I Can't Believe I Bought Another Horn.

[Passepartout]

DW has a Marcus Bonna backpack case for her Paxman w/ removable bell. It fits the overhead fine, but only sideways. Too tall (long) to fit straight in.

Sounds like a good, fun new project and the odds are better than 21. Probably not as good as craps, but who knows?

Jim

 

[AwayWeGo]

Flying French Horn.

I am facing the logistical problem of how to get a Conn 6D French horn (in hardshell carrying case) home via the friendly skies day after tomorrow. I am all but certain the thing won't fit in any airplane overhead storage bin & I am dead certain it won't fit beneath the seat in front of me. The question is whether to check the thing at the outset, or gamble that I can take it on board, gate-checking it if it can't be stowed on board.

After a fun timeshare week in Las Vegas, The Chief Of Staff & I got home this evening with all our stuff, including the Conn 6D purchased from a Craig's List seller who lives about 6 minutes from the timeshare.

The reason I didn't want to check the horn as baggage is that it's so easy for a horn to sustain damage, even locked inside its hardshell case, if it gets slammed around the way checked suitcases sometimes do on the airlines.

A flight attendant recognized by the form of the case what I was carrying with me as I moved down the aisle. I promised not to play it on board the plane.

In its carrying case, the horn would not fit in any overhead compartment. It mostly fit under the middle seat, but not completely & not under the aisle seat. The wide part of the case, housing the flaring bell of the horn, protruded into the floor space right behind the back of the seat in front of us -- no problem during the 1st leg of the trip home because the plane was less than half full & The Chief Of Staff & I had an empty middle seat between us. The plane was chock full on the (shorter) 2nd leg of the trip. The Chief Of Staff volunteered to take the middle seat even though the wide part of the horn case took up most of the floor space in front of her, not leaving much room for her feet. She's a good sport & did not complain.

I remarked to a different flight attendant as we were leaving that I bet the 6D I had with me was the only French horn that was on the plane all day, adding that I was surprised I got away with bringing it on board.

The flight attendant said that if she had noticed the horn when I was carrying it onto the aircraft, I would not have got away with it.

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

 

[Passepartout]

We also had difficulty with DW's horn and a Delta Connection coming home last night. It fit fine in the Airbuses outbound, then we saw the little CRJ on the first leg coming home. A flight attendant strapped the horn into it's own seat (at no expense to us). The second leg was an Embraer 170. Still small and overbooked. We couldn't even sit together. The horn DID fit in a coach overhead. I had a bulkhead seat, so no underseat storage ahead of me. I was able to put my carry on stuff in the 1st class closet. It was a PITA non-pleasure trip and we are glad to be home none the worse for wear.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Fixa-Fixa-Fixa.

The horn was OK -- not as good as the most recent prior Craig's List Conn 6D I bought back home, but still not bad.

The Las Vegas Conn 6D is now in the hands of a professional brass instrument repair technician for minor dent work, unsticking 1 stuck slide, & general going over.

When the work is done, the 6D will be ready for photos to go on Craig's List here, & then eBay if there are no Craig's List takers within a reasonable time.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Goodbye, Las Vegas Craig's List. Hello, Washington DC Craig's List.

Las Vegas Conn 6D is now in the hands of a professional brass instrument repair technician for minor dent work, unsticking 1 stuck slide, & general going over.

When the work is done, the 6D will be ready for photos to go on Craig's List here, & then eBay if there are no Craig's List takers within a reasonable time.

Picked up undented & unstuck Las Vegas Conn 6D from the horn fixer this morning. Brought it home & photographed it & put it on Craig's List for major money -- would give the link for the ad so you can see how outstanding the horn looks, except that would get me crossways with the TUG-BBS No Advertising rule.

(Far as I know, it's not just no timeshare advertising, it's no advertising, period. So it goes.)

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

A Nice Horn Now In The Hands Of A Promising Young Player.

Picked up undented & unstuck Las Vegas Conn 6D from the horn fixer this morning. Brought it home & photographed it & put it on Craig's List

Craig's List Las Vegas Conn 6D is out of here, gone -- as in sold this evening.

