I am a machine repairman by trade and had to spend 18 months in a tool and die shop. Your biggest expence is time and labor, you can throw a horn together pretty cheap or take your time to make sure the pieces fit together correctly and use skill to solder them correctly and end up with a decent horn. You may notice that I used the word correctly - a lot of your mass produced horn are placed in jigs and the parts forced together while they are soldered in place. A craftsman hand fits the parts to match or if needs be adjusts the parts by hand to fit. As a tradesman we have a saying - if you have to use force its not right. It also takes a person who understands the function of each and every piece to make a horn play to different charateristics. When you put every thing in perspective a Kanstul,custom Getzen, Schilke, Lawler, ect. are really a bargain. old geezer Dave
