Posts made by Dale Proctor

A nice photo I took last summer.

@SSmith1226

Sounds great! I’m sure it was fun to play a gig like that, and I’m happy to hear you’re recovering well.

The Mercedes plays well with others! I played it in a 1 hour church orchestra rehearsal tonight, and was pretty pleased with it. The sound doesn’t have quite as much body as my Stradivarius does, but it played very well in tune and had a slightly easier upper register than my Strad. Reading some older reviews of the later Elkhart Mercedes had me worried about the possibility of a horn that wouldn’t play in tune, but this one is a good one.

The perfectly shaped taco chip.

The Bach Mercedes arrived today. I measured the bore, and it’s the .456” size, which Bach called an MP (medium plus) bore. It’s in pretty decent shape, valves are great, slides are all free, and it and seems to play well. It feels noticeably lighter than my Stradivarius. I’ll take it to a rehearsal next week to see if it plays well with others…

@administrator said in 1970s Bach Mercedes trumpet:

Was it a good deal?

I think it was…$175.

I just won a 1976 or 1977 (if the serial numbers are in the same sequence as the Strads) Bach Mercedes trumpet on eBay. First horn I’ve bought in years, but I couldn’t pass it up. It was listed as a Mercedes II, but it isn’t, and my winning bid was pretty low. Looks to be mostly Stradivarius parts, but has a 2-piece bell (which most sources say is a 38 taper), no nickel trim, no tuning slide brace, and no 3rd valve stop and dump slide. The 3rd valve slide has a water key and an adjustable finger ring. It looks to have some red rot on the leadpipe, but if I keep it and it needs repair in the future, that’s not too serious to have repaired.

I haven’t received it yet, so I don’t know how it will play, but I’m hoping it’s good enough to use as a substitute for my Stradivarius in “high traffic” situations.

I would not appreciate anyone recording me when I practice. I usually work on exercises and pieces I can’t play (or can’t play very well). That’s a big part of the path to improvement, and is not meant for public consumption. As for the warts recorded in a public performance, one of the guys in our band would say “That’s the beauty of live music.” Many audiences just appreciate the music, and a glitch here or there just shows we are all human. There are also the folks who revel in picking out mistakes, and even if the performance was 99.9% perfect, they focus on that one wrong or out of tune note, sloppy articulation, etc. Unfortunately, I used to be my own worst critic, but now I’m happy if most of what I play is good, and I have a short memory for the occasional wart. My response to critics is, if you can do better, come on up on stage and show me…

My junior high band director told me I’d never be any good as a trumpet player, and after fighting the instrument for about 58 years, I’m beginning to think he was right…

Happy Easter! I played a Good Friday service, a 3-hour rehearsal on Wednesday night, a Tenebrae service, and an Easter service. Around 10 orchestral pieces, about half of them with the choir, and uncounted hymns (luckily not playing on every verse). I’m worn out, and am taking a few days off without touching a mouthpiece to my lips.

Our orchestra played through Handel’s 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain’ two times in a rehearsal Easter morning before the church service, and the third time, it was the last piece we played in the service. I played 1st part on my Bb trumpet. Brutal…

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I played the 1st Cornet part on Schuman’s ‘When Jesus Wept' at the Tenebrae service on Friday night. I rarely get to play cornet in our church orchestra, so it was a treat!!

H. N. White (the maker of King musical instruments) bought the Cleveland Musical Instrument Company in 1925. Cleveland’s line of instruments were named “American Standard”, and had a good reputation for being quality instruments for the price. H. N. White bought the company to provide a line (Cleveland) of less expensive instruments to go with his King line.

@rleegabe said in Conn 22B Trumpet ?:

Looking at buying a Conn 22B Trumpet but having trouble telling what model it is. It reads 22B the serial number is 5 542159 can't tell if it's a Victor, New York Symphony, or other. Assuming there is a 5 and a long space to the rest of the serial number it's a later year. But would really like to know what model it is. Would anyone have that information?

The serial # isn’t a vintage Conn number. If the bell to leadpipe braces are slanted, it’s a recent student model Director, not a “real” Conn 22B. Also look for USA stamped near the bottom of the 2nd valve case - if it’s there, it’s a 22B Director, not a Victor or New York Symphony.

@rleegabe said in Conn Continental Clarion Silver Trumpet:

Yes it did, I was outbid and lost it, really had my heart set on this one.

Sorry you missed out on it. Keep your eyes open and something similar (or better) will come along.

Does it actually say Conn anywhere on it? I had a trumpet that looked almost exactly like that one, and it said Crusader on the bell. A lot of the features appear to be Conn-like, but it wasn’t a Conn and didn’t play well at all.

@Dr-GO said in Same high quality as Recording models:

@Dale-Proctor said in Same high quality as Recording models:

Yep, like I said, you can find a few pros in the past playing jazz on an Ambassador and they work pretty well in that genre. I played lead in a big band for a while on an L.A. Ambassador, and it was ok, but it sure wasn’t suited for “legit” music.

Dale, I agree with you entirely. I have never played my Ambassador for "legit" music as it just cannot live up to the quality of sound you get from more seasoned horns. I just love that the Ambassador when high quality musicians play it can show off it's jazz sound potential.

If I remember correctly, you have a really nice one! I eventually stripped all the spotty lacquer off my ‘52 model, had Amado water keys put on it, and removed the forward bell brace and lyre/finger ring holder. I played it most of the time with a Schilke 13A4a with a throat drilled to a 25.

@Dr-GO said in Same high quality as Recording models:

@Dale-Proctor said in Same high quality as Recording models:

An Ambassador isn’t a Recording. They share some basic parts, but Ambassadors are built to a price point and are well-built low tier instruments that play ok. I’ve owned 3 (two trumpets and one cornet) and that’s my assessment. They are not instruments that players would want to use in any professional-level genre of music, with the possible exception of jazz/ragtime.

Lee Morgan played this cut on an Ambassador. This is my favorite jazz song ever. I was mystified when I found out this was am Ambassador.

Yep, like I said, you can find a few pros in the past playing jazz on an Ambassador and they work pretty well in that genre. I played lead in a big band for a while on an L.A. Ambassador, and it was ok, but it sure wasn’t suited for “legit” music.

I should note that the cornet I had was a ‘49, the trumpet I played in big band was a ‘52, and the other Ambassador trumpet was from the late 1960s. Other than the lacquer, they all were in very good condition.

An Ambassador isn’t a Recording. They share some basic parts, but Ambassadors are built to a price point and are well-built low tier instruments that play ok. I’ve owned 3 (two trumpets and one cornet) and that’s my assessment. They are not instruments that players would want to use in any professional-level genre of music, with the possible exception of jazz/ragtime.

I have two right now - an Ed/D Ambassador trumpet and an L-12 flugelhorn. I’ve owned two Ambassador Bb trumpets and one Ambassador cornet in the past, and none of them really impressed me. The only reason I kept the Eb/D Ambassador and the L-12 flugelhorn is that although I rarely have the need for either, it’s nice to have them available when the opportunity arises that I do need one. I don’t have much money tied up in either one, so I’m happy to let them sit in the closet most of the time.

@flugelgirl

I came down with something the 2nd day after my marathon gig was over, and am still not well. I suppose I caught it being around all those people for 5 days in a row. Luckily, I don’t have anything to play for till after New Year’s Day. Hope you have a fast recovery!