It was a good deal for the person who sold it to me in Las Vegas, a good deal for the local horn fixer, a good deal for the person who bought it from me, & a good deal for me -- a win-win-win-win proposition.

Is this a great country or what ?

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Is There An Echo In Here ?

Las Vegas Conn 6D is now in the hands of a professional brass instrument repair technician for minor dent work, unsticking 1 stuck slide, & general going over.

When the work is done, the 6D will be ready for photos to go on Craig's List here, & then eBay if there are no Craig's List takers within a reasonable time.

The Devil today made me buy a local Craig's List Conn 6D clone made by F.E. Olds (California).

Olds 6D clone is now in the hands of a professional brass instrument repair technician for minor dent work, unsticking 1 stuck slide, & general going over.

When the work is done, the 6D clone will be ready for photos to go on Craig's List locally, & then eBay if there are no Craig's List takers within a reasonable time.

Only other problem is the original Olds carrying case, which has taken major gas at some point in the past. Half of the widest part of the case is covered in wood-tone contact paper. I'm not sure what, if anything, is under that.

When the horn comes back from repairs, I'll see whether I can find a practical way to improve the appearance & protective function of the case without using too much duct tape.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Freeb eBay Listings.

June 8: 20-cent listing day.

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

Now eBay listings in most categories are el freebo -- up to 50 per month.

Very smart of eBay. Eliminating the listing fees encourages people to list more stuff for sale on eBay. Then when it sells (if it sells), eBay snags more sales commissions in the form of Final Value Fees. Not only that, eBay now gets a piece of the action on shipping charges.

So it goes.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Olds Clone Of Conn 6D Is Back From The Shop -- Plays Great.

When the horn comes back from repairs, I'll see whether I can find a practical way to improve the appearance & protective function of the case without using too much duct tape.

Carrying case is a mess -- nothing was under the contact paper & masking tape but a major serious hole.

Fixable ?

Maybe -- but I'm not counting on it. Besides, any possible fix I can imagine is going to be unsightly.

There are 2-3 empty horn cases down in the basement. Maybe 1 of those will work, I don't know. We'll see.

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Generic Horn Case Fits Fine.

There are 2-3 empty horn cases down in the basement. Maybe 1 of those will work, I don't know. We'll see.

The Olds 6D clone does not fit into 2 out of the 3 extra horn cases down in the basement.

Fortunately, it fits fine in the 3rd (generic) horn case that was on hand down there.

I think of hard-shell horn cases as pretty much generic items, so it was surprising that neither a C.G. Conn nor a Yamaha horn case would work for the Olds. The cases & the horn are all pretty much standard items.

Who'd a-thunk ?

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Suspicion Reconfirmed.

Yamaha YHR-666 & YHR-666N are discontinued models, manufactured 1981-1985 only. (YHR-666 is made of conventional yellow "cartridge" brass. YHR-666N is made of a silver-colored alloy known variously as nickel silver & German silver, which contains zero actual silver -- basically it's just a whitish brass.) I think I figured out why the Yamaha brain trust decided to quit making them. It could have gone something like this: One day, a product manager rushes into the Yamaha executive suite with some devastating news. "Sir, we have a big problem with our French horn line."

"Oh?" says the Yamaha bigwig. "What kind of problem?"

"Well, sir, it turns out our intermediate-grade student step-up model horn plays better, sounds better, & has better intonation than our top-line professional model horn. What are we going to do?"

"Only 1 thing we can do."

"What's that, sir?"

"Immediately discontinue our intermediate-grade student step-up model horn. Got that?"

"Yes, sir."

Somebody in France is offering a rare Yamaha YHR-666N like mine on eBay.

Although I arrived at my assessment of the horn independently, the language of the French eBay seller's description comes close to mine. The French seller's description says . . .

legend or reality?

This 666 N model was put into production for five years only
and then was stopped by the Yamaha Firm because its perfect quality
was a real problem for the other more expensive Yamaha models.

