| Re: Why would someone sell a dream horn?
Well, now I know how old folks in a nursing home feel-- people talk about you like you're not there... and you're sitting in the same room!
I'm the seller of the Amrien. For those that missed my response here's what I had to say on another thread last week when asked why on earth I would sell a "dream horn:"
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A fair question. Check out the Gearhead Page of my two bit web site and you'll see what I'm now playing. This is a custom job matching exactly what I'm now looking for in a trumpet (a Melk V1 conversion). This Melk just suits me better personally, it dosn't take anything away from the Amrein. I've had a few other amazing trumpets that in a perfect world I'd have love to have kept even though for whatever reason they wouldn't be my daily player. For example I had a Marcinkiewicz "Coppola" (a copy of an old large bore Martin Committee by the way) that is very similar to this Amrien-- that large bore proved to be too much for me over the long haul but wow, what an instrument! You could feel it come alive too. But it's really mainly a question of money-- I can 't afford to keep every horn I lay my grubby little hands on. I'll routinely sell what I have to make way for the next victim, it's the only way I can afford to undertake such a hobby. To me, it's the ultimate fun to play and experiment with different horns. Hey-- some people buy moterboats (the rationalization I give the spouse). I'd love to have this Amrein and all the others I've owned "sitting on ice" as it were, and keep it but five factors keep me from doing this: 1)to me an "extra" horn sitting unused is something of a waste-- even though out of selfishness I asked my wife to bury me with whatever I'm currently playing at the time ("Sure I will," she said, and then went to ebay to see what it's worth). 2)I'll use the money to try something else eventually (don't tell the wife!) 3) a second horn becomes a distraction to me, just like a bunch of mouthpieces I don't use-- better to focus on one at at time 4) where would I keep all them all? and lastly but not leastly 5) there are still trumpets/flugels/cornets out there I HAVE NOT PLAYED! (ha!)
This Amrein really does play great but for the high octane section work I do (such that it is) and "all round" use the Melk works better for me-- a ML bore and Bach 37-ish bell seems to suit me best. But that's not the case for a friend who's an excellent lead player that loves this Amrein but he doesn't have the bread to buy it-- a true musician (ha!).
I've run through a slew of excellent horns. Just because I haven't kept them obviously doesn't meant there's something "wrong" with them which I guess selling them sort of implies. But good grief, as many as I've owned if I was selling them because something was wrong with them it would exclude almost every trumpet out there (ha!). This Amrein is a fantastic instrument and for someone looking for its particular traits it's a heck of a nice horn. The only two trumpets I've seen that match this Amrein in quality is Blackburn and Marcinkiewicz (I had an Eclipse and although OK I wouldn't personally put them in the same class as the aforementioned-- now don't get mad, that's just my own personal opinon). I'm not a hoarder (except when it comes to coffee)... so back out to the world I offer the Amrein. And, yeah, someday I'll probably regret doing it!
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So again... the Marcinkiewicz Coppola and SC4X, Scodwell, Eclipse, Hub van Laar, Scodwell, Calicchio, Shilkes I've owned-- these are but a few higher end of probably a couple of dozen trumpets, cornets and flugels I've run through that could be called dream horns as well. This Amrein is an amazing trumpet but just now quite the "one" for me-- just like the others. No I didn't pay four grand for it by the way but that's indeed what they cost new. Does that "bother" you?
As I say in the earlier post if I was a filthy rich SOB it would be nice to have kept very horn I've had, but since I use the dough from the previous horn to go to the next (generally losing a little money, sometimes breaking even and rarely even making a paltry surplus) that's the way of it.
So it's come to this-- having run through practically every "production" trumpet out there in my quest for the perfect horn I've now had Charlie Melk make me a totally custom Franken-horn taking this and that of what I like from other horns-- witness my new Conn V1 conversion (on Gearhead Page of my two bit web site below).
As an analogy, some people are perfectly happy drinking Folgers coffee their whole lives (not bad stuff by the way, roasted here in K.C.). I'm the type that while enjoying my cup of Folgers, only get inspired to find something better-- whether it exists or not is the fun of the hunt. |