I Can't Believe I Bought Another Horn.

[AwayWeGo]

Actually, I can believe it because it's right there on Old GlassFace -- the eBay item description showing in living technicolor what the instrument looks like (outstanding), who won the bidding for it (me), how much I have to pay (more than double what our most recent timeshare cost), & what the charge is for shippping & handling & insurance ($50).

Not only that, I have eBay bids in on 2 others -- more than that, actually, but I've already been outbid in all the other horn auctions but 2.

None of these recent horn bids have been snipes -- just bids sent in early with the idea in mind that I'd likely be outbid but if for some reason my bids stood up I'd willingly go ahead with the purchases. That is to say, if a decent horn is going to sell cheap, it might as well go to me, & if it's going to sell closer to what it's actually worth then I can do without it.

I'll tell you 1 thing: This absolutely motivates me to start moving some of the surplus horns I have around here -- i.e., some that I bought with the idea of making a little something by reselling them on eBay after buying them low, having certain repairs done & custom features added economically, & putting them back on eBay with digital photos showing them off to optimum advantage. What I need now is another 10-cent listing day.

The Chief Of Staff is extremely forbearing about this, never complaining once, asking some semi-pointed questions perhaps, but not fussing or fretting.

At least they're just (French) horns & not tubas, harps, or pipe organs.

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

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

What I need now is another 10-cent listing day.

The Chief Of Staff is extremely forbearing about this, never complaining once, asking some semi-pointed questions perhaps, but not fussing or fretting.

At least they're just (French) horns & not tubas, harps, or pipe organs.

Well, Alan, that excuse is gone:

June 8: 20-cent listing day.

I know, 20-cents instead of 10-cents, but it's just a measly dime.

 

[dmharris]

I'm thinking of getting into this e-bay craze and selling some stuff. How often do these 10/20 cent listing days happen?

Thanks,

 

[JLB]

Don't forget to take it and play it, non-stop, on your timeshare vacations.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Plenty More Horns Where That Came From.

Don't forget to take it and play it, non-stop, on your timeshare vacations.

When we go to Florida -- Orlando, Lakeland, Mulberry, Tampa, Clearwater, Pinellas Park, Zephyrhills -- I usually have my road horn with me so if things work out right I can sit in with the Lakeland Concert Band.

Over the years, I've been to band practice with them maybe 6 times & actually played in 1 of their concerts, held at the concert hall of The Lakeland Center.

Last January when we were staying in Orlando in a wonderful condo at the Vacation Village At Parkway timeshare, I had my customized Yamaha YHR-668N with me, took it over to Lakeland on band night, got to the band hall right on time, & saw taped to the door a notice reminding everybody that band practice had been moved for that 1 rehearsal only over to some church in Lakeland.

I don't know my Lakeland streets & neighborhoods well enough to know where to find the church -- & by the time I found it I would have been way late -- so I gave up. So it goes.

I drove back to Orlando the long way -- returning as usual via I-4, but turning left on Rt. 27, then right onto Rt. 192, past the Orange Lake neighborhood, & eventually back to Arabian Nights Boulevard. Spent the rest of the evening with The Chief Of Staff in our outstanding Last Call resort condo.

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

 

[JLB]

I remember that, cuz we were there, too, although not looking for your church.

We had Tuggers from Albuquerque visit last year and she has a road cello. I believe it involves PVC pipe.

 

[Diane]

Hi Jim,

Yes, the travel cello is made mostly out of PVC pipe. Only the strings and tail piece are genuine cello parts. The rest all came from Lowe's Hardware. Milt has also designed and built a travel bass. I think I have attached a packed-up photo. The assembled and ready-to-play photo was too large to attach.

Diane

 

[AwayWeGo]

Shedding Extraneous Horns Via eBay

Well, Alan, that excuse is gone:

June 8: 20-cent listing day.

I know, 20-cents instead of 10-cents, but it's just a measly dime.

OK, thanks.

Making practical use of that timely information, I sprang into action & put 2 of my surplus horns on eBay.

