Bugleblast, the guy that did the work for me is George Kraft. He owns Southeastern Musical Services in Huntsville, Alabama. He and his shop manager Bill Deiss are fantastic brass techs, and can do just about anything. George removed the bell, filled the crook with melted pitch, and let it cool. He was then able to bend the bell (the bend matches a photo I provided of an old cornet) without any creases. From what he told me, it was a challenge to get the bend to look the way I wanted and still give enough room to remove the 3rd valve slide. But he did it - the finger ring/lyre holder screw comes within about 1/8" from the bell before the slide is free! BTW, I sold this horn recently, so all I have are the memories (and a few pics).
He told me he would never do another one (but that was a long time ago).
