1970s Bach Mercedes trumpet
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I just won a 1976 or 1977 (if the serial numbers are in the same sequence as the Strads) Bach Mercedes trumpet on eBay. First horn I’ve bought in years, but I couldn’t pass it up. It was listed as a Mercedes II, but it isn’t, and my winning bid was pretty low. Looks to be mostly Stradivarius parts, but has a 2-piece bell (which most sources say is a 38 taper), no nickel trim, no tuning slide brace, and no 3rd valve stop and dump slide. The 3rd valve slide has a water key and an adjustable finger ring. It looks to have some red rot on the leadpipe, but if I keep it and it needs repair in the future, that’s not too serious to have repaired.
I haven’t received it yet, so I don’t know how it will play, but I’m hoping it’s good enough to use as a substitute for my Stradivarius in “high traffic” situations.
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Was it a good deal?
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Looks nice. Good luck with it. Some suitable replacement leadpipes are affordable, so if you need to go that route, you won't break the bank.
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The Bach Mercedes arrived today. I measured the bore, and it’s the .456” size, which Bach called an MP (medium plus) bore. It’s in pretty decent shape, valves are great, slides are all free, and it and seems to play well. It feels noticeably lighter than my Stradivarius. I’ll take it to a rehearsal next week to see if it plays well with others…
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The Mercedes plays well with others! I played it in a 1 hour church orchestra rehearsal tonight, and was pretty pleased with it. The sound doesn’t have quite as much body as my Stradivarius does, but it played very well in tune and had a slightly easier upper register than my Strad. Reading some older reviews of the later Elkhart Mercedes had me worried about the possibility of a horn that wouldn’t play in tune, but this one is a good one.
