Dale Proctor

That sounds like what the 1st and 2nd trumpets do while the poor 3rd player has to maintain the count for 136 measures. Then all three raise their beautiful C trumpets and play a couple of notes. Suitably impressing the audience, the strings, and themselves, they drop back into the joking/daydreaming/counting mode....

Can you tell I've been there, done that? That works even better in a pit, because after you've learned the show, no one needs to count. It's party time, baby. One symphony concert, the 1st trumpet actually sneaked a small radio with an earphone onto stage during a concert to listen to a football game when he wasn't playing!
Just let an average symphony type try to pick up a cornet and play some real brass music - if they're not used to it, their lips usually don't last 30 minutes. But they can count pretty well......

__________________
"Brass bands are all very well in their place - outdoors and several miles away." - Sir Thomas Beecham

Olde Towne Brass
www.otbrass.com

Brass Band of Huntsville
www.brassbandofhuntsville.org

screamingmorris

Now *that* surpises me.
(I've been saying that a lot lately, haven't I?)

I have read things written by people on the Web describing ancient cornets that required mouthpieces with strange shanks.
I believe those people, but your post puts it into perspective by showing that such cornets are apparently the exception rather than the rule, and the strange mouthpieces required are often close enough to modern mouthpieces that in a pinch a modern mouthpiece can be used.
I have learned something new.

Of course, I would still hesitate to by one of those ancient cornets because:

1. I might end up buying an ancient "high pitch" cornet that would play terribly out of tune (as though I am ever in tune?).

2. I might end up buying an ancient cornet that has worn-out valves, and I don't have a few hundred dollars to have the valves re-done.

But for those of you who do have the ability to find and the finances to fix those ancient babies, I say bless you.
Because you have saved those babies from the trash heap and restored them to being beautiful and functional national treasures.

I'm glad that you don't do to those ancient cornets what some hot rod enthusiasts do to old cars:

"We chopped the top so that the windows are only 8 inches tall, then we lowered the car so that it clears the ground by only 3 inches, then we put an air scoop in the hood..."

"Yeah, I took the copper bell off a 1958 Conn Director, then I put it on an Olds Ambassador valve block, I put some Saturn spit valves on it, then I finished it off with gold-plated valve caps ..."
We all know that *nobody* would do *that* to an old cornet...

- Morris

Darthsunshine

Well, I guess I've REALLY got the cornet bug now. I went from owning no cornets just 1.5 months ago, to owning 6 as of today. Got 4 parts-only horns on E-Bay, which arrived on the front porch today. I bought the lot of four because it contained two Ambassadors and I needed parts for the rebuild of one of my two 1959 Ambassadors. The 1960 horn is a defninite parts horn, every inch of brass tubing is dented, and the valves are shot... but good water keys! However, the surprise was that the 1974 horn, after oiling the valves, turns out to be a decent player right out of the box. The valves are not nearly as good as either of my 1959 horns (loose in the casings, but not sticky), and the lead pipe is bent down slightly at the mouthpiece end, but it's perfectly playable and has no significant dents. Bought the whole lot of 4 for $50, so all-in-all it's pretty nice to get a player for $12.50 ($25 if you count shipping). Of course, all of the slides are stuck, except for #2, and since I've always maintained my trumpets impeccably, I have no clue how to free those up on my own. So, it looks like I'll be paying a visit to the local repair shop and spending a few more bucks to save yet another Ambassador

1976 Benge 3XP
1959 Ambassador Cornet x 2
1974 Ambassador Cornet

Dale Proctor

Well, I bought another one...

This is a '69 Conn 76A Connquest cornet. I've wanted one of these for quite a while, but have always been outbid on eBay. This one is in really nice condition, with the original lacquer. It had a few nasty dents on the bell tail, but I've had those removed. It seems like a good-playing cornet so far, and I got it for about $80, including shipping. The design is very similar to the Olds Recording cornet.

__________________
"Brass bands are all very well in their place - outdoors and several miles away." - Sir Thomas Beecham

Olde Towne Brass
www.otbrass.com

Brass Band of Huntsville
www.brassbandofhuntsville.org

Darthsunshine

That's a nice looking Conn, and a good price. I think I saw that posted on E-Bay too, but I'm trying to limit my newfound cornet obsession to Olds Ambassadors, so I resisted the urge to bid. Enjoy!

Bloomin Untidy Musician

I disagree. Tenor horns and baritone horns are the violas of the brass world or the Portaloo of the "Armitage Shanks" world.

dizzyizzy

I play around on my trumpets...some nice vintage AND new ones...different sounds...THEN I usually pull out one of the vintage cornets (or a flugel)...and as several have said...the cornet is SO VARIABLE...just by switching mouthpieces...its a WONDERFUL instrument with a WIDE gamat of sound.

For fun I switch around on the cornets to "hear" the differences (on the same music/same mouthpiece)...I compare the Martin Committee, an old Bronx Bach Strad, the Olds A6ST, and an ancient York Pro. Each has its own personality and timbre...and they can make a ballad sound so Un-trumpet like.

dizzyizzy

stingaree

Looks like I found the cornet junkie support group. I confess to being a cornet junkie because they are all so different and I couldn't even list all the cornets I've owned. I've pared down to 5, one being a Lawler shepherd's crook and the rest being vintage long models. Mouthpieces do make a difference. Shepherd's crook cornets seem to demand a very deep cup but I can get away with a medium deep cup with the long models. the difference between short and long to me is the roundness of tone I get with a shepherd's crook - the long models are mellow but have less roundness to the tone. Anyone else notice this?

A.N.A. Mendez

Only five?

__________________
(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