In this episode, taking care of a beautiful vintage New York Bach trombone bell. Follow along to see if we can get it back to original. Lots of slow going hand work. Thanks for watching.
This is some really good camera work. The combo of the light and the 'zoom' of the video make it possible to really see the lines as you push them back out and re-form the brass. The zoom in was REALLY enlightening. Good work to all.
Wes: I have a Bach 45B made in Mt. Vernon, 1959. It's a wonderful horn, still in pristine condition. The Mt. Vernon instruments are still the best ever American made trombones. My father bought the instrument for me in 1967 when I won the audition for "symphony band" in my high school. The original owner was a grad student at Michigan State who needed a double-trigger bass trombone and let this horn go for about $300. Worth ten times that or more today.
As a trombonist, just the sight of that horn makes me crazy with envy! To think that someone was going to throw that horn away? I'm so glad you could clean that horn up for them, and I sure hope they understand what they have. Thanks for sharing, Wes.
My horn story is that I got a mid-60’s Conn Director trombone in rough shape as my first horn in middle school in the early 90’s for about $50. When my son started band a few years ago we went pawn shopping and I found MY middle school horn with all my sheet music with my name all over it still in the case in a town a few hundred miles away…paid $50. It’s never going anywhere, now.
Mine was looking for an alto sax for travelling. Found in the local classifieds for $100. Little beat up, but played OK. After a lot of research, I found out that it was a 1949 beaugnier stencil. Put $200 into it to get some pads, regulating and getting the neck tenon sorted... never letting it go!
Friend of mine took his trumpet to an Al Hirt concert when he was in junior high. He had Mr. Hirt autograph the horn with an engraving tool. In high school the horn got stolen. 50 years later he's working in a music store, guy comes in with an old trumpet he got at a pawn shop and had all three of his sons play in school. It had Al Hirt's autograph on it, so my friend said 'the store can only give you $50, but I'll give you $150'.
I don't play these instruments, or fix them, but I know craftsmanship when I see it. I greatly enjoy seeing these dents and dings and twists and turns and highs and lows all put back exactly where they belong! Wonderful stuff. The mechanical equivalent of good music.
I love watching you work and showing us the magic behind getting beat-up brass instruments back in good as new shape. It's a shame the customer didn't want a refinish on that valuable horn. It cries out for new lacquer I fear for its future in the hands of a beginner. I shudder at the fact that he's probably going to march it when he gets to high school. Ahhhhhhhhh!!! I had the good fortune of having both a Bach 42 straight horn (like this one) and a 42 BO (F attachment, open wrap). They've gone on to new homes. I also have another horn model I believe you worked on about a year ago: Conn 24 1936. All silver except the gold wash inside the bell is gone. I still have it but don't play any longer. As you know, compared to the King 2B and 3B the 24 is just not too popular. Again I just can't bear the possibility that it might be marched which could happen since it's not too valuable any longer. The engraving on the bell is a thing of beauty. A pristine horn. Again, THANKS for sharing your craftsmanship with all of us. Very much appreciated!
Always nice to see those dents disappear like they were never there. I too have been waiting for the super clean Selmer Mk VI or Conn 10M tenor to fall into my lap for peanuts, but alas it has never happened. I guess some people are just luckier than me. This is a really nice instrument, great to see it restored to glory.
Subbed at a HS, kid was playing "just some old sax somebody donated to the band". It was a 1950's Lady Face Conn 10M. I told her to get out her phone and look up "Conn 10M". Next time I subbed there that horn was gleaming and she was beaming.
Missed you Wes. Just incredibly clever hands and another horn lives on. Always surprises me how beat up the cases get, must be neglect along with time.
Excellent video. Love the subject you are working on too. I have my father's 1948 Vincent Bach Trombone. I believe it's a 36 and in 1974 I had it along with my two Elkhart Bach horns completely refinished. I continued to play my horns while traveling on the road, until 1977. I'm afraid my father's horn has not been played since it was rebuilt. Still in the original case. I returned to playing the trombone in 2009 and have recorded a lot of music since then. Currently I'm recording and releasing new music with my band from the 1970's; The Gringos.
That's funny cause the same thing happened to me: a couple weeks ago I saved an early Elkhart Bach Strad 25 large bore to be thown in the trash by it's confused old guy owner. It needs serious work but oh god how beautiful it sounds!
True story -- I caught Lew Soloff in a small jazz club in Berlin, Germany, in about 1985 or so. Just him and a piano player. Intimate setting and I was so close I could see his written changes on a sheet of lined paper like you would have in high school. Lew played and during a short break I asked him if he was playing on a Mt. Vernon Bach trumpet, and he answered yes. I could tell he loved that horn because I could even hear the valves leaking, but he didn't seem to mind.
I recently replaced a couple of pads on my 1924 Conn C Melody sax-I used your tips to adjust the closure and set up the keys-Thanks!! Can you or any viewers give me advise on repairing the micro adjust mouthpiece tuner?
Found my son a vintage SuperOlds trombone - redbrass bell, chrome ring, folded slide - and he whined because it wasn't shine like the new Bundys. But at the end of the year at a solo & ensemble contest, the judge offered him $500 for the horn. Suddenly it was cool, even though it wasn't shiny.
My daughter wasn’t too excited about getting her uncle’s clunky old trumpet from the attic but much to our surprise it is a vintage Getzen Eterna and now she treats it like it’s made of glass 😊
I have my mother's 100 year old violin, the neck came off clean and there's something running around inside the body. Where would you recommend I get it repaired? I'm sure you know someone.
