I have three Committee Cornets..much cheaper than trumpets. I gave one to my granddaughter, but she has already put a dent in it and does not oil the valves properly.

I think she would rather play trumpet anyhow..so I bought her a used conn on ebay for $ 175 and taking the Committee back :).

There is a girl in 11th grade in a nearby school who is in County,District, State, and eastern U.S. band. She wants to borrow one for a solo "Fantaisis Brillante" next month. (Obviously its intended for Cornet). If it turns out that she really loves the horn, my wife decided at the end of the day we will give her the horn. Hopefully it will help take her places.

I'm here

I plan on making videos of my old horns. I will explain the horn and give a brief demo on the horn. This is my 1910 Conn Perfected Wonder:[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr0j0pXvgSQ[/url]
I don't rehearse them..lol

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!!!

If you email me I'll paypal some bucks to you. I am sure others would also.
Al

Using q-tips I waxed the inside of my cornet MP in the throat and backbore. Reason..especially cornet mp's ..spit clings to the inside and causes a bit of "spitty" sound. Waxing does a great job of minimizing this.

I am doing it also my 2 grand children. One plays trumpet the other cornet

@administrator
I didn't the first time. just tried to upload it from my computer. In the last one I did use image.
I see no way to edit post. I won't post for a while..sorry. Probably me.

OK I do see how to edit..Also I guess my file was to big. Got it!!

Salisbury Viaduct-Meyersdale, PA. Around 2000 feeet long. Designed to be double track. Stayed singletrack

Very nice-for a trumpet

After an absence of 50 years I started again 8 years ago at the age of 70.

When practicing music I omit pieces that have more than 3 flats or sharps. The return on investment is just not there. Clark's books are loaded with 3 flats/sharps+. Especially at my age and really mostly a waste of time for younger players to concentrate in this area.

Better to learn to play FASTER with good articulation.

Thoughts?

@_mark_
I really did not see a question. I saw venting. And that's fine.

Couple things..youtube. Now the guy that repairs my horns repairs them like a person like you or I can not nor ever will. Goes with the territory. However this gentleman is always willing to show me how he does stuff. And another thing..to fix stuff you need tools. Tools (micrometers, bore gages, granite blocks, etc are not cheap and you need them. I have many hundreds in just these "simple" tools. Sounds like you could not afford them..so why complain.

The other thing. You can not hope to progress beyond a certain level of proficiency without good instruction. Take that to the bank.

But there are avenues out there. You just have to ask.

@barliman2001
I restarted replaying around d 5 years ago. I bought lots of cheaper horns and gave around 20 away to underprivileged or talented kids

Some I remember:

Strad Trumpet (sold)
Eterna Trumpet(sold)
Cornets:
Capri (2)
Committees (2)
Conn Concert Grand
New Proportion

Current (cornets) in my collection:

1900 Boosey & Fuchs
1910 King
1906 Conn Conquest
1908 Wonderphone
1910 Perfected Wonder
1911 Perfected wonder
1929 (York Improved Perfect) My steady Player
Dont remember dates off top of head):
Committee
King Master (2)
1954 Concert Grand (Near Brand New-100%perfect)
1954 20A
1984 Bach Strad M 184G Other Steady Player

@flugelgirl said in Differences between grades of instruments:

I really don’t think vintage horns had a higher quality level for intermediate vs. pro - some of those were still no more than fancier plating. A Martin Committee in perfect condition will not make you sound like one of the greats if you are a marginal player,

I have very old (before 1920) Conns, Kings, Yorks. They are in extremely good condition..valves are 'good'. None of them can rival my Strad Shepherd's crook. My almost unused (near mint) Conn Concert Grand is a touch below my Strad.

It well could be that valves are an issue. But two of my older ones have been refitted with valves. Al my horns are Cornet.

I had three Committees. all had very tight valves (that was their forte') They all played mediocrealy the same. Who would have thought.?

@fels Funny (not really). I had Mohs surgery on the rear of my scalp for basel cell. I have had two others. So jfar so good. In that location I will be ik.

I wish you well my friend!!

@shifty My 06 is nicely engraved. Very ornate. The Conqueror was discontinued in 1907 (I believe). I believe the Perfected Wonder and the Wonderphone eclipsed it.

I have 2 extremely well kept Perfected Wonders and a very very nice Wonderphone. the Conqueror is a very inferior playing horn compared to these 3. And notice how nice the valves are in the Conqueror. All my old Conns have loose valves.

Just MY experience.

@dale-proctor Sweet!!!!!! Congrats!!!

@flugelgirl I have one. Its unique for sure!! Conn experimented a lot. I think this one will go down as a loser. Never had a horn that played so badly

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/523RP0Hf/IMG-4273.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/zfGP4rWK/IMG-4274.jpg[/img]

@kehaulani said in I found my way back... Sorry, it's been so long!:

I've been battling with some very serious sight issues. Only have about 30% of my vision. at the moment. A spin-off is I can't play because of eye pressure. Can't write 'cause can't see well and no bands to conduct because of Covid. So - next to nothing. Yea it sucketh mightily.

Sorry man

@chelpres Thank you. I looke up that info!!

I have to say, in the last 4 years I have owned and played 30+ cornets..Kings, Conns, Committees, Ambassadors, Yorks, Holtons, Getzens, Bach.

My conclusion:

Four tiers:

I. Superior. My 1982 Bach Strad 184G
II. One notch about Average. My Conn Concert Grand
III. Average. (probably 95% of horns out there( 26+ Horns I owned fall into this catagory. ) Pick any two and you can usually pick out the better player.of the two.
IV, Clearly Inferior. 1890 ish Bo, and 1906 Conn Conqueror.

I have gone back and started Arbans (again) from scratch. It is frankly tedious and more difficult to play a lot of these exercises with all my average horns.

My message. I always felt that if you were good the quality of the horn was not a big factor. Pretty much changed my mind. An up and coming very talented HS student needs a horn like the Strad to advance to the top tier. I thought in HS and College I was "Good". I realize that a great horn could have put me above "good"..certainly not great.

You comeback players should consider forking out the extra $$$'s. You can't take it with you.