I am a total believer in putting it on your face and not thinking about it - let it work where it’s naturally meant to work. If we were all the same, than the same formula for placement or equipment would work for everyone. I have seen people destroy themselves by overthinking and changing for no real reason other than to see if “maybe it works better over here”, or trying to get some textbook formula of placement. I have seen students struggle because teachers told them their teeth had to align perfectly before they could play, so the student spent several minutes trying to line up teeth and embouchure every time they tried to play, and all sorts of other foolishness. Unless your embouchure is truly messed up and weird, it’s better not to mess with it, especially over the internet where no one can really see what you’re doing. A couple of lessons to make sure you’re not damaging yourself with a good teacher would be the way to go.

Here’s one I took for work - that’s our mascot, Primo! Head tech made him out of old mutes and woodwind mouthpieces and caps. I’ve started taking yearly holiday photos of him

Range building should be a long term goal, not a short term goal. Musical Directors can hope all they want, but you can only build what you can build, and we’re all different. Don’t hurt yourself to force out some unreliable pitches that aren’t part of your regular daily ability. Build what you can and find a musical way around the rest - your audience will thank you, and so will your chops!

I figured I would add to this discussion by posting a link to my shop’s page - I do fairly regular blog posts there, usually about the more interesting horns that cross my bench. I’ve had a few that belong in this category because even though they might be in perfect shape, they don’t function properly in a modern playing situation. This one is a prime example - perfect and beautiful but not a good player, probably why they didn’t make it for long! It sold easily to a collector, though.
https://www.brassandwinds.com/blogs/news/1921-conn-20a-flugelhorn

Funny how no one is shaming fat old men in speedos.......
Really, though - what’s the problem with old ladies with tattoos? I intend to be one eventually, and feel zero shame about it.

I thought you all might enjoy my latest bench post - I do certainly get to work on some fun stuff!
https://www.brassandwinds.com/blogs/news/what-s-on-my-bench-a-1904-conn-connquerer-cornet

It’s fine to say “buy the best”, but then we have many other arguments on what is the best and why. When you get into professional trumpets, you don’t necessarily get into better quality for every dollar spent. You do get to the point of buying one instrument over another because it suits you better. A prime argument is that I could spend $1k more for a Bach or Yamaha than I did for my Adams A1, but they don’t suit me as well. Then we get into the vintage horn argument - is it really a bang for your buck if it’s a pro model and costs you less, but is worn to the point of being unplayable. There is a Connstellation on my bench that I would never think of gigging on, but I could grab any one of those Jupiter 1100s and have a successful gig tomorrow. In 5 years my chances would still be better on that Jupiter than on some of the worn out Bach Strads we’ve had that badly need a valve job, though the Jupiter may not have the same resale value as either of those horns. Are we looking for resale value or playability? Good questions to consider!
I also agree with comments about Manchester Brass and Carolbrass - nice players at their price point.

Finally found that on iPad, if I resize to square the pics will upload!! 1939 King Silver Tone Master cornet, silver finish with gold accents. Love how this one plays!! All it needed was a clean, and even came with original case and case candy.

I find most of the synthetics to leave a lot of residue over time, especially with horns that don’t get cleaned. If you don’t like to clean regularly, Hetman is not for you. It will degrade into a sticky yellow residue that is not fun to clean up! Yamaha synthetic likes to become a green cement in horns that sit too long, even new ones. It works great until you let it sit a few months, and then is best cleaned out in a chem clean. I like the Berp products because they stay very clean, tend not to react with other oils, and I have not had a horn freeze up in storage in over 10yrs. There’s nothing wrong with using synthetics, but for any you use, clean regularly, and be sure to clean out all old oil before switching brands - this includes brand new horns! Many synthetics will react badly when mixed with other synthetics or petroleum products - I have had customers return instruments only to find out they mixed two brands of valve oil and there are beads of goo in all the pistons - really annoying, especially when the customer has caused damage I have to fix when they cannot get the pistons out! This happened recently with a brand new Yamaha. Customer had applied Ultra Pure without cleaning out the Yamaha, let the horn sit for two days, and then freaked out when the pistons were frozen. Swore up and down they “did nothing to it - it works on all my other new Yamahas!” Got it back withbadly scratched pistons from being forced out improperly, and big balls of goo where the oils had reacted. Brand new horn that had to be repaired and sold as used because someone couldn’t be bothered to clean out the old oil.

