Favorite Cornet

Zman

My favourite cornet today is this sweet old Martin Indiana which "saved my life".
My band had two slots -Sunday and Monday of a holiday weekend at a jazz festival an hour and a half drive from home. I normally stay for the whole weekend, but family matters prevented this. I arrived an hour before our slot, opened the hatch of my car to see no trumpet. Don't like leaving horns in a car.
Most of the bands with brass players had played on the previous days and had left town. Was walking from the car in my stupid purple suit when someone on the way to their gig said "great suit". I told him that I should've spent more time packing my instrument than dressing up. His keyboardist, a local, rocked up and said "I have an old trumpet upstairs". He returned with this baby.
It performed almost flawlessly. The first valve was sticking during a solo in Dm - fortunately you can hold down 1st and still make fair riff in Dm . No valve oil, so I had to make do with a bit of old school saliva on the valves

Those little guys are pretty under-rated in my opinion. (I dedicated a whole video to it)
I have several examples (a couple spare if anyone is looking too ).

Vulgano Brother

I usually don't play cornet, but when I do it is my old Holton with a period mouthpiece.

Bob Pixley

My favourite cornet is an old Bach 184. I have an old Conn with a copper bell and leadpipe that's pretty special, too.

Newell Post

It's not vintage, or rare, or custom built, or any of those things. But it just plays great and is the ideal horn for a small room. Schilke XA1. And it has the best valves of any of my horns.
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Wild Bill Davison played the 80A early in his career and the King Master Super 20 late in his career. I like them both and sometimes like the 80A better because it is brighter and more like a trumpet and some times I like the King Master Super 20 because it is darker and fuller sounding. !

djeffers78

@Richard-III

Apparently many old cornets were designed in this manner to be fine tuned on the fly.
My Arbans book I think explains the use of the slide using the thumb on the right hand

adc

Bought a '51 Conn 36A Concert Grand. Its Absolute mint. Looks like it was just made. Seller told me a woman's deceased father had it and really took care of it. I got it for $250 plus shipping. I tried to send the guy another $150. He wouldn't take it.

You won't see one like this for any amount. I can't believe its mine!!!

adc

@Niner
Nice!! Didn't think they made that adjustment mechanism after the factory burned down in 1910. Or on the 80A

I have a 1908 Perfected Wonder with that mechanism totally intact. You rarely see that.

Newell Post

@adc

The cork on the pistons looks like it was never played at all....

@adc I got a 36A too. Not as nice as yours...but I like it. The 36A was made to compete with the King Master Cornet. Same wrap but the Conn is overall shorter but with a wider wrap vertically. I use a Conn 4 mouthpiece...the old style without the rim in the middle of the shank.... because there was a slight size difference to the shaft and how it fits into the receiver and the old style is correct.

The King Master at the bottom of the image.

adc

Scored a Olds '61 Studio last week. $200 including shipping. Plays like a dream. No doubt why it was called "Studio"

[img]https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/nr0AAOSwvfFdIXTG/s-l1600.jpg[/img]

J. Jericho

@adc I don't see an image when the link loads.

adc

@J-Jericho
Sorry. I just love this horn. It was listed as a student horn. Maybe so.................

Looks like the pliers to mouthpiece evidence. That was a student's horn alright.

tjcombo

@adc Wondering if the Studio cornets are as fine an instrument as that model trumpet. If so, you've had a great win. Also wondering if the Olds cornet mouthpiece is as horrible as their trumpet pieces

barliman2001

@adc The Studio trumpets are amazing, too... I scored one two years back, a total closet queen that probably had never been played before... original case, original #3 mouthpiece, original wrapping, original paperwork... $150 on ebay... my #1 horn for anything but big band.

adc

@barliman2001 said in Favorite Cornet:

@adc The Studio trumpets are amazing, too... I scored one two years back, a total closet queen that probably had never been played before... original case, original #3 mouthpiece, original wrapping, original paperwork... $150 on ebay... my #1 horn for anything but big band.

Wow..nice!

adc

@Niner I keep coming back to my King Master. It sounds and feels right. Through the last 2+ years, I have had many "favorites" but its unlikely I will ever find a better one. I really likde my Conn 19A (Japan). Cheap horn but very dark and mellow.

@adc I have the Master and the Super 20. They look almost identical in all essential ways. But, outside of some decorative brace differences and some chrome places, the only really structure difference is that the slide on the third valve has the adjustment closer to the valve block on the Super 20 than the Master. The Master seems slightly mellower to my not great musical and half deaf ear but maybe it's because it doesn't have the marginal bling that makes it seem that way. Obviously the horns are out of the same design mold.

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adc

@Niner said in Favorite Cornet:

@adc I have the Master and the Super 20. They look almost identical in all essential ways. But, outside of some decorative brace differences and some chrome places, the only really structure difference is that the slide on the third valve has the adjustment closer to the valve block on the Super 20 than the Master. The Master seems slightly mellower to my not great musical and half deaf ear but maybe it's because it doesn't have the marginal bling that makes it seem that way. Obviously the horns are out of the same design mold.

I think the Master is a bit brighter than the Conn 36A. And actually I like darker better so it would seem like I should like the 36A. But the Master just "feels right" Ank its probably a bit better in a band than the 36A.