Best posts made by barliman2001

By the way, this is my wife's principal pianist as member of comic opera group THE CAST... enjoy!

Warning! Not PC!

The UN recently did a survey, asking "What in your honest opinion can be done about the lack of food in the rest of the world?"
The answers showed slight problems with vocabulary: Americans did not know "the rest of the world", Africans did not know "food", Germans did not know "lack", Italians did not know "honest", and Russians did not know "opinion".

My best buy ever was a Besson International Cornet which I watched being put into a garbage bin... pulled it out, asked the guy whether I could have it. He said, You're welcome to it, and I walked off. Had it restored for a mere 75 Deutschmarks (now approx. € 30) and have been playing it ever since. Last time someone offered to buy it I was tempted with three thousand dollars... and declined. You don't sell a good cornet.

How do you know a drummer is at the door? -
The cat flap opens at 2 and 4.

@pss From what I can gather, Gaudet is the new name for those Courtois workers who did not appreciate the Buffet Crampon takeover and who started a new company under the name of the Courtois ex-CEO... and it seems they took quite a bit of parts and machinery with them (Courtois-branded instruments are now being made by B&S in Markneukirchen on their existing B&S machinery).

"Trumpet playing is singing, just without a sore throat."
Maurice André

Well, I've had the Gaudet for some weeks now and played it for a week (a ten-day hospital stay intervened). It's stunning. Just as I like it.
It's perhaps fifteen to twenty years old, with perhaps 20% lacquer loss, but only one tiny dent. Immaculate valves, buttery smooth but with a very satisfying "plop". intonation is almost 100%, very like a good Bb. It's a worthy partner to my 154R flugelhorn. Only thing that needs to be done is to put a new spring into the water key - it's airtight when closed, but does not return when you open it. But that is a very minor thing.

A Scotsman phones a dentist's surgery. "Eh, mon, what's the cost o' drawin' a tuith?" - "That would be fifty pounds, sir." - "Canna I get it a wee bit cheaper?" - "Certainly, sir. 25 pounds, but that is with only initial anesthesia and limited equipment." - Canne ye make it even cheaper?" - "Well, yes, sir, we can do it for ten pounds, but that is without any anesthesia and just using a plain set of blacksmith's pincers. Very painful process." - "Can ye make an appointment for Thursday for ma mither-in-law?"

@Dr-GO Here in Vienna, I am always eager to welcome any former TMers or TBers - as Sethoflagos, rowuk and SSmith1226 can witness.

No. That was an unsigned autograph card for an already established soloist.

I visit Votruba's shop in Vienna on a regular basis. Mostly to have small things on my horns seen to - waterkey corks and springs, a new bottle of oil, perhaps some new corks to a mute. But I always keep a weather eye open on their "pre-loved" window... and today I got lucky. They had a Courtois Bb, a Balanced model, silver plated, for a mere € 300. True, about one third of the plating has been played away; but there are no dings or holes, no red rot, and the valves go plop! and move as they should. A narrow kranz on the bell, very like a Selmer K-Mod. Serial no. 10xxx. Does anyone here know more?

A trombone player has just moved into a new home, and has invited a friend for a first viewing. The friend is duly impressed; but late in the evening, he has one question: "I don't seem to see a single clock anywhere... how do you tell the time?" - "That's simple" replies the bonist, grabs his horn and starts practising. Within a few seconds, the neighbour's window flies open: "That's monstrous! Such a noise at midnight!"

@Dirk020 There is a rule about old Courtois horns. All have red rot, except your own.

I'm risking a repeat offence...
Conductor:"We'll start again at measure 3."
Viola player: "Sorry, sir, we haven't got any numbers!"

@IrishTrumpeter You might invite Rowuk for a holiday stay in Ireland later in the year - he's a very friendly guy and possibly the most knowledgeable trumpet guy on TB ever, the God of the Circle of Breath.

@ssmith1226
A young electrician dies suddenly and ends up at the Pearly Gates before St. Peter. He is somewhat annoyed and vents his anger: "To die at 35 is no joke, you old Saint!" - "35? By the number of hours you had yourself paid for you're 98!"

I've had my fill of Cs... I started off with a Bach C/Bb combo which was out of tune as a Bb and even more out of tune as a C. It only started working when I added an A and even an Ab slide... Fortunately, a friend of mine borrowed it for a theatre job and managed to get it stolen. The insurance paid up ande that pqaid for a Bach rotary C. Nice horn, but not universally useable and rather a hard blow. I had a couple of Besson Mehas afterwards - the Bbs are good, on the verge of fantastic, but the Cs are quirky and extremely mouthpiece sensitive. I then went for a Couesnon C/Bb combo: Easy for the C, with a nice sound, but almost a peashooter on Bb. Anything below the stave is sharp. Another C rotary crossed my path when a friend asked me to advise him as to a rotary C with all the trimmings, NOT a Lechner (he had a colleague who always flaunted his gold-plated Lechner), with a budget of $ 6,000. I had Votruba of Vienna build him a gold-plated, three Vienna keys rotary C, with four different leadpipes - the works - and supervised the build for him. It turned out "the best C I ever played, and it easily outplays the Lechner", at a final price tag of $ 5,400 including shipping. resulting in the other guy selling his Lechner and ordering another Votruba... Another friend of mine has an Inderbinen Alpha C - costly, but not for me. and recently I came upon a Gaudet C. Thiw was the "second choice" brand of Antoine Courtois, horns that had some kind of optical glitch like missed bits of lacquering or an unaligned water key - things like that. The valve block is correctly stamped "Courtois". And that has been m go-to C for the last five years. Nice, mellow tone, yet caqn strip paint if you want to do so; perfectly in tune; and an easy, precise blow. One of the few horns that will only come on the market if you shoot me first - But I've always been a fast draw...

The up-to-date muscle car for anti-vaxxers...

Ok, had a longish - four and a half hours - Big Band rehearsal (www.bbmf.de) yesterday evening. Had the Recording with me for the first time.
What an experience! A horn that can sing almost like a flugel, whisper, and strip paint at the slightest provocation in that direction. Just what I wanted... only one horn has ever done that to me, and that was another Balanced model - a 1950s Courtois. But that one is in such bad shape, with silver plating almost completely gone, huge areas of red rot and the brass worn paper-thin in patches that Votruba did not want to try a restoration for fear of the horn crumbling in their hands... the Recording, being almost 70 years old now, is good for another 70.

I did not know James Morrison had so many twin brothers...
https://www.facebook.com/trumpetlovers/videos/1021644968634328