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PH · 03-22-2006, 08:03 AM

There was a really good thread on TH a few weeks ago where Brad Goode and I gave our first hand stories of working with the company on design and modification of this instrument. it can be found here: http://www.trumpetherald.com/forum/v...ic.php?t=48812

Here is a paste of my initial post in that thread.

"When Blessing was putting this horn design together for the first time in the early 1980s they were known almost exclusively as a company that made student horns. It had been years since they had marketed a pro horn (since back in the days of Clifford Brown). They decided they wanted to put together a horn that would primarily appeal to jazz players (the lightweight version of the ML-1) and that would be affordable--a pro horn for not much more money than the price their competitors were selling student horns.

They brought in 6 jazz artists at various stages of the process: Pete Candoli, Conte Candoli, Red Rodney, Ira Sullivan, John McNeil, and me. They asked each of us to loan them a horn or two that we really liked and to tell us why we liked it. They were really surprised that the majority of horns we gave them were various Martin Committees along with a few old Benges and Bachs. Being an Elkhart based company, they had expected that we would give them all Bachs and Conns. Local bias...

They went about copying the various parts of each of our preferred horns and then they mocked up a series of "Frankenhorns" from the copied parts and sent us the horns for a test drive. They wanted us to practice on them and even take them to gigs if we dared. Then we would talk to the guys at the factory (primarily Merle Johnson and Randy Johnson) about our perceptions.

We went through the same process at that time regarding their flugelhorns as well.

Eventually, all 6 of us agreed on a set of specs. They made the horns in both light and standard weights. Unlike today, most jazz players seemed to prefer lighter horns with their greater facility and realized that a light horn played well could have plenty of depth and breadth in the sound.

I played and endorsed various editions of that horn for about 10 or 12 years. The only major design change I can recall in that time was a redesign of the leadpipe by Mr. Pilczuk. That new pipe greatly improved some of the intonation quirks.

The ML-1 was a very good horn--excellent value for the price. I don't know if it still is. I haven't tried them in years. In 1995 I started playing and endorsing Bach. Around that time Brad Goode joined the Blessing company in a similar role through his association with Red Rodney. Perhaps Brad will comment further (I hope).

Pat"

03-22-2006, 08:03 AM	#6 (permalink)
PH Mezzo Piano User Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Bloomington, Indiana Posts: 582	There was a really good thread on TH a few weeks ago where Brad Goode and I gave our first hand stories of working with the company on design and modification of this instrument. it can be found here: http://www.trumpetherald.com/forum/v...ic.php?t=48812 Here is a paste of my initial post in that thread. "When Blessing was putting this horn design together for the first time in the early 1980s they were known almost exclusively as a company that made student horns. It had been years since they had marketed a pro horn (since back in the days of Clifford Brown). They decided they wanted to put together a horn that would primarily appeal to jazz players (the lightweight version of the ML-1) and that would be affordable--a pro horn for not much more money than the price their competitors were selling student horns. They brought in 6 jazz artists at various stages of the process: Pete Candoli, Conte Candoli, Red Rodney, Ira Sullivan, John McNeil, and me. They asked each of us to loan them a horn or two that we really liked and to tell us why we liked it. They were really surprised that the majority of horns we gave them were various Martin Committees along with a few old Benges and Bachs. Being an Elkhart based company, they had expected that we would give them all Bachs and Conns. Local bias... They went about copying the various parts of each of our preferred horns and then they mocked up a series of "Frankenhorns" from the copied parts and sent us the horns for a test drive. They wanted us to practice on them and even take them to gigs if we dared. Then we would talk to the guys at the factory (primarily Merle Johnson and Randy Johnson) about our perceptions. We went through the same process at that time regarding their flugelhorns as well. Eventually, all 6 of us agreed on a set of specs. They made the horns in both light and standard weights. Unlike today, most jazz players seemed to prefer lighter horns with their greater facility and realized that a light horn played well could have plenty of depth and breadth in the sound. I played and endorsed various editions of that horn for about 10 or 12 years. The only major design change I can recall in that time was a redesign of the leadpipe by Mr. Pilczuk. That new pipe greatly improved some of the intonation quirks. The ML-1 was a very good horn--excellent value for the price. I don't know if it still is. I haven't tried them in years. In 1995 I started playing and endorsing Bach. Around that time Brad Goode joined the Blessing company in a similar role through his association with Red Rodney. Perhaps Brad will comment further (I hope). Pat"