Best posts made by barliman2001

@tjveloce Just looked at yours. Nice, but mine is an even better bargain. Rose brass, and no wear signs whatsoever on the valves... comes from a collector who rarely played it... he preferred his Keilwerth Tone King (don't know why!). Previous owner now down with dementia, and his carers had to sell the collection to pay for the care home. The whole collection went to Votruba's who did a full service on every horn, but somehow did not recognize the Recording for what it was (Olds horns being very rare occurrences in Austria). I told them what kind of a gem they were selling - after I had paid their price and got the horn in my hands... btw, I did not pay their asking price of 1100 Euros, but exchanged an UMI Benge 7 for it...

I hate breaking-in instruments. That's why I have said goodbye to even thinking about new instruments, and have concentrated on vintage hooters - which, to me at least, have more character anyway. They seem to have accumulated the wisdom and musical spirit of all the players before me.
For me, it's simply a joy to think about how long a pedigree a vintage instrument must have.
And - what's more - I've found that I much prefer the Balanced style of trumpet. Somehow, I feel more at home with them, and they seem to like me... so I now have only one "normal" trumpet left (amongst the Bbs, that is), my 1920s Buescher Aristocrat (oh, and one Conn-Amati thing that is remarkable only for the blue lacquer and the drunk vulture enamelled on the bell). Apart from that, there is two Courtois Balanced models (originally the same model; but one came to me in decrepit old age, and the geriatric department at Votruba's were afraid to restore it as it might dissolve into dust at anything beyond a gentle rub-over with a soft cloth. They recommended I should not even polish the silver plating, as the plating more or less kept the horn together... still a wonderful player, so when a friend mentioned he had a spare one - actually, his wife set him a limit in the number of horns he is allowed to have, so when he wants another one, one has to go, and he desperately wanted an Inderbinen - I secured that before it went elsewhere), and my Olds Recording.

Welcome to TB, Leonardo! The trumpet on the pics has some rather intriguing features - a pinky hook reminding me of early Selmers, but of some Markneukirchen instruments as well, and the octagonal valve caps bring to mind some Buescher instruments as well as the Art Déco instruments of Arigra and the like.
It certainly is neither of these.
You might look up the brand name in www.horn-u-copia.net.
But it is my opinion (fwiw) that it is some sort of stencil instrument and possibly somewhere in the intermediate class - if you are lucky.

@administrator
A) It is nothing like a didgeridoo - which, in fact, is just a wooden tube hollowed out by termites, without a proper mouthpiece (the end of the tube is rounded off for comfort)
b) Technically, it is a cornet (because of the conical shape of the bore).
And, to finish off, it is a Tibetan temple trumpet, the use of which is now prohibited due to Chinese rule in Tibet. Any such trumpets seized are sold off to collectors in the West...

@Kehaulani It's a dance band in a big band formation.

For me, they are the first line of defence whenever I try out a "new" horn (new to me, that is. I have abandoned buying new horns), and they work well for a first clean before you try and buy.

Thomann are offering different sizes of waterkey corks as well as different thicknesses of cork sheet to cut your corks out of.
https://www.thomann.co.uk/search_dir.html?__cTr=7bedffb2-1e7f-45de-be1e-2790c2f1c4c7&shp=eyJjb3VudHJ5IjoiZ2IiLCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6NCwibGFuZ3VhZ2UiOjJ9&reload=1&sw=cork&smcs=a935ee_13621

And one more clip of the weird and rare...

@henrylr That was a joke... "first position" is a trombone slide position, the shortest you can extend a trom slide. Usually about one inch. If you extend a trumpet slide any further, it will fall out.

Well, there are still a few good personal touch music stores around in Europe. Vienna has Votruba's, which is an old-established family business; Salzburg has the "Brasswerkstatt". In Munich, age-old competitors Hieber and Lindberg amalgamated into a single company, but their services have improved. And smallish family stores are spreading all over, selling ecological and local produce. All is not lost.

@kehaulani Schmuck Allee in Salzburg... yes, I've seen a pic of ssmith1226 standing there, looking appropriately, with his wife looking smug... I don't think I'm telling any very personal secrets when I divulge that he just had bought a few minor goodies at the Schagerl factory shop (just a new gold plated Killer Queen flugel) and was now in honour bound to spend a reasonable sum on placating his wife...

@Dr-GO Red wine cork for rose brass, white wine cork for silver plated instruments... chips of plastic champagne corks for Chinese-made TSOs...

