Posts made by J. Jericho

@barliman2001 The swastika was also used by many civilizations millennia prior to its infamous use by the Nazis. https://symbolsage.com/swastika-symbol-meaning/

FWIW - The plating appears to have worn off the valve block, possibly the result of having a valve guard on it long enough to cause damage, and it often doesn't take long for a valve guard to ruin the finish underneath it to some degree. Some people don't mind the wear; others would want to deal with the situation. If left alone, oxidation will continue, although eventually patina will develop to slow this process. It's likely you'd have to deal with the smell of brass on your hands, and there's also the likelihood that there is a small amount of lead in the brass that can contaminate your skin. The more expensive the solution to the corrosion, the more effective the result. Replating would be ideal, but not cost-effective. Compromises include lacquering or waxing the area.

Overall, if this trumpet has good valves and it plays well, the price looks pretty fair. At this price, I wouldn't let the appearance prevent me from buying it. I'd try to negotiate for a lower price, though, just to see if it would be possible to pay less.

@barliman2001 Other than the color, the Thomann looks exactly like a Dillon. I think it's from the same Chinese manufacturer. When I travel, my Dillon case fits inside my carry-on luggage, along with a small practice mute, my laptop, and miscellaneous other things. The combination is not light, thanks to the laptop, but it is compact.

The only thing smaller than a pocket trumpet is a hose trumpet, but intonation suffers, you have no valves to practice with, and no matter how much the hose is cleaned, mold seems to love the environment inside.

Which is more important to you - a useful horn you can enjoy, or a possible decline of a fraction of the value of the horn sometime in the future?

@ssmith1226 I use Titebond Original now; it's much easier to use than hot glue, which I haven't used for a long time. They didn't name it Titebond for nothing, and it's also very easy to clean up excess with a wet paper towel. I use blue masking tape to keep the corks in position until the glue dries.

@furcifer

I've always made it a point to make sure any instrument I've sold was cleaned, polished, lubricated, and problem-free. A buyer can't complain about dents that never occurred or dents that have been properly removed. CYA is a good thing, and sometimes it comes at the expense of not making as much of a profit as one would like. Sometimes you break even, or you may take a loss, but you always end up with more money than you would be able to use if you kept the horn.

Relisting an item on eBay can result in a different set of bidders, and you may have the good fortune to sell this trumpet for more than $300 the next time around. Of course you might have bidders that question why you're relisting, or you might hit a lack of enthusiastic bidders. A reasonable reserve should protect you. Also, a BIN listing exposes merchandise to potential buyers for a much longer period of time, so that may be the way to go instead, and you can always reduce the price incrementally until a watcher decides to buy..

Unfortunately, shipping costs can prevent a reasonable sale in the first place, and lest we forget, eBay takes their cut of the total amount of the sale, including shipping.

I hope everything works out for you.

@lake-serperior Welcome to TrumpetBoards.com!

Depending upon your abilities, goals, and budget, a generic answer would be to check out Bach Stradivarius Model 37 and Yamaha YTR-6335. These are versatile, quality trumpets that will accompany you on your musical journey indefinitely.

The ones you mentioned are probably playable upgrades from your present horn, and there are a number of vintage horns that could meet your needs as well or better. Good valves are a must; otherwise you'll have to spend $450 - $600 to have them redone. Be aware that almost any used horn will need a bit of relatively inexpensive repairs, so it would be wise to budget accordingly.

We're always here to answer any questions you may have.

Here's Claude Creach's painting:

in.pinterest.com

It looks very much like this one by Debra Hurd.

debrahurd.blogspot.com

@contemporacorner said in Hello! Welcome to TB, who are you?:

@j-jericho said in Hello! Welcome to TB, who are you?:

I wish there would be a way to enlarge the images and text, though.

Send me an email at admin@contemporacorner.com with a link to a page with text and image(s) that you want larger and I'll see what I can do. Thanks!

Done.

@contemporacorner said in Hello! Welcome to TB, who are you?:

@administrator My name is ElShaddai Edwards and I run the Contempora Corner website about the old F.A. Reynolds company and instruments. Mostly lurking as I'm a trombone player, but will try to pop in for Reynolds-related posts.

You have an attractive, well-researched, nicely organized website! I wish there would be a way to enlarge the images and text, though.

To the best of my knowledge, this trumpet is a Blessing stencil that was produced by NEMC in the 1990's. It's considered an affordable, playable horn that is Olds in name only. They can be purchased for as little as $100, sometimes going for $150 or more.

@mike-ansberry It would explain the use of copper plating the valves to mitigate any galling concerns. The reasoning could be that there wouild be little wear on the casings, and the valves could be inexpensively replated as necessary.

@ssmith1226 Everything looks to scale to me.

@mike-ansberry said in Valve re-fit, original or modern?:

If it has nickel casings and you nickel plate the valves, will that cause problems with the similar metals galling?

Good question! Now that you mention it, copper could be the best answer if the kinds of stress that cause galling are involved. Proper lubrication should go a long way toward minimizing wear, regardless of choice of plating.

Copper's nice, unusual, and authentic, but there's an obvious reason why no one uses copper plate on valves today. Personally, I tolerate nickel plate, but I prefer Monel. I'll waive the usual $.02 fee for my comment this time.

Here's a good discography: https://www.discogs.com/artist/254955-Alan-Rubin?limit=500&page=1

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/mr-fabulous-in-every-way-an-alan-rubin-retrospective

@georgeb Speaking of Uan Rasey: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0711107/ . Two of his that come readily to my memory are "Love Theme" from Chinatown and "Gotta Dance" from Singin' in the Rain.