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gglassmeyer · 05-02-2006, 02:09 PM

The key to buying a new horn is to play many of them. Because of the hand hammered bells of the Bach Strads and other pro horns, they have different personalities. If you play 10 different Strads they'll most likely all sound different. For your $1600 you can find Bach Strads, Conn Vintage One, Yamaha Xeno and all are nice horns. Yamahas have the best consistency of manufacturing (meaning the difference between any 2 horns is less noticable) but many folks think they have a very workman like average sound quality ( I think they sound fine ).
Bach still makes really good horns, but you may have to try several to find the exceptional one. This is a problem as most stores don't stock a huge quantity of horns.
I just bought a Conn Vintage One 1BR-46 (the rose brass with lacquered finish model). My experience with seeing a few of these is that you need to check the horns carefully as they're not too carefull about inspecting the horns before they leave the factory. One had the mouthpiece receiver attched too far down the leadpipe and my mouthpiece didn't seat properly. Mine also had the small 3rd valve slide segment (for emptying "water") fit too snug on the top tube. I'll need to fix this, but for now I just remove the whole slide. I was torn between a bach and the V1, until I switched out the "squared" tuning slide in favor of the round tuning slide. It really made a huge difference in the blow of the horn. I also liked the shorter valve distance and overall like the rose brass look. The horn comes with the 2 tuning slidse and the modular valve weight system. The horn is more responsive with no weights added and by adding extra weight it's supposed to help darken the sound and supposedly makes it slot better. I used to play an old lightweight Yamaha, and compared to my old horn, this new horn is so much easier to play that I can't tell a huge difference.

I would start with the Bach Strads, Yamaha Xeno, and the Conn Vintage One. Play them in various configurations and finishes.

If you can scrape up a bit more cash you should also try Schilke and Kanstul.
I'm not sure about the Stomvi pricing, but they're supposed to be nice horns too.

Play them all you'll know the right one when you find it. It's fun to play a bunch of new horns and people in the stores are really nice when they think they're going to cash in on a $1700 sale.

Also don't discount silver plating, heavier bell materials like gold brass, rose brass, copper etc. have more to do with the darkness of tone than the difference between lacquer and silver plate. Though silver plated horns typically cost more than their lacquered equivalent. Silver plating tends to hold up better than lacquer though.

Enjoy the quest.
Greg

05-02-2006, 02:09 PM	#5 (permalink)
gglassmeyer Pianissimo User Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 157	buying a new horn The key to buying a new horn is to play many of them. Because of the hand hammered bells of the Bach Strads and other pro horns, they have different personalities. If you play 10 different Strads they'll most likely all sound different. For your $1600 you can find Bach Strads, Conn Vintage One, Yamaha Xeno and all are nice horns. Yamahas have the best consistency of manufacturing (meaning the difference between any 2 horns is less noticable) but many folks think they have a very workman like average sound quality ( I think they sound fine ). Bach still makes really good horns, but you may have to try several to find the exceptional one. This is a problem as most stores don't stock a huge quantity of horns. I just bought a Conn Vintage One 1BR-46 (the rose brass with lacquered finish model). My experience with seeing a few of these is that you need to check the horns carefully as they're not too carefull about inspecting the horns before they leave the factory. One had the mouthpiece receiver attched too far down the leadpipe and my mouthpiece didn't seat properly. Mine also had the small 3rd valve slide segment (for emptying "water") fit too snug on the top tube. I'll need to fix this, but for now I just remove the whole slide. I was torn between a bach and the V1, until I switched out the "squared" tuning slide in favor of the round tuning slide. It really made a huge difference in the blow of the horn. I also liked the shorter valve distance and overall like the rose brass look. The horn comes with the 2 tuning slidse and the modular valve weight system. The horn is more responsive with no weights added and by adding extra weight it's supposed to help darken the sound and supposedly makes it slot better. I used to play an old lightweight Yamaha, and compared to my old horn, this new horn is so much easier to play that I can't tell a huge difference. I would start with the Bach Strads, Yamaha Xeno, and the Conn Vintage One. Play them in various configurations and finishes. If you can scrape up a bit more cash you should also try Schilke and Kanstul. I'm not sure about the Stomvi pricing, but they're supposed to be nice horns too. Play them all you'll know the right one when you find it. It's fun to play a bunch of new horns and people in the stores are really nice when they think they're going to cash in on a $1700 sale. Also don't discount silver plating, heavier bell materials like gold brass, rose brass, copper etc. have more to do with the darkness of tone than the difference between lacquer and silver plate. Though silver plated horns typically cost more than their lacquered equivalent. Silver plating tends to hold up better than lacquer though. Enjoy the quest. Greg __________________ Greg Glassmeyer