IMHO, most Martin Committees are way overpriced due to demand from players who want one even if their playing capabilities don't warrant such an investment...
I don't deny that there are wonderful instruments amongst those remaining with us; but it is a fact (as with all instruments) that there are some played-outs and duds amongst them and what's even more important, an instrument needs to be suited to a player's charactristics and typical repertoire. You would not play a Mozart Mass on a Committee, just the same as you would have your work cut out playing swing solos on a Selmer piccolo.
So, as with all instruments, only buy "into the dark" if you cannot really miss due to proven quality, known fittingness of instrument or good price.
I have several times bought "into the dark" because something seemed desirable at the time... with the result that afterwards, I either could not get to grips with the instrument, or it had some hidden defect, or it failed to fit a need I had. Result?
Neither of these instruments is with me now.
I'll explain:
As a relatively inexperienced players, I had a lot of recordings of music for the corno da caccia - and I had money to burn. So, when on a business trip to Leipzig, I casually wandered into Friedbert Syhre's workshdp because there was a beautiful silver-plated corno in the window, and bought it for cash (a whopping € 4,000). I practised on it once a week, perhaps, for about five years, never played a single gig with it, and then sold it to a guy who really could use it, for half the price.
A couple of years later, I found a Clemens Glier Kuhlohorn on e-bay; really wanted it as a rotary flugelhorn to complement my piston Courtois. Bid on it till the cows came home, got it, used it for about ten rehearsals and two gigs and then found that as a flugelhorn, it was unsatisfactory compared to my Courtois, and sold it on to a player in Vermont who can really use it in church music.

At one time, I was so completely kitted out that I virtually had a trumpet for every possible pitch (A, Bb, C, D, E - for Hummel Original [which I never played] - Eb, G). The only thing I lacked was a trumpet in F. So I, young fool that I was, ordered one from Vinceent Bach, silver plated. Took about six months to get to me; played beautifully; but then, again, I was lacking opportunities of using it. So after a year, I re-sold it at half price.
One more instance: I had a beautiful Besson Kanstul Bb/A picc that I really liked and which I sounded nice on. But I was dead set on having a Stomvi picc, due to the Maurice André connection, and sold the Besson Kanstul for a Stomvi Elite. Nice horn; but the valve block was built a bit lighter than the Besson, and it did not fit my hand so nicely which forced me to exert too much pressure on the valve block with the result that valve #1 regularly got stuck... something I had never experienced with the Besson I am using in this pic...

I'll continue with my success stories...
Found an oldish, almost worn-out Courtois Balanced Bb at Votruba's in Vienna for a price tag of € 300, had it refurbed for another € 150 and been playing it successfully in symphonic settings ever since all over Europe...
About a year later, in 2018, Votruba's called me to see a nice horn that just had come into their shop out of a trumpet player's estate... turned out to be a nicely preserved Olds Recording, for a mere € 450... has been my main big band axe ever since...

Hope you can make some sense out of my rambling!

@Vulgano-Brother said in Oder Deutsch?:

Trinkt einen Münchener zu Weihnachten ein "Christmaß?"
No. But the waiters in the restaurants are delivering punches.

@SSmith1226 said in How about a "Random Meaningless Image...let's see them string"?:

@Tobylou8 said in How about a "Random Meaningless Image...let's see them string"?:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10211262954408994&set=gm.2888995997829707&type=3&eid=ARCCgF7gxC2rpSlcAruD5bKHY0SrcLc4nrCn1YHCMRbwTN74jgCWMLMuO57edugq5vu6tfLB6QrEtU3o&ifg=1

@administrator Forget all the overpriced Bachs, or whatever. If you want something in the Bach style - and better lacquer quality - go for the B&S Challenger I or II series. If you want something lighter than Bach - and even longer lasting - the Stomvi Elite range is superb. And if you do insist on something from Asia - either find yourself a good used Jupiter STR1010 (comes with two bells, and can be easily retrofitted with Schilke bells) or go for the XO 1600 Roger Ingram model.
Or you can tell Ivan Hunter exactly how you want your instrument to be, and he'll adjust one from his own range exactly to your liking. www.jaegerbrass.com. After his move to Germany, his workshop is back in business.

@mediocreplayer I had a similar problem with the Stomvi Elite Piccolo... with the first valve sticking during slow play. All kinds of work on the valve did not help even though the instrument was returned for repair several times. Finally, the late Uli Pfreimbtner found that the valve block was ok, I just tended to grip the valve block in slower passages and thus pressed the valve casings too hard...

@Kehaulani said in Fast Tempo and old farts:

Original performance by the composer and his band:
Youtube Video

I very much doubt that this is an original Sousa recording, especially as it says "Conductor: John Wallace"...

Several reasons come to mind...

1. Many professionals have been contracted as Signature Artists - they get paid (sometimes huge sums) to play on a certain manufacturer's horns, and endorse them. Their personal horns are then crafted to whatever specification they prefer. So it may well be that some professionals are playing Committee clones - we just don't know.
2. Many professionals in the past were playing Committees - when they were still being manufactured and readily available Nowadays, full professionals - whose livelihood depends on being able to perform very full schedules - would probably shy away from using an instrument that could not, in case of accident, be readily replaced. There are myriad stories around of professionals' horns getting lost in transit or being mislaid on airports, or being severely damaged by luggage staff (remember Dave Carroll of Sons of Maxwell fame whose valuable guitar was damaged by United Airlines staff, inspiring him to write an appropriate song...
   and several sequels...

@Tobylou8 said in A little humour:

A woman who is 3 months pregnant falls into a coma. 6 months later she awakes and asks the doctor about her baby.

Doctor: You had twins, a boy an a girl, and they are both fine. Luckily, your brother named them for you!

Woman: Oh no, not my brother, he's an idiot! What did he name the girl?

Doctor: Denise.

Woman: Well, that isn't so bad. What did he name the boy?

Doctor: Denephew!

Imagine it would have been quintuplets.. one Denise and four Denemanies...