Thanks guys!
I don't know if I have found my new baby, or if I'm just in a honeymoon phase with it, but man, what a feeling!
I officially made it "mine" tonight by doing a tad of maintenance. I cleaned it up really good by snaking out the lead pipe and tuning slide, (I don't think the guys at Chuck Levin's cleaned it, only checked it over) flushed it out, did a very light polish, dried and re-oiled the valves, and put some fresh grease on the slides. The trumpet is beautiful and the fit and finish are remarkable.
But again, how it plays! I just can't get over how fast this horn responds and how focused it feels. I don't know if that is a characteristic of the copper bell, or if it a combination of everything else.
By the way Leigh, Lara asked the other day for ideas about which direction to go for her contest winnings. I figured, given my recent experience with the copper bell on my Schilke (I like the sound of that! "my Schilke"
) that the Medium Red bell would be a great place to start. Is the fast response due to the copper, or is it a sum of the parts?