Any TUG folks out there eaten up with curiosity about what they look like, etc., can contact me off the list to get the eBay item numbers.

(No way I'm going to put the numbers here -- don't want to put anything on the TUG-BBS that's advertising, looks like advertising, could be construed as advertising, or could be analyzed so as to reveal specific information from which anybody could deduce anything suggesting the potential idea of a subliminal advertisement. Do I play by the rules or what?)

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

 

[dmharris]

Hi Alan,

Thanks for the link to ebay, but the day is past. How often does ebay offer this type of deal? I'm just getting started looking at selling things on ebay.

 

[AwayWeGo]

eBay Dime Day.

Hi Alan,

Thanks for the link to ebay, but the day is past. How often does ebay offer this type of deal? I'm just getting started looking at selling things on ebay.

Credit for the 20-cent listing link goes to T_R_Oglodyte, not me. (Thanks, Troggy.)

Dime & 20-cent listing days come along now & then -- sometimes for Buy It Now only, sometimes for regular auctions too.

I'd say those promotions come up at 6- or 7-week intervals -- although I have not been keeping track.

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

 

[JLB]

Hi Diane. The lake is beautiful.

 

[jwq387]

Actually, I can believe it because it's right there on Old GlassFace -- the eBay item description showing in living technicolor what the instrument looks like (outstanding), who won the bidding for it (me), how much I have to pay (more than double what our most recent timeshare cost), & what the charge is for shippping & handling & insurance ($50).

Not only that, I have eBay bids in on 2 others -- more than that, actually, but I've already been outbid in all the other horn auctions but 2.

None of these recent horn bids have been snipes -- just bids sent in early with the idea in mind that I'd likely be outbid but if for some reason my bids stood up I'd willingly go ahead with the purchases. That is to say, if a decent horn is going to sell cheap, it might as well go to me, & if it's going to sell closer to what it's actually worth then I can do without it.

I'll tell you 1 thing: This absolutely motivates me to start moving some of the surplus horns I have around here -- i.e., some that I bought with the idea of making a little something by reselling them on eBay after buying them low, having certain repairs done & custom features added economically, & putting them back on eBay with digital photos showing them off to optimum advantage. What I need now is another 10-cent listing day.

The Chief Of Staff is extremely forbearing about this, never complaining once, asking some semi-pointed questions perhaps, but not fussing or fretting.

At least they're just (French) horns & not tubas, harps, or pipe organs.

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

My cousin just procured a production management position with King-Conn, the brass instrument manufacturer, in Eastlake, Ohio. They also own Bach. Maybe he can get you some of the "rejects" if your horn fetish kicks in again. I can't wait to take a tour of the plant, having played trumpet and baritone(not at the same time) in high school.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Eastlake Conn Horns.

The Eastlake Conn Connstellation horns are said to be a major step up in quality from the Abilene TX Connstellations, but horn players familiar with the professional model 8D Connstellations say the sound & response, etc., of the Eastlake 8Ds are not the same as the famous old Conn 8Ds from Elkhart, Indiana.

How much of that is factual, & how much is nostalgia for the good old days, I'm not able to say.

That's because I've never been a Conn Connstellation horn player, more of an Alexander 103 & Lawson 804 & Yamaha YHR-666 horn player -- with a couple of Conn 6Ds mixed in just for variety.

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

 

[jwq387]

Re: Eastlake Conn Horns.

The Eastlake Conn Connstellation horns are said to be a major step up in quality from the Abilene TX Connstellations, but horn players familiar with the professional model 8D Connstellations say the sound & response, etc., of the Eastlake 8Ds are not the same as the famous old Conn 8Ds from Elkhart, Indiana.

How much of that is factual, & how much is nostalgia for the good old days, I'm not able to say.

That's because I've never been a Conn Connstellation horn player, more of an Alexander 103 & Lawson 804 & Yamaha YHR-666 horn player -- with a couple of Conn 6Ds mixed in just for variety.

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

I should have known. You 've been playing horn longer than I have been on this Earth. Thank you for the info. on Conn horns. Maybe I can talk to someone in my Cousin's company who might give me a history lesson on the Conn product in variuos plants across the US. Good Stuff.

