Posts made by Dale Proctor

@Mike-Ansberry said in First Horns:

The first horn I learned to play on was a Conn 14A. It was a rental that my parents got for me when I started band the summer before 4th grade. (1964) It was a nice horn. I had it for 2 months and then my parents bought me a used trumpet. I had my choice of a Roth that looked old and worn and a shiny used American Standard. I chose the shiny one. Yes they do make toilets and apparently in the same factory by the same artisans. It had no center of pitch whatsoever. Consequently it was years later that I learned what center of pitch meant.

Yeah, the American Standard brand was owned by the H.N. White company, and was sold as a low-end student model. About the same quality as the Cleveland cornet I started out on, also made by H.N. White.

Sonny Dalton metal sculpture, given to me for Christmas many years ago by my sister-in-law. The smokestack is a Bach Strad 43L bell...

@Kehaulani
I can't say. Although I've played a Connstellation some in the past (my brother has one), i havent had an opportunity to play the two side by side.

@Kehaulani
A couple slide stops, different bell engraving, and more nickel plating are the obvious differences. I’ve heard that some Connstellations had nickel-plated Coprion bells, but I don’t know for sure.

@tmd said in First Horns:

My first horn was a 1970-ish Olds Ambassador Trumpet. It was a standard school rental, which I got during a summer music program, the summer before starting the 4th grade. In high school, I purchased a lightweight 43 Bach Strad, which is the still my main horn today.

I no longer have my first horn. For sentimental reasons, I purchased a 1957 Olds Ambassador Trumpet, which Kanstul restored back in 2012. And although I wasn't looking for one, I ran across a 1957 Olds Ambassador Cornet in close-to-like-new condition, which I purchased a few years back.

Mike

My first trumpet (I posted my first horn, a cornet, earlier) was a 1960 Conn 6B Victor, which I played through my last couple years of high school and sporadically through college. I quit playing for 6 or 7 years after that, but when I picked up playing again, I bought a used Bach Strad (which I still have). Being stupid, and a little financially challenged, I sold the Conn. Years later, I regretted selling it and looked for another one. I eventually found a REALLY nice one on eBay and bought it. Same year, same tweed-covered trapezoidal case with the light blue interior. Just like my old one, but in better condition. I still play the Bach most of the time, but when I need more projection and a bit more ease playing up high, I pull out the 6B and let it sing.

I took a few glamour shots of my 1890 F. Besson London Nouveau Etoile model A/Bb/C cornet today. It’s a neat old instrument, and plays surprisingly well to be 130 years old. It’s listed on the Galpin Society of 19th century Besson instruments known to exist. The surviving company books list this one as shipped to Carl Fischer, New York, in December 1890.

Here’s another one I recently sold. It went to a friend of mine who doesn’t play, but collects various musical instruments. 1969 Conn 76A Connquest cornet, same basic wrap as an Olds Recording cornet. I advertised it here and numerous other sites for months and finally sold it cheap. ️

Here’s one I used to own, a 1954 Conn 80A Victor cornet. I bought it mainly because it was an inexpensive (needed a few repairs) way to try one out. Nice instrument, sort of halfway between a cornet and trumpet, but I found I really didn’t have much of a use for it and eventually sold it. It’s pretty easy to achieve the same sound with a cornet or two that I already have just by using a C cup mouthpiece on them.

@Kehaulani said in What happened to Jazz programming?:

I just moved, changing my cable T.V. provider in the process. It has a bazillion music listening stations. Even FIVE country-type channels. But, dig, it has a "Classic Jazz" channel, which plays mainly music of the 50s and 60s and a "Soft Jazz" channel. That's it. There was no Jazz played and recorded between the 60s and now? What's that all about?