***

This professional Model is one of the most popular among the Yamaha Best Sellers.
It contributed to build up the Yamaha Fame :
the large Bell, widely opened, is producing rich, powerful and warm sounds.
This 666 N has a strong projection as well.
This instrument is easy to play in the high notes
with a large sound in the low notes.
It has a very round and colorful sound,
and is very homogeneous from the deep to high notes.
Its sound is similar to the Conn 8 d models
(which were used to play the Holliwood Movies Sounds Tracks).
but much more easy to play... with a precise rightness.​

Who'd a-thunk ?

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

French Horn Rescue -- The Continuing Saga.

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.

It is clear that having a new Holton bell tail & OK Holton bell flare on hand influenced my bidding recently on a Holton H-179 fixed-bell double horn that's dented at the bell throat & slightly torn a few places round the edge of the flare. (One torn spot at the edge was crudely patched.)

I sniped in a winning lowball bid, received the horn via FedEx Ground, noodled around on it to judge its playing qualities (very good), & took it -- along with the eBay bell tail & bell flare -- over to an experienced professional brass instrument technician.

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.

Meanwhile, I ordered an eBay Buy It Now flat carrying case specially made for a screw bell horn, which should fit the screwbell-converted horn after the parts transplant & other work are completed. (One benefit of screwbell horns is the ability to tote them around in attaché-style carrying cases, rather than klunky hardshell cases oddly bulged to accommodate the wide flares of fixed bell horns.)

I expect to flip the finished product rather than add it to the oversupply of keepers around here. But if it plays as well in top shape as it did in its unrepaired condition, who knows ?

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Nice Horn Now In The Hands Of A Music Major Getting Back Into Playing Horn.

When the work is done, the 6D clone will be ready for photos to go on Craig's List locally, & then eBay if there are no Craig's List takers within a reasonable time.

No takers on Craig's List or eBay despite several week-long listings. (So it goes.)

No problem, because Craig's List came through the 2nd time round.

As of today, the Conn 6D clone by F.E. Olds & Son is in the hands of a public school music teacher who played horn all through high school & college without ever owning a horn. She wanted a decent instrument of her own so she could get back into horn playing. Now she's got 1.

Is this a great country or what ?

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

"French Horn Rescue" Conn 28D Is Out Of Here.

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.

It is a 28D.

Not only that, the professional brass instrument technician I took it to got it unsmashed & undented & in fabulous condition -- playing condition, I mean, not just appearance.

I enjoyed playing the 28D for several months before deciding to let it go. (I can't keep all the potential keepers.) So I photographed it & put it on eBay, where it was promptly snapped up.

As of today, it's on its way via FedEx Ground to its new owner in the USA heartland.

That leaves me with a manageable total of five -- 5 -- horns, plus 1 in the shop.

The current population is Yamaha YHR-666N, Yamaha YHR-321, Lawson 804, Alexander 103, & 1 very basic Conn single horn in F. The horn at the shop is a French Horn Rescue Holton H-179.

Is this a great country or what ?

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

Timeshare French Horn.

Right now The Chief Of Staff & I are enjoying our traditional after-Christmas Florida timeshare vacation. As it happens, this is the 2nd consecutive out-of-town vacation from which I'll be going home with 1 horn more than I brought with me.

Last fall I snagged a nice Craig's List Conn 6D in Las Vegas.

Yesterday I picked up an eBay Yamaha YHR-322 in Orlando.

It was just luck that I was here when the eBay auction ended. I was not paying attention to the seller's location when I sent in the bid. By being here I was able to pick up the horn & pay for it in person. Otherwise the seller would have boxed up the horn & sent it to me at home.

I had intended to play my eBay YHR-666N at Lakeland Band rehearsal last night. Instead, I played the freshly acquired eBay YHR-322, a 4-valve Bb single horn (very much like YHR-321 but a newer design).

I was into French Horn Divestment for a while there -- got the total down to just 5. Now I'm back up to 7, but with the intention of selling off a couple of'm, most likely my Craig's List Yamaha YHR-321 & my eBay Holton H-179 that's currently in the hands of a professional brass instrument technician for repairs & screwbell modification.

The Chief Of Staff is exceedingly tolerant. She's an outstanding good sport about my French horn habit.

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

 

[wackymother]

Good work on picking up the new horn yourself. I'm going to start checking out Craig's List for places we visit on vacation!

