edcon1981

Well, for those of you that have been following, my two week hunt / wait for my horn has come to a close. My 1956 Olds Ambassador Early Fullerton was delivered Saturday.

Pre play assessment: Everything about this horn is an LA model save the part where it's engraved "Fullerton" on the bell. It's got the LA style mp receiver, z-style braces, full pinky ring, hand-cut block letter engraving on the bell, serial number 202489, raw brass, olds 3c mp (beat to hell, btw). The tuning slide has some slight binding issues, after careful inspectioin i found the slide itself is bent out a little so i gently bent it back.

I did a complete tear down and lube job on this horn before playing it, everything moves well. Busted out my Ibanez tuner, found the sweet spot... and omg. the tone is so rich and full, i can't believe the difference. I let her rip... i start running through my warm up routine, then i get to my marching music. she sounds phenomenal. the range, the clarity, everything is just amazing. the valves are quick and responsive, slides are free... I love this horn.

After about hour two of playing the first valve starts to get hung up. Not a total seizure, but about a two second delay, just enough to throw you off. Pull the valve out and take a scrutinizing look and find no wear spots. Soak all the valves in oil, play for about another half hour and it hangs up again. nothing major, just a little irritating. I try simulating the hang up by pressing "not so vertically" down on the valve, and she won't hang up, only with regular playing (btw i am anal that i push my valves down perfectly parallel to the valve casing with my fingertips).

What do you guys think? how much would a shop charge to fix this?

Here's the horn:

Olds on the stand.


Top to Bottom: '07 Kanstul Soprano, '89 Bundy, '56 Olds Ambassador







By the way, my girlfriend bought this for me as an anniversary gift. She tried ordering an ebay horn i fell in love with when she found out that I wasn't going to place any bids on it (i was in a car accident two weeks ago and couldn't afford it with having to pay an insurance deductible). she lost the bid on the ebay horn, so she made me find a comparable olds and she promised to buy it. this one is a helluva lot nicer than the one i was looking at. I have the best girlfriend in the world!!

__________________


"I feel your scorn, and I accept it."
Jon Stewart

Darthsunshine

Hey Ed:

First, you have a great girlfriend; a point about which I believe everone on TM agrees. Second, whether it's LA or Fullerton, the horn looks great!

As for the 1st valve issue, I wonder if condensation is accumulating and affecting the valve. Seems odd that it plays fine for a while and then bogs down.

Enjoy

__________________
Glen

1977 Benge 3X+ C
1976 Benge 3X+ Bb
1951 Olds Ambassador Cornet
1938 King Master Model Cornet

A.N.A. Mendez

Dude, I would LOVE to be a mouse in the corner whenever you try a vintage super....

__________________
(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

Bruce H. Johanson

Sticky valve after awhile? I would lap it with Lava soap.....moisten the valve, rub a bit of soap on it, then work it up and down and around in the casing about 150 times...work it from the top side, then from the bottom as well. It helps to take the valve spring out, remove the valve cap, and finger button.

VetPsychWars

Keep cleaning it. You might consider a different oil, or using less oil. If the valves are really tight, too much oil can make them hang up.

You probably need new springs, too.

Tom

study888

Hello edcon1981,I have a 5 serial# L.A.Olds Ambassador Trumpet. It is the Horn I practice the most on. Very easy holding,and i like the short throw valve set up. My first valve was sticking, after it was played awhile. I gave the horn a good cleaning and put in new valve springs,corks, felts and switched it to Alisyn valve oil. So far it is now working fine. About every third playing,I will add one drop of the Alisyn valve oil to each valve,and all is well. These are tough little horns,and the kids who got these for student begginner trumpets got the very best. I have a young begginner band student in my Church,that I am helping. He has a Bach Tr-300 Trumpet. It is a good student horn,but in build,sound, and quality etc. to this L.A. Ambassador, no comparision. I find the Stork Vacchiano C&B cup Trumpet mouthpieces fit and play very well on these older Ambassadors and King Liberty Trumpets. I just won off E-Bay a 1938 #2 King Liberty Trumpet and a 1966 Conn 20A Flugel horn. This Conn 20A Flugelhorn looks to be and was advertised in mint condition with original case and Conn mouthpiece. The seller advertised it as a Conn Coronet, was over in with the Dodge Coronet Cars and Porcelain dish ware. If it plays as well as this King Liberty,I will be very happy. I have never played a Flugel,only Trumpets/cornets. This one has a Trumpet design set up, like the Olds Super Star Flugel,so hope I can adapt to the differant sound concept,blow etc. Well back to your Ambassador, this sticking should be a minor thing. Good luck with your Horn.

Darthsunshine

Just got my "new" 1951 Olds Ambassador cornet back from Oberloh Brass Repair yesterday. I have to say I'm very pleased with my first LA horn. Got it for $25 on e-bay, although it did cost me a bit more than that to get the broken braces fixed and the moderate crease in the bell taken out. It doesn't look pretty, but I think it looks cool anyway (I specifically asked Oberloh's not to change it cosmetically). The valves are noisier than on my 1974 Fullerton horn, but I could swear it has a slightly richer tone. Very fun to play. So now it's in the daily practice rotation too

Attached Images

	DSCN0607[1].jpg (85.2 KB, 17 views)
	DSCN0608[1].jpg (86.3 KB, 12 views)

__________________
Glen

1977 Benge 3X+ C
1976 Benge 3X+ Bb
1951 Olds Ambassador Cornet
1938 King Master Model Cornet

MFfan

Good going, Glen. Lookes like you have a cornet with a lot of "character" that you can enjoy playing. I accidently dropped mine after rehersal last week an got the usual 2nd valve intrusion , but no other damage I am haveing that fixed plus a chem clean. Als, I am having all the dents removed from the bell pipe and it straighted up on the American Standard. Should look pretty good for 75 yr old horn.

__________________
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
www.kalamazooconcertband.org

edcon1981

that 51 olds looks damn nice, almost as good as my 56

i'm lazy though, i'm still having the problem with the first valve hanging up after about ten minutes of playing. does the "lava soap" technique work? i've been kicking that idea around lately instead of taking it to a shop. any ideas?

__________________


"I feel your scorn, and I accept it."
Jon Stewart

Darthsunshine

Ed:

I used Brasso on an Ambassador cornet 3rd valve that was badly corroded, but it made me very nervous. I polished it in increments. Cleaning it off and trying it out before abraiding it any further. Came out OK, with no air leakage. Seems like your problem is more subtle. Maybe Lava soap would be OK for your project, since it is less abrasive than Brasso. I've also heard of using toothpaste. Also, before messing with the valve take a look inside the casing to be sure that is nice and clean and corrosion free. I suppose the worst that can happen is you'll be in for a $75 re-build of that valve. Good luck

__________________
Glen

1977 Benge 3X+ C
1976 Benge 3X+ Bb
1951 Olds Ambassador Cornet
1938 King Master Model Cornet