 

[AwayWeGo]

C.G. Conn History

You 've been playing horn longer than I have been on this Earth.

Shucks, old as I am -- pushing 64 -- I've been playing horn longer than most TUG folks have been on the planet.

There's some interesting historical information about C.G. Conn that was prepared by a Musical Instruments Curator at the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota.

That's in addition to the official company-authorized history you can view on the Conn-Selmer web site.

I don't know whether there any timeshares out there in the vicinity of Vermillion, South Dakota -- but I'd like to go out there some day while I'm still breathing air & tour the museum of musical instruments.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Yep, I Really Did Buy Another Horn.

OK, I followed through -- thanks to 20-cent listing day -- & actually sold off 2 of the extra horns around here, just in time & right before the latest eBay horn that I bought was delivered. (And it's a nice 1 -- Yamaha YHR-666N -- happy to have it.)

In fact, as it happens I had gone to FedEx to hand over 1 of my sold eBay horns for shipment to the winning bidder & when I got back the FedEx truck was in front of my house delivering the latest eBay horn that I bought.

The eBay bids I had in on 2 other horns did not stand up, so the current score card on excess horns as of this afternoon is Minus Two + Plus One. (Or it will be, once the winning eBay bidder on the other horn I sold comes through with the money & I follow through by shipping that 1 out.)

I still bid on lots of eBay horns -- but my minimal don't-care-if-I-win bid amount is much lower as of now.

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

 

[rudymcbill]

Alan,
Congratulations on your latest auction finishes! You certainly had a lot of interested parties.
Thanks for all your great advise on what to look for in a horn.
We're almost past the cash flow hump from our latest timeshare purchase, so now I can start seriously watching the horn auctions.
Cindy McBill

 

[AwayWeGo]

Added 1 Horn & Subtracted 2 Horns.

OK, the winning eBay bidder on that other eBay horn I sold came through with payment in full, so Monday morning that horn also is out of here (via FedEx Ground).

So even though I really did up & buy that outstanding eBay Yamaha YHR-666, the horn population score card around here now stands at Plus One & Minus Two.

Not only that, the way the eBay purchase prices & sale prices worked out, in effect I traded away 2 horns I was ready to part with for 1 horn I'm happy to add to the collection.

That ought to earn me a little credit with The Chief Of Staff, eh?

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Followed Through By Putting Another Horn On eBay Sunday Night.

Just to show that I really am working on thinning down the excess horn inventory around here, I can state truthfully that I put another 1 on eBay Sunday night, with a reasonable opening bid amount (for a used professional-quality instrument), & no reserve.

Actions speak louder than words, eh?

Meanwhile, I plan on playing my latest eBay horn acquisition -- an outstanding eBay Yamaha YHR-666N -- in the 4th Of July Independence Day pre-fireworks concert Tuesday evening at Fairfax VA.

I no longer play in the 4th Of July parades -- simply awarded myself Senior Citizen Status & opted out, even though the group no longer marches but nowadays rides the parade route aboard a humongous flatbed truck belting out patriotic march tunes all through town. I'm sure it's loads of fun for the young & the middle-aged -- but not for old folks like me.

I hope everybody has a fabulous 4th.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Horn Update

Well, numerous practice sessions, rehearsals, & performances on my newly acquired Yamaha YHR-666N make it abundantly clear that it was an outstanding eBay purchase -- a keeper, for sure.

Meanwhile, although I got taken to the cleaners in selling off my customized Yamaha YHR-668N via eBay, at least I got most of my money back for it & it's out of here.

Since then, I've taken another unloved horn to the brass technician for repairs & custom work, & picked up another that the technician recently completed working on for me. I'll be putting those up on eBay in time for back to school shopping by the parents of the band kids.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

1st Paying Gig With "Accidental" eBay Horn.

I played my eBay YHR-666N all summer with Fairfax Band & with my smaller (5-piece) brass group (horn, trombone, tuba, 2 trumpets) for the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected mayor & city council & board of education of the City Of Fairfax. (I live in the surrounding county of Fairfax, but that's another story.)