Seems to me like you have a great hobby, buying and selling horns that you play yourself, and you enjoy the discovery of getting to know each one. Love to hear these stories.

 

[AwayWeGo]

eBay While Away.

Good work on picking up the new horn yourself. I'm going to start checking out Craig's List for places we visit on vacation!

Seems to me like you have a great hobby, buying and selling horns that you play yourself, and you enjoy the discovery of getting to know each one. Love to hear these stories.

I am pretty sure I am the only man at any timeshare resort anywhere in & around Orlando FL right now who has two -- 2 -- Yamaha French horns with him right here in the timeshare unit -- 1 brought from home + 1 picked up locally.

Getting the Yamaha YHR-322 home by car next week will be easier than flying home from Las Vegas last fall with a Craig's List Conn 6D.

The guy who sold the YHR-322 is an eBay rookie who works for a big pawn shop that's branching out into eBay. He had zero feedback till I recorded favorable feedback for him for the YHR-622. Now he has his feet wet with a feedback score of 1 -- 100% positive.

After the sale, the seller sent me a text message apologizing for leaving the shop sticker on the horn & asking me to send him the inventory number off that tag, which he said he needed & had forgotten to write down. I did, noting in the process that my winning eBay bid was $99 less than the shop's sticker price for the horn.

By picking up the horn & paying in person, I saved $50 in shopping costs. The seller saved PayPal remittance fees, not to mention not having to bother with packing & shipping a bulky, odd-shaped object. Plus, eBay now collects a percentage of sellers' shipping charges, an expense the YHR-322 seller avoided by handing over the horn in person.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

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

 

[wackymother]

Someday I want to go to a pawn shop. But I want it to be like the pawn shop on Pawn Stars, not like the pawn shop on Hardcore Pawn.

 

[AwayWeGo]

What's A Nice Horn Like This Doing In A Shop Like That ?

Someday I want to go to a pawn shop. But I want it to be like the pawn shop on Pawn Stars, not like the pawn shop on Hardcore Pawn.

I got the impression from the very nice & polite guy who delivered the eBay French horn that the pawn shop where he works is more like Hardcore Pawn.

Then again, who takes classy instruments like French horns to the down & dirty pawn shops ?

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

 

[gnorth16]

Someday I want to go to a pawn shop. But I want it to be like the pawn shop on Pawn Stars, not like the pawn shop on Hardcore Pawn.

Pawn stars in Vegas was tacky and had very few quality items. I won about $500 and was going to blow it on something frivolous, but ended up leaving with nothing. My cousin lives in a suburb around Detroit and was at Hardcore Pawn. More items and a larger store... When I go to visit, I will have to check it out. Both places flog their TV junk and like to display their "stardome". Like all reality TV shows, they are played up for the viewers sake....(but don't tell anyone I watch them both on occasion:ignore:!!!)

 

[AwayWeGo]

Reality Show Reality Is Not Necessarily Real World Reality.

Pawn stars in Vegas was tacky and had very few quality items.

The shop featured on Pawn Stars has become a Las Vegas tourist attraction. People line up outside waiting to get in, even though the Old Man & Rick & Big Hoss & Chumlee are not on site except when show episodes are being shot.

I toyed with the idea of taking that Craig's List horn I bought in Las Vegas over to the Pawn Stars shop, to see whether I could make a little something from it while I was still in town. They were even going to be shooting a TV episode 1 morning.

As it happened, I did not go to the pawn shop with the horn -- just brought it home on the plane. The rest is history.

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

 

[hvsteve1]

AwayWeGo, you sound kind of former military. Did you play your horn with any military bands, or just the community bands you mention?

 

[ronandjoan]

It is
Is this a great country or what ?

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

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

 

[AwayWeGo]

1966-1968.

AwayWeGo, you sound kind of former military. Did you play your horn with any military bands, or just the community bands you mention?

75th Army Band, Ft. Belvoir VA, 1966.

214th Army Band, Ft. Richardson AK, 1967-68.

Click here for an informative web site where current & former members of military bands can list themselves & their instruments & their dates of service.

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

 

[hvsteve1]

Thanks for the reply. That web site is very usefull.

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