Solar Bell

Whoa!!

Let's hear it for your wife!

Nice find Mrs. Z

Great looking horn!

-cw-

gzent

Thanks Chuck! Yeah, she knows I can't pass up something like that.

I must say, I am amazed at the fullness of the sound. I'm going to have to find a reason to perform on it - maybe a prelude at church or something.

Dale Proctor

Greg, very nice cornet! The engraving looks like the Art Deco style that was popular in the 1930's. The finish looks to be in very good condition, too. Those Directors from that era are not the same as Directors from the 1960's - not a student horn. Congrats.

whwright

Gzent: WOW! What a cool Conn!

When my daughter was in the seventh grade I bought her a 60's vintage Director for her "beginner horn." It was banged up, the slides were stuck, and the valves were caught about halfway down so I couldn't even try it before I bought it. But for the price I figured "what the hey."

After I got it out of the shop I was AMAZED at the way it played. It just had a basic Bach 7C mouthpiece, but it would RIP to a double-C. It almost played easier than my Benge 3X+ -- I can barely even hit a double-C on it. I nearly bought her a different horn and kept it for myself!

Wayne.

gzent

Wayne,

The workmanship on this horn is incredible, simply amazing.

The valves show almost no wear marks, the slides are nickel-silver, I believe and on the inside there is no hint of solder blobs or mismatched joints anywhere.

All I can say is whomever the technician was that built this horn back in the 20's was an artist. Oh, and the engraving over the satin silver is stunning.

Greg

whwright

Gzent:

Just for grins, I had my daughter dig out that old Conn cornet. It isn't nearly as pretty as yours, but there are definitely design similarities. The "new" Conn doesn't have the stop rod, the bell wrap is just a little different, and the valve caps look a little different. It also has reinforcement pieces on the second valve slide (which is stuck) and where the lead pipe turns into the first valve casing.

Its valves are bottom sprung -- are yours?

Wayne.

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gzent

Wayne,

Yes, mine is bottom sprung. The action is pretty nice for a 70+ year old horn.

They are a little noisier than new 'barrel sprung' valves.

I was polishing it the other night and in awe of the quality of the finish.


I'm trying to find a decent mouthpiece. I'm not happen with the ones it came with or my Bach 7C cornet MP. I like a bigger cup - currently using a Warburton 3M.

Greg

tom turner

Greg,

That cornet is a first-class long bell version cornet from Conn's glory years. Unlike the Directors of the late 50's and forward, your new horn is a fine, quality instrument that should play like a dream with a new valve alignment and recorking. All these parts are still avaliable at finer trumpet tech shops.

Do not silver polish the gold-wash inner bell or you'll quickly "lighten" the color as the gold is buffed off. Simply wash that part in a gentle detergent/water combination and pat dry.

Gorgeous horn that evidently was not played much at all . . . and probably by an adult player . . . then put away for 70+ years!

Great find . . . and I'm glad it went to a player who will treasure it and keep it."

T.

gzent

Thanks Tom.

I was able to "recork and felt" the valves to pretty close to right on for vertical alignment. I'm looking for a new mouthpiece, the Bach I'm using feels a bit restrictive and I think its longer than the receiver calls for.

Greg

MFfan

That's a great horn. I have been to many sales but never found anything like that one. Wonder what price was on it? I think horns of that era used Short Shanked mouthpieces. I did some research on Conn MP from Connloyalist, etc. They changed to modern longshank mp in 50's I think. I had a similar problem with my Gretsch Pathfinder trumpet, later determined to be a long cornet, best playable with a short shank MP, or regular one with electrical tape mods. You are very lucky.