Anyway, the horn still plays great & I consider myself miles ahead with its acquisition, even though I got taken to the cleaners in selling off the customized YHR-668N that it replaced. (So it goes.)

Last night I played my 1st paying gig with the outstanding YHR-666N -- a private party out in Fairfax in celebration of the 50th wedding anniversary of the guests of honor. I don't know if the event was a surprise party for the anniversary couple, but the live music element of the party was a surprise for sure. The anniversary couple's daughter had heard us play a city hall lawn concert earlier this summer, & picked up her ears in particular at 1 tune on the program -- Blues In The Night Train, arranged for brass quintet by Paul Chauvin. It opens with a couple of phrases from Blues In The Night (you know, "My Mama Done Told Me, When I Was In Pigtails..."), then does a quick segue into Night Train, the famous Buddy Morrow tune, which the anniversary couple consideres to be "their song." So the daughter decided to see if we'd be available to perform for the Golden Anniversary party, we were, & we played Blues In The Night Train last night. A good time was had by all.

Incidentally, if you click on that Buddy Morrow link, Night Train is the tune playing when the WWW page opens up. (Coincidence? I don't think so.)

BTW, when the gig came up, we had to scramble for a substitute lead trumpet player, because our regular lead trumpeter had to lay off playing for 2 weeks following oral surgery. Our resourceful manager came up with a guy who formerly was lead trumpet with 1 of the U.S. armed services band's jazz combos. All the tunes we played were familiar & the guy substituting on lead trumpet is a terrific sight-reader anyway, so even with a ringer on lead trumpet it was an outstanding performance if I do say so myself. We just spent 20 minutes or so ahead of the opening downbeat to open up the book & talk over the tunes on the playlist, & play a few measures of some we thought might be tricky, & then we were good to go.

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

 

[CSB]

I might be imagining things but when I heard the Night Train song on the Buddy Morrow link, I started to think of Jerry Lewis. Can anyone remember if this song was in one of his movies? Maybe The Nutty Professor? His alter ego in that movie was, interestingly enough, Buddy.

 

[ocowner]

Trombones???

Let me change the instrument topic to trombone, if I may. My son is looking for an intermediate horn for concert band (10th grade). Any suggestions on intermediate level trombones? With F attachments? Have you ever heard of RS Berkeley horns?

 

[AwayWeGo]

I Used To Play Trombone But I Let That Slide. (Yuk-Yuk-Yuk-Yuk-Yuk-Yuk).

Have you ever heard of RS Berkeley horns?

Just because I never heard of'm doesn't mean they aren't any good -- or that they are any good, for that matter. Shucks, the company has only been around since 2002, according to their web site.

No clue I can get from the company's web page about the country of origin of their instruments -- U.S.A., Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwain, mainland China, who knows?

I'd have to rely on the experience-based knowledge of an actual trombone player, a trombone teacher, or at least the school band teacher. Otherwise, I'd cautiously stick with known quality makers like Yamaha, Bach, Holton, Conn, etc., or even Jupiter or Amati.

Another useful trombone Internet link is right here.

Incidentally, even though Bach & Conn & Holton are now all under common ownership, their product lines are still separate & distinct as far as I know.

Good luck -- & above all (to the budding trombonist), keep on practicing.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Bought A Non-Accidental Horn -- Premeditated All The Way.

It's a wrecked Amati-Kraslice CHR-343 clone -- complete, but in b-a-a-a-d condition. Looks like somebody took a soldering flame to it 20 years ago, started to work on it, then put it away in a major serious disconnected condition. A few dings, including 1 big dent, but decent finish despite everything.

The idea is to turn it over to my local brass-instruments repair guy for fixa-fixa-fixa, plus some nice custom touches, then put it back on eBay & see if I can make a little something by reselling it in restored & ready-to-go condition.

If so, it will help make up for getting taken to the cleaners recently when I sold off my outstanding customized Yamaha YHR-668N, which I no longer need after "accidentally" purchasing that even more outstanding Yamaha YHR-666N.

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