Adam Smith

Recently, the idea of a cornet instead of pocket trumpet was brought up so I started looking around on ebay. There are a number of relatively cheap older cornets. I know nothing about cornets and was wondering what types of older cornets are usually good. I have been looking at an olds ambassador, a few kings, and a Roth Reynolds. If I am going to buy a cornet, I would probably like to go ahead and get one good enough to use in a band if I needed to, but still not spend much.

screamingmorris

I think the general consensus is an Olds Ambassador from the 1950's or 1960's.
Lots of them dirt cheap on ebay, they were very good instruments although made for students.
I tried an Ambassador from the first year they were made, 1948, and it had quite a bit of resistance.
I was told that Olds redesigned the Ambassador so that after 1948 they played better than the 1948 ones.

A serial number list for knowing when an Olds was made:

F. E. Olds and Son Serial Numbers

Lars Kirmser's Music Trader - Olds Serial Number List

A.N.A. Mendez

Roth Reynolds WAY under rated, undiscovered good horns.

__________________
(Above) Alexanders ragtime band-circa 1960

"Baby, I'm already the coolest, and the hippist, now you want me to be on time too?" Buddy Love

"We appointed all our worst generals to command our armies, and our best generals to edit our newspapers." Robert E. Lee

MFfan

I would agree with A.N.A on the Reynolds. I have a 61 Roth cornet in excellent condition and love the way it plays. Also my 53 Holton Collegiate is a good horn, and there are many out there. I didn't pay more than $50 for each of them. I used to have a Reynolds Emporer cornet that was a good player, also, now being used in one of our elementary schools.

__________________
Dave Rafferty
07 Barrington Trumpet, 1972 Reynolds Medalist
55 Besson 8-10 trumpet
55 Roth by Reynolds Cornet
73 Olds Ambassador Cornet
30's Czech small bore Trumpet
Getzen 80 cornet, 33 American Standard cornet
66 Olds Ambassador Trumpet
www.kalamazooconcertband.org

djazz

All the horns mentioned above are good enough to play professionally in casual settings. A good vintage horn, even if it was marketed as a student horn may serve you well.

I have found that later Olds Ambassadors play well. I actually like them better than the older ones. A bit brassier and tighter slots. It is all a matter of personal taste and every vintage horn is a bit different.

The Holton Collegiate is good and really cheap. I also have found the King Cleveland and the later 602 to just as good and may be a bit better than the Holton Collegiate.

I think the most underrated horn is the Reynolds. I have two of the later Medalist cornets that are large bore and play really well. Currently they are my favorites but they may be too dark for some players.

A 1960s or 1970s cornet will be cheaper as it lacks collector's value but can be a better bet as it will likely have better valves and less rot. A safe buy is a clean Olds Ambassador.

This is a good time to shop for horns on eBay. Prices are high in the fall but lately I've seen several decent horns go for under $50. At that price it would hard to make a mistake.

Hope this rambling post offers some help. Have fun!

MFfan

As an attendum to my last post, I just picked up , from Craigslist locally, a really nice 73 Olds Ambassador cornet, deluxe case and Bach 5C and Olds 7C (soon to OLDLOU) for $50. Better than average lacquer, valves and slides. Used minimally as a school horn. Plays very nice. Interesting to compare with my others. I played it for several numbers at concert band practice last nite and was happy with the results with the 5C.

__________________
Dave Rafferty
07 Barrington Trumpet, 1972 Reynolds Medalist
55 Besson 8-10 trumpet
55 Roth by Reynolds Cornet
73 Olds Ambassador Cornet
30's Czech small bore Trumpet
Getzen 80 cornet, 33 American Standard cornet
66 Olds Ambassador Trumpet
www.kalamazooconcertband.org