@Trumpetb said in The Serpent:
What have we lost, we have lost the sound of the old instruments that we cannot hear at all anywhere else.
Are we right to abandon these old instruments and never hear them or play them, that is a personal choice.
If you abandon something unique you lose it.
That is what we have lost, the unique sounds of ancient instruments.
One of my oldest horns is a 1946 Martin Committee, my newest is a 2017 Harrelson Summit. BOTH play exceptionally dark (when I want the Harrelson to do so) and BOTH peal paint when playing lead (Dizzy played the Committee as I am sure you know). I have not abandoned either. I play in small jazz ensembles with the Committee as I do not need to work so hard in those venues, and the greasy transition of the Committee is a virtue in those gigs.
The Harrelson, has the Committee sound (uncanny and spookily identical with the Harmon mute in), but I have to work half as hard to get lead playing results and it projects so well so it gets the big band nod for that reason.