - points]
French Horn Rescue, 2015.

Very interesting sagas about your horn flipping and the photo situation, wonder if the guy will write back.
No word so far from the Kansas City Craig's List horn photo rustler. But his ad is still running -- with my horn photo.

Meanwhile, today I snagged my 1st French Horn Rescue candidate of 2015 via eBay -- Buy It Now Or Make Offer. I made a semi-lowball offer. The seller said OK.

If the horn gets delivered before we take off for Florida later this week, then maybe I can get it into the hands of my horn fixer before we go. If that happens, it could be ready to flip when we get back. We'll see.

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

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[triennial - points]
I Love It When A Plan Comes Together.

If the horn gets delivered before we take off for Florida later this week, then maybe I can get it into the hands of my horn fixer before we go.
Badly damaged French Horn Rescue instrument was delivered this afternoon via UPS. I just now got back from taking it over to my regular horn fixer. He noted its rough condition but said it's all there & the job of getting it into decent shape should not be all that difficult. (Easy for him to say. I'd never be able to do it myself.)

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

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Badly damaged French Horn Rescue instrument was delivered this afternoon via UPS. I just now got back from taking it over to my regular horn fixer. He noted its rough condition but said it's all there & the job of getting it into decent shape should not be all that difficult. (Easy for him to say. I'd never be able to do it myself.)

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

I am so happy you rec'd your French Horn before your Florida trip. Man tonight,it is cold in Coastal Virginia. The Arctic winds are blowing right now.
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Are You Ready For A Plastic Tuba ?

More recently, they've added a smaller instrument in higher pitch (E-flat) to their plastic trombone line-up -- an alto or mini P-Bone.

timthumb.php

-- hotlinked --
It had to happen -- a full size all-plastic tuba, fully functional with robust sound. Just the thing for an ensemble featuring plastic trumpets & plastic trombones.

Click here for a brief U-Tube video of a plastic tuba demonstration.

What'll they think of next ?

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

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French Horn Rescue 2015.

Just as it's easier to buy timeshares than to sell'm, it's likewise lots easier to buy French horns than to flip'm.

So far in 2015 I have bought eight -- 8 -- French Horn Rescue candidates (all via eBay) & have flipped exactly 1 (via Craig's List).

The horn that flipped is a King (Cleveland) double horn that plays great & looks OK. It's the horn that I handed off to the horn fixer before going to Florida for 2 weeks.

The remaining 7 consist of . . .
1 Brasswind double horn
3 Conn 6Ds (the Toyota Corolla of the French horn world),
1 no-name copy of Conn 6D (made by York, I'm guessing)
1 upscale Yamaha YHR-667D
1 Schmidt-model York double horn. (Schmidt model means the 4th valve, instead of matching the other 3 rotary valves, is a sideways mounted trumpet-style piston valve, operated by the left thumb.)

The Brasswind double horn is all squared away & ready to go, in great condition, near-pristine, hard to tell from new.

The horn currently on the repair technician's workbench is 1 of the Conn 6Ds. Next in line when that one's done is the Yamaha YHR-667D. After that, the York-Schmidt. Then the no-name Conn 6D copy, leaving for last the 2 remaining genuine Conn 6Ds -- assuming the devil doesn't make me buy more French Horn Rescue candidates before then.

Is this a great country or what ?

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

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[triennial - points]
The Devil Wastes No Time.

The horn currently on the repair technician's workbench is 1 of the Conn 6Ds. Next in line when that one's done is the Yamaha YHR-667D. After that, the York-Schmidt. Then the no-name Conn 6D copy, leaving for last the 2 remaining genuine Conn 6Ds -- assuming the devil doesn't make me buy more French Horn Rescue candidates before then.
Well, that didn't take long.

The devil made me spring for a nice eBay Yamaha YHR-567 that was delivered just now from California via USPS. I know it was the devil, because I overpaid by a few hundred bux. I still might be able to flip it for a little something, maybe. We'll see.

Meanwhile, the outstanding upscale Yahama YHR-667 that I mentioned last time is back from repairs & ready to go. I plan on photographing it for Craig's List (etc.) within the next few days. Meanwhile, I'll play it at band rehearsal tonight & at brass ensemble rehearsal Saturday morning (weather permitting).

Currently on the repair technician's workbench is a rare & wonderful Schmidt-model York double horn. Schmidt-model means the 4th valve is a sideways-mounted trumpet-style piston valve instead of another horn-style rotary valve. Schmidt, York, King, Conn, & Yamaha made horns of that design for a while. (Maybe others too that I don't know about.) I don't think anybody's making'm like that now. Why not, I don't know.

Fighting back against the devil's temptations to overpay for even more French Horn Rescue candidates, I have some eSnipe lowball bids currently pending -- lowball at the risk of losing out rather than succumbing to the devil again so soon.

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