My husband likes being married to another musician, and so do I. No one asking “Why do you practice all the time? Why aren’t you spending time with me?”. We both got sick of that in previous relationships! The only time in our marriage we’ve ever argued is when we have to share a practice space, so we’ve made sure the rest of our houses have had enough room for us each to have our own practice rooms. We’re coming up on 22yrs, so I guess it’s worked pretty well!

@trumpetlearner take a look inside the slides. If you see green, that’s calcification that needs to be removed. There is nothing wrong with doing proper maintenance yourself - a regular home clean can extend the time you need between pro cleanings and extend the life of your horn. A professional clean is great in addition, especially if your horn is older or if you tend to have very acidic skin, and also if you play a lot. One never replaces the other - they work together to give you horn a longer life, and a better playing experience for you. Generally, horns will need a pro clean every 1-3yrs depending on your playing and cleaning habits.

@trumpetlearner >

I will look around for a local specialist, but it's difficult to know whom to trust with something old/rare - plus most places are closed here at the moment. I've been wondering about that 'professional cleaning'. What is it they do that is so different from a good soaking in soapy warm water, and cleaning out with brushes?

@j-jericho said in King Silver Flair - Buying Advice:

@trumpetlearner There's a seller on eBay who sells kits that include felts, corks, and springs. In the notes, it says that if you're not sure if they'll fit your horn, just contact them.

The difference with a professional cleaning is that we use chemicals after that soap and water bath that help break down calcification that soap and water can’t, followed up by a flushing system to remove all that junk completely. You really don’t want to know what I see flush out of old horns at the end - it’s super nasty! I work on lots of vintage and new horns, and as far as cleaning goes it’s all the same with one exception - don’t clean vintage with ultrasonics. Any possible spots of red rot can open up pinholes in a UC clean, so if I have any suspicions of red rot I do a chemical soak instead.
As far as cork/felt kits go, no need to buy and install yourself if you take it for a clean, as that is generally included in the cost of the cleaning. Also, I don’t know if they are selling stuff that truly fits or not, and you could end up paying as much or more as from the local shops that really need your support right now. If you don’t know reputable places in your area, check with local musicians, college and/or high school band directors. Always good to start a good relationship with your local techs, and they will go above and beyond to help you when you need them!

@trumpetlearner Proper measurement is needed for felts and water key corks, so better to leave that to your local tech. Especially during these times, I recommend a professional clean on any used horn before you play it - you don’t know where it’s been or what has been living in it!

I played a distanced outdoor service, both solo and with a piano for a few hymns. Wrote my own piccolo obligato for Christ the Lord is Risen Today - went very well! My first gig in a year, so it was super fun to play for people again. My boss and I have also started a reading brass quintet - maybe if we’re lucky we’ll actually get to perform at some point! I’m clearly the one in the group that has stayed on a regular practice schedule through the pandemic, but they are all good musicians and I’m sure they will bounce back pretty quickly now that they have some incentive. We all had so much fun at our reading session last week! Maybe we should call ourselves the Vaccinated Brass....

@administrator Most times, yes! I do find that that the intermediate are far better than the student models in most cases, such as Jupiter 1100 series and the Antigua we recently got in stock which are also made in Taiwan. They are definitely far superior to the Conn-Selmer student models that I have gone through in the past few years. I was quite impressed with Carolbrass’s student cornet they released at NAMM 2020.

My Puje has a Carol valve block and plays very well. It’s also rare that I see a problem with a Jupiter valve block, unless the oil on it is too thick. The tolerances on new Jupiter are pretty tight. I actually keep a Jupiter intermediate under my bench for practice when I don’t bring a horn to work - it’s no replacement for my Adams, but it does play very well! Jupiter 1100 series are more of a stripped down pro model than a dressed-up student, and do quite well as a lower priced model.

This one doesn’t play badly, but pistons are so worn it doesn’t play great, either. I suspect it might be a nice player with a valve job. The lease agreement is what makes it special!

I thought you all might enjoy my latest bench post - I do certainly get to work on some fun stuff!
https://www.brassandwinds.com/blogs/news/what-s-on-my-bench-a-1904-conn-connquerer-cornet

Here you go! Boss didn’t buy that Connstellation, but we do have this!
https://www.brassandwinds.com/blogs/news/what-s-on-my-bench-a-1956-martin-committee-deluxe

@shifty Could be - boss buys a lot of stuff! My next bench post is a special one, better than a Connstellation! Should be up tomorrow or Monday