Well, there’s been plenty of jazz recorded since the 60s for sure. Problem is, a lot of it isn’t worth listening to...lol

@flugelgirl said in First Horns:

I started on a Cleveland cornet exactly like that! It plays like a sewer pipe, and is currently in my home shop waiting to become a lamp. I kept it all these years just so some other poor kid wouldn’t get stuck with it! My replacement for it was a 1960 Benge 3X that my first private teacher sold us for less than it was worth because he didn’t want me to play that cornet any more. I don’t own that horn anymore, but played it from 7th grade through most of college! Wish I still had it - he had bought it from Bobby Shew when they were playing together in Las Vegas.

Lol..that’s exactly how I’ve described it in the past. When my nephew (and godson) was going to begin band in middle school, my brother was going to let him use the Cleveland cornet. I told him not to, that I would give him a better one I already owned. It was a really nice, good-playing Conn Director cornet, still a student instrument, but a much better one. He had already started band when I gave it to him, and he played it a bit and said “I like this one a lot better”. Even a beginner could tell the difference...

My first horn was new King Cleveland cornet, around 1962. At the time I didn’t know any better, but it was a stuffy, hard to play instrument that was sold with a too-small mouthpiece. I’m fortunate that it didn’t discourage me from continuing to play. I was stuck with it for four years, and then got a used Conn 6B Victor trumpet, handing the cornet down to my younger brother. He did the same, and my youngest brother ended up with it. He still has it, so I’ve been able to play it again in recent years. What a terrible instrument!

For reference, here’s a pic of one exactly like it, same case too.

1960 6B Victor, original lacquer. Great instrument, just like the one I had in high school. Basically a Connstellation without the trigger and nickel plated bell.

I like the green Schlossberg book for flexibility studies.

@Kehaulani
That’s pretty tempting, but I’ll pass for now...lol

Okay, time for all you Conn fans to show and tell about the great Conn trumpets, cornets, and/or flugelhorns you own, used to own, or played.

I’ll get it started with my favorite one, a 1962 Conn 9A Victor cornet. Pretty to look at, plays beautifully. Coprion bell and leadpipe, huge .484” bore. They were made only a couple years, so they are pretty rare, especially in this condition.

@Shifty said in Getzen Club:

My 1959 Connstellation 28A was built before they started adding slide stops, and I wished it had a Getzen style stop. Others talk about using a string, which is decidedly NOT elegant. I use two zip ties -- one on the third slide and one on the tube exiting the main tuning slide, with heads positioned to interfere. Just rotate one to remove the slide. Call it semi-elegant

I have a 1960 Conn 6B Victor, and I secure the 3rd valve slide with a black elastic pony tail holder looped around the brace between the lower tuning slide and 3rd valve receivers, with both ends slipped over the finger ring screw. It holds the slide in, but has enough stretch to easily move the slide for intonation help. It has the added bonus of helping return the slide...lol

@Curlydoc said in What is this Conn? Should I purchase?:

Does the extra tuning slide lower the pitch, an by how much?

On the 22B, the tuning slide with the rotary valve places the horn in the key of A when the valve is turned one way, and in Bb when turned the other way.

I’m a moderator on another site (nothing to do with trumpets) and we generally let silliness go, but name-calling and vulgar posts are deleted. Very much of that from the same person results in permanent removal. Same goes for people who want to do nothing but argue and are childish and arrogant.

I became involved in one of the recent disagreements here and was berated repeatedly even after trying to keep the discussion friendly. People who know it all and have a chip on their shoulder can be hard to deal with. Hey, I know that I don’t know it all, but I know what I know...

As for the instruments I own, “the one” is my 1962 Conn 9A Victor cornet. I looked for a nice one of these for years and finally found one. Beautiful sound, easy upper register, a powerful instrument. Huge .484” bore, Coprion bell and leadpipe, was made only a couple years.

@GeorgeB said in What is this Conn? Should I purchase?:

@Dale-Proctor

Whatever model it is, to me it looks like a WW1 relic...

Here’s the nice one I recently sold. A 1929 model, sold it locally for $350. The buyer said he planned on offering me less, but after seeing It and playing it, he paid me the full price.