Best posts made by Bob Pixley

I've owned 4 Ambassadors, 3 trumpets and one cornet. They are great student horns, but just so-so for higher level playing. I did play one (a 1950s trumpet) in a big band for a few years and it worked pretty well, so they probably do have a place in jazz, swing, and similar types of settings. Legit music, nope.

I use 4 different books: Arban's (everyone needs this), the Brandt orchestral etudes (exercises, but with some musicality), the Clarke technical studies (harder exercises than Arban's and some challenging solos in the back), and the Schlossberg daily drills (flexibility and range).

@Kujo20 said in Yuck:

$25 bucks!?!?

You got a sweet deal on that horn...even after the restoration costs you might have had!

I cleaned it, removed the remaining lacquer, and polished it myself, so the "restoration" cost as pictured was $0...lol.

I later had it professionally restored (valves were in great shape), played it a few years, and sold it at a nice profit after buying a like-new Conn 9A Victor. I still have the 9A, and will probably never sell it.

@BigDub said in Artist on BOARD:

@Bob-Pixley
The trick to photography is to pick good subject matter and click, am I right?

Lol...yeah, that's about it. Cheapest camera you can find will do the trick - just point and shoot.

Seriously, though, it's all about subject matter, framing, and lighting. Nothing as intensive as painting, though. Photography is art for those of us with a good eye and few traditional artistic skills.

@Kehaulani said in What Are You Doing New Years, New Years Eve:

Worked with a bi band, once, that was offered big bucks to play a New Year's Eve event and they turned it down because they wanted to spend it with their families. I was livid. Shows the differing approaches between free-lancers and guys with non-musical, full-time jobs.

Yeah, that sucks. I've never turned down a paying gig (just because I didn't want to do it) with a group where I was a regular member and my absence meant the group couldn't play the gig. I know some of the guys in those groups are full-time musicians and need the money, and I owe the group my loyalty if I'm a member and can't easily be replaced for a gig.

@adc said in Student trumpets:

@Bob-Pixley said in Student trumpets:

I've owned 4 Ambassadors, 3 trumpets and one cornet. They are great student horns, but just so-so for higher level playing. I did play one (a 1950s trumpet) in a big band for a few years and it worked pretty well, so they probably do have a place in jazz, swing, and similar types of settings. Legit music, nope.

I played several Ambassadors in the last few years. The King 602? was superior IMHO.

Did you ever play a Conn 36A Cornet?

No, but I've played a 12A and it was a terrific cornet. Not a student-level instrument, though.

Here's another "yuck" horn I bought cheap. Same treatment as the previous one. Removed a terrible multi-layer lacquer job and polished it. First pic is from the eBay ad - Conn 22B Victor, a diamond in the rough. I think I paid about $70 for it.

This is useful for certain trumpets and cornets...

I've owned a few Conn Director cornets (15A and 17A) and one Director 15B trumpet over the years, and the cornets played surprisingly well. Easy to play, with good intonation. The only drawback was they were too bright. The trumpet was just so-so. It was kind of lifeless. The Director cornets were better trumpets than the Director trumpet...lol.

I gave this one to one of my nephews when he was starting band in 6th grade. He played it all the way through 10th grade and then got a trumpet. The Conn was then passed down to his sister, who played it until a couple years ago when she got a trumpet. Nice little cornet.

I have a large bore Bach 184G cornet. It’s a very nice instrument with a great core to the sound. It’s kind of pretty, too...

@Comeback said in The new Martin Committee "thread" from a TM emigrant:

I tried to find current contract info for Sherry a short time ago and was unsuccessful. All I leaned was that her company seems to be no more. She sure did a nice job of restoring the engraving on my LeBlanc...

Yeah, she retired a few years ago. Luckily, I had her work her magic on one of my cornets back in the day. Such fine workmanship at such a reasonable price. You may recognize this one...

A common finish on old Conns was a "satin" effect, achieved by lightly sandblasting the major parts of the instrument and then silver plating it. They seem to play pretty well, but any later repairs or modifications to the instrument are hard to hide.

@mafields627 said in Frustrated:

In my experience message boards that are not heavily moderated are much like a toddler with no structure -- lots of shouting, name calling, and an altogether unpleasant atmosphere.

The absolute BEST message board I am a part of is tidefans.com and it is such because of the insiders that know what is going on with the program and the moderation that keeps it civil. If the moderation wasn't what it was the insiders would go and we would all lose out.

TBH, I wish that TH was actually more heavily moderated. A lot of great posters (pros and knowledgeable amateurs) have left because stuff was allowed to go too far.

@tmd said in Reasons to collect trumpets?:

...My current collection. I mostly use my Bach 43 Trumpet and Olds L-12 Flugel. And I occasionally use my Bach C, Getzen Field Trumpet, and CarolBrass Pocket Trumpet.

• Bach 1974 Stradivariuis lightweight 43 Bb Trumpet
• Bach 1980 Stradivariuis 239 CML Trumpet
• Bach 1965 Stradivarius 37 Bb Trumpet
• Bach 1947 Stradivariuis NY 67 Bb Cornet
• Olds 1957 Ambassador Bb Trumpet
• Olds 1957 Ambassador Bb Cornet
• Olds 1969 L-12 Flugelhorn
• Carol CPT-300LR Pocket Trumpet
• Getzen 1974 Eterna 896 Flugelhorn
• Getzen Eterna 940 Piccolo Trumpet
• Getzen M2003ES Bb/G Field Trumpet
• Besson BE1020 Cornet
• King H.N. White 1969 Eb/F Alto Horn

Mike

My regular trumpet is a 1976 Bach 43 ML. My C trumpet is a 1982 Bach 239 CML. My flugel is a 1970 Olds L-12. I also have a Bach Strad cornet, a Besson cornet, and a Kanstul field trumpet. Strange parallels...I guess great minds think alike...

The valve caps and finger buttons look like the ones used on old Bueschers.

This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. The broadcasters of your area in voluntary cooperation with the Federal, State and local authorities have developed this system to keep you informed in the event of an emergency. If this had been an actual emergency, the Attention Signal you just heard would have been followed by official information, news or instructions. This concludes this test of the Emergency Broadcast System.

A few years ago, I was asked to play in a newly-forming local Mariachi band. It was to be a band that played from printed music, not from memory, so I said ok. Sounded like fun and a way to make a few extra bucks.

I spent the next few weeks before our first rehearsal listening to Mariachi music and studying the vibrato, style, articulations, and tone of the trumpet players, and practiced emulating it. I picked my small-bore Conn 6B with a Bach 3C mouthpiece as the weapon of choice.

Well, the first rehearsal rolled around, and it appeared that about half the band had no idea what Mariachi music was supposed to sound like. It was pretty square, and didn't get much better in subsequent rehearsals. We played one gig, and then the leader of the band had health problems and that was the end of it. So much for my Mariachi career...lol

Circa 1870 Henry Lehnert SARV Bb cornet, made in Philadelphia, German silver, Allen rotary valves.