Posts made by flugelgirl

Looks like they were trying to copy the Getzen Renaissance and Edwards modular in the same model. I wouldn’t have high hopes for it, but once in a while you get one that’s put together ok.

When shopping used horns you really do have to weigh in a lot of factors with the cost, especially if it’s an older one. Repair costs can be significant, especially if new parts or a valve job is needed to make it play properly. Even when buying locally and the horn is in decent shape overall, there are many times it’s not reasonable to play before buying, so there is risk involved. I do quite a bit of estate sale buying, both for my personal collection and to flip, now that I have the ability to do my own repair. I still try to bargain sales price down to include repair costs, even though I do the work myself. I absolutely refuse to play test these horns until I’ve cleaned them, and most when I get them are not playable in their current state, so I really don’t know if I’ll like them or not. I do, however, get to have them in my hands and see their condition before I buy, and negotiate accordingly. Today, for instance, I bought an LA Benge at an estate sale. It’s filthy, stuck, and tarnished, but pistons have little wear, and body is straight with no previous damage. With an afternoon of work someone will love it, even if I don’t. I negotiated them down on the price because of the work needed, and walked away with a horn I can sell for 3X what I paid. The point is, you either have to know what you’re getting, or be prepared to either tie up the cash in a flip or a loss. To best get your money back, a horn with all its original parts and not in a trashed state is your best bet.

Bob Findley uses this at the beginning of his method - he was a Caruso student as well. We focused quite a bit on it in yearly master classes I had with him at the music camp I went to growing up. A lot of the same principles apply with other methods, such as Claude Gordon.

@GeorgeB You can always order the sample pack that comes with all three formulas to figure out which one works best. What I have found is that #1 works well for horns with good compression and tight tolerances, #2 for those with moderate compression, and 3 for significantly worn pistons. I use #1 on all my brand new horns with great results.

Sadly, live music in my area is still on hold. The last gig I still had scheduled for 2020 just got postponed, to be rescheduled for next year. NAMM 2021 has been cancelled, though some of the workshops will still happen online. Hopefully once live events are safe again audience will still be ready to come to them! I fear that one of my regular gigs may go away for good - a local Senior Center with a large dance hall that had all ages ballroom dancing, which is pretty popular here. One of the regular dancers died of COVID-19 shortly after the last dance I played there. Hopefully there will be a vaccine, and people will actually get it when it’s available! It really makes me angry how many people without any scientific knowledge or training are deciding that they know better. I wear a mask for others, because I touch gross things on a daily basis. I practice good hygiene for me, because I don’t want to get sick with the regular flu, let alone this! I also practice good hygiene for my husband, who is immune compromised.

Well, all of the current Bach 184s we get in stock are built for long shank, come with a long shank, and will not accept a short shank. It always annoys the crap out of me when we get Bach and Yamaha shipments in at the same time, because I have to have a ridiculous kit of mpcs on me to play test. All of the Bach 184s that I have worked on up to this point have taken a long shank. Can’t remember what the Mt Vernons I worked on took, but everything that’s crossed my path 70s to present has been long shank.

Bach cornets are built for long shank

@Dale-Proctor said in Spit Building up in MP:

@flugelgirl said in Spit Building up in MP:

Generally, short or long shank will change intonation on a horn, depending on which shank it was built for. While it’s possible to use a long shank on some horns meant for a short, it’s not optimal. Horns built for a long shank will not accept a short. In general, most cornets built before 1950 take a short shank, with a few exceptions. Not sure about the condensation in yours, but if they accept a short shank, they probably should be using one. As far as car products on horns, it may not be wise to be breathing that in.... I know I wouldn’t! I would worry less about what it’s doing to the horn than what it might be doing to you.

I think the discussion is centered around modern short-shank mouthpieces like those made by Denis Wick and others (mainly for brass band use), which work just fine in modern cornets.

I dunno about that - he plays some old ones, if I remember right, and has a King Master similar in age to mine. It takes a short shank to play it’s best. Lots of modern short shanks play great on those older cornets - finished up a Selmer Bundy (from the days before Bundy was a student model), and it plays fabulously with a modern Dennis wick.

@Dr-GO my triple even came with a laptop sleeve, though I’ve never used it! I regularly keep trumpet/flugel/stand packed up in it, but sometimes use the third spot for picc, cornet or whatever extra horn I need that day.

Generally, short or long shank will change intonation on a horn, depending on which shank it was built for. While it’s possible to use a long shank on some horns meant for a short, it’s not optimal. Horns built for a long shank will not accept a short. In general, most cornets built before 1950 take a short shank, with a few exceptions. Not sure about the condensation in yours, but if they accept a short shank, they probably should be using one. As far as car products on horns, it may not be wise to be breathing that in.... I know I wouldn’t! I would worry less about what it’s doing to the horn than what it might be doing to you.

I love my Torpedo cases - I have several singles plus a triple I use for my flugel. I find the pockets on them can hold plenty of extras, but I use a separate bag for mutes. My mutes are expensive, and I don’t like to pack them so tightly together, as is needed for the supplied mute bag. The cases aren’t cheap, but they are very protective and hold up very well. My oldest one is 11yrs old and shows very little wear, though it has traveled extensively!

We’re all different. I sound the same on a 1.5 as on a 3, but have to work a whole lot harder for it. That makes it an easy choice for me. Also, you have to consider the job that you’re doing - playing in a commercial setting has different needs than an orchestral setting. Different equipment for different jobs, and different faces! This is one of the many reasons I did not want to live in the orchestral world where people are so focused on one specific horn/mouthpiece combination for no real reason other than “insert famous player here” used it. When I was growing up, there were several choices of teachers I could have studied with - the orchestral teacher would not accept you in his studio unless you bought a large bore Bach and a 1C mouthpiece. The jazz and commercial teachers didn’t care what equipment you showed up with as long as it worked and you sounded good on it. That made the choice easy for me as a kid since I couldn’t afford new equipment! It ended up being a great choice since I excelled in the genre and loved the music.
For all the amateurs out there, play what is most comfortable for you and work with it. Strive for your best possible sound, and don’t worry about it too much. Tailor your equipment around the job that YOU are doing, and it will take you farther than playing what works for someone else’s job.

Never clean silver with bleach - it will eat the plating! Saw another tech’s photo of a bucket of brass mouthpieces that a school band director thought they would clean with bleach - they ended up looking like they’d spent years at the bottom of the ocean....it was bad. No way to fix that aside from replating - cheaper just to replace.

@Kehaulani Though I have not found it to react adversely, I ALWAYS recommend cleaning out old products before applying a new brand.

BTW, Berp doesn’t pay me or give me free stuff - it’s just worked so well for me that I use it for everything that crosses my bench. My work is looking at becoming a dealer soon, so you will see it on our website soon if you shop with us.

@Kehaulani Berp is great for lazy maintenance, and for horns that spend time in storage. I find less residue in my own horns before cleaning, and though I clean more than most people do, my cleanings on my personal horns are not getting the strictly scheduled maintenance they did before I became a tech. Sometimes after a day of cleaning horns from grandma’s attic, I’d rather spend my time playing than cleaning my own.
As far as which formula, it depends on the age and condition of the horn. #1 works great on newer horns, #2 on those with minor wear, and #3 with heavy wear. #8 heavy rotor is great for 1st and 3rd slides. For synthetics users, a heavy rotor oil works great to keep 1st/3rd slides moving as well.

@tmd No idea, maybe. Just what I’ve observed from horns I’ve worked on, from brand new to very used.

@Seth-of-Lagos Some of this might be poor hygiene, but like I said, I’ve seen it in brand new instruments as well. As I also said, there’s nothing wrong with using synthetics, but they do work better when horns are kept clean and do not sit for months at a time.

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.

I just got my new Adams custom A1 genII recently - been having some super fun practice sessions